Syrian delegation attends meeting of Arab League
UAE President receives Saudi King’s invitation to attend the 32nd Arab Summit; Assad invited to participate in COP28 conference; Damascus urges group to invest in country.
Syria ended over a decade of exile from the Arab League (AL) on Monday as its officials took part in a preparatory session ahead of Friday’s summit in Saudi Arabia.
“I... take this opportunity to welcome the Syrian Arab Republic to the League of Arab States,” Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan told the meeting, which was broadcast live by state TV channel Al Ekhbariya.
Jadaan said he was “looking forward to working with everyone to achieve what we aspire to,” as the camera panned to the Syrian delegation.
It was the first time Syrian officials participated in an Arab League meeting since the body suspended Damascus in November 2011.
Earlier this month, the Arab League officially welcomed back Syria’s government, securing President Bashar Al Assad’s return to the Arab fold.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, has invited Assad to attend Friday’s summit in Jeddah, which would be his first since a 2010 meeting in Libya.
In a separate development, President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has received a writen message from King Salman, inviting His Highness to participate in the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Arab Summit, which will take place in Jeddah on Friday.
His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, received the message on behalf of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed during a meeting in Abu Dhabi with Turki Bin Abdullah Al Dakhil, Saudi Ambassador to the UAE.
The meeting discussed opportunities for further strengthening bilateral relations to support the development and progress of both countries and their people.
The UAE has invited Assad to atend the United Nations climate summit in Dubai later this year, SANA said on Monday.
The Emirati charge d’affaires in Syria, Abdul Hakeem Al Nuaimi, has handed Assad an invitation from President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed “to atend the COP28 climate conference,” SANA reported.
On Monday evening, Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Jeddah to atend meetings that precede the summit, Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported.
“This is a new opportunity to tell our Arab brothers that we don’t look to the past but to the future,” Mekdad told reporters upon arrival, according to SANA. “There are many challenges that we should discuss and gather our force as Arabs to face them. They include the Arab-israeli conflict and climate change,” SANA quoted Mekdad as saying.
Abdullah Bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said the UAE prioritises strengthening joint Arab cooperation, in line with the country’s firm commitment to supporting all efforts aimed at ensuring the interests of Arab peoples and enhancing their economic and social stability in a sustainable manner.
The minister was speaking during the meeting of the Economic and Social Council which was held at ministerial level on Monday in the Saudi capital. He led UAE delegation to the meeting, which prepares for the 32nd Arab League Summit on May 19.
“We are keen to strengthen the frameworks for economic integration among Arab nations and to adopt more open and accommodating policies, including the creation of a single customs union, which helps boost exports and imports and supports the growth of Arab trade exchange, within the framework of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, which aims to stimulate shared investments that will help to create thousands of jobs,” the minister added.
During Monday’s preparatory session, Syria’s Economy Minister Mohammad Samer Al Khalil called on Arab nations to invest in his country in light of “promising opportunities and new laws that atract investment,” according to SANA.
The AL’S secretary-general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said on Monday that Syria’s return could revive “the principle of Arab solidarity,” according to a statement delivered by his deputy, Hossam Zaki. Gheit said the “positive atmosphere” created by the end of some disputes in the region “should not push us away from the reality that the Arab region has been witnessing for years, which is the accumulation and overlapping of serious challenges.”