Arab ministers to meet over Syria’s return to Arab league

An official said Friday that Arab diplomats are arranging an emergency summit in Cairo over the weekend to discuss Sudan’s war and Syria’s possible return to the Arab League after a decade.

The Arab League’s Gamal Rushdy confirmed Sunday’s meeting, which comes after Egypt and Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministers visited Damascus in recent weeks and established contacts with Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Syrian foreign minister visited Cairo and Riyadh in April for the first time in almost a decade.

In the early months of the war 12 years ago, the 22-member Arab League suspended Syria’s membership and imposed economic penalties. Since March 2011, the fighting has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the 23 million pre-war population.

Syria’s membership is anticipated to be discussed during the May 19 Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia. Qatar, a gas-rich member, opposes Damascus’ return.

18 of the 22 Arab League nations supported suspending Syria in November 2011. Iraq abstained while Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria voted against.
CNN said that Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi believes the Arab League has the votes to reinstate Syria.

Rushdy, the Arab League spokesperson, said Egypt and Saudi Arabia requested the Sunday Arab foreign ministers’ conference in Cairo to restore Syria’s membership.

Rushdy said Arab League decisions are consensus resolutions, but each country can submit reservations.

An Iraqi ambassador who spoke on condition of anonymity indicated that Syria, Sudan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories would be on the agenda.

Syria’s neighbors have started to reconcile as Assad and his allies Russia and Iran have established authority over most of the nation. Since the massive Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria and the Chinese-brokered reestablishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had backed opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, the overtures have accelerated.

Last month, Syria and Saudi Arabia announced plans to reopen embassies and resume flights after a decade.

The pro-government Al-Watan daily claimed Friday that a foreign ministry delegation visited the Syrian embassy in Riyadh to prepare for reopening in the coming weeks.

Sudan, which has descended into anarchy since mid-April fighting between its two senior generals killed over 400 people, will also be discussed by the foreign ministers. After months of rising tensions between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan’s military and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the battle began on April 15.

The violence transformed cities into battlefields, and foreign governments evacuated ambassadors and thousands of foreign nationals from Sudan.