Syria’s regional ties must improve before it can rejoin Arab League, minister says
Syria must improve its regional relations before it can return to the Arab League, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has said.
He told Algeria International TV that his recent visits to Arab countries were intended to help turn a page in diplomatic relations between those nations and Syria.
“The Arab League exists but then the differences within the Arab League will remain,” Mr Mekdad said.
Syria has always believed in working with the Arab League on several important issues, he said.
“But Syria cannot accept being in a position where it’s responsible for the differences among the Arab world,” he said.
“So, if Syria rejoining the Arab League helps in unifying the regional stance, then Syria does not mind.”
Syria was suspended from the regional body in 2011 in response to violence carried out against demonstrators by the government of President Bashar Al Assad.
Algeria is one of the few Arab countries that did not cut off relations with Syria during the civil war that followed the 2011 uprising.
Mr Mekdad was scheduled to visit Tunisia yesterday to improve relations.
Tunisia is expected to formally raise its diplomatic representation in Syria and officially assign an ambassador to Damascus, President Kais Saied said this month.
Tunisia, under president Moncef Marzouki, severed diplomatic ties with Damascus in 2012.
A group of regional leaders who met in Saudi Arabia pledged on Saturday to continue discussions to help reach a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
But they stopped short of endorsing the country’s return to the Arab League.
The meeting included senior diplomats from the Gulf states, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.
Mr Mekdad arrived in Jeddah last Wednesday, the first such trip by a Syrian government official since 2011.
Although the 22-nation Arab League makes decisions by simple majority, a unanimous vote is what the kingdom will hope for when it hosts the group’s summit in Riyadh on May 19.
If Syria rejoining the Arab League helps in unifying the regional stance, then Syria does not mind FAISAL MEKDAD Syrian Foreign Minister