ALBAWABA - It is slated that officials of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq will meet to discuss the possibility of Syria's return to the Arab League.
On Tuesday, the Gulf Cooperation Council called for a meeting to discuss the possibility of Syria's return to the Arab League.
The meeting is scheduled to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, with the participation of Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq's foreign ministers.
“Saudi Arabia will host a meeting of regional foreign ministers on Friday to discuss Syria's return to the Arab League, a Qatari official said on Tuesday, adding that an ‘Arab consensus’ plus a ‘change on the ground’ would shift Qatar's position.” https://t.co/UZlDzSEFsu
— Anna Jacobs (@AnnaLeaJacobs) April 11, 2023
Last March, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan announced the possibility of developing talks with Syria, with the possibility of its return to the Arab League.
Qatar says that the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has sent invitations to member states to attend a meeting next Friday in the Saudi capital, Jeddah, to discuss the possibility of Syria's return to the Arab League. https://t.co/WSAgr0jWxu
— Press TV (@PressTV) April 12, 2023
The issue of restoring Syria's seat in the Arab League is one of the discussions that have emerged on the scene recently after years of exclusion.
Following the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, several Arab countries, especially the Gulf ones, severed their diplomatic relations with Syria, in addition, the League of Arab States suspended Syria's membership.
Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss return of Syria to the Arab League #Syria #ArabLeaguehttps://t.co/HADYNZYnZw
— IPE Club (@IPEClub) April 12, 2023
In March, spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majid Ansari, said, "At the present time, there is no reason for optimism about the imminence of normalization with the Syrian regime and its return to the Arab League."
However, Ansari confirmed on Tuesday that Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, will participate in the meeting to which Doha was invited by the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Gulf-Arab Meeting to Focus on #Syria’s Return to #Arab League https://t.co/fN6NWB3kNP
— Asharq Al-Awsat English (@aawsat_eng) April 12, 2023
There is news circulating in political circles that some Arab countries have not expressed their agreement on the issue of Syria's return to the Arab League. A matter that shall be discussed in the upcoming meeting.
Saudi Arabia intends to invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend the Arab League Summit, on May.19.
International media outlets suggested that the Saudi foreign minister will travel to Damascus in the coming weeks to present an official invitation for Assad to attend the summit.
Saudi Arabia will host a meeting of regional Foreign Ministers in Jeddah on Friday to discuss Syria's return to the Arab League@arableague_gs #Syria https://t.co/iWs50Zdcei
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) April 12, 2023
It is noteworthy that Syria and Saudi Arabia recently agreed to reopen their embassies after freezing diplomatic relations nearly 10 years ago. The agreement came in the wake of the Iranian-Saudi rapprochement, which had taken place recently.
In the past two months, the Syrian president visited Oman and the UAE, in his first official visits to two Arab countries since the outbreak of the war in Syria.
