Syria's 11 year exile from Arab League ends as representatives take part in session

On Monday, Syria’s over ten-year exile from the Arab League came to an end as representatives took part in a session to prepare for the summit on Friday 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.

As the camera shifted to the Syrian delegation, Jadaan said that he was, “looking forward to working with everyone to achieve what we aspire to.”

Since the Arab League suspended Syria in November 2011 due to its harsh repression of protests that turned into a conflict that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions, this is the first time Syrian officials have attended an Arab League conference.

Early this month, the pan-Arab organisation formally embraced President Bashar al-Assad’s return to the Arab fold by publicly welcoming Syria’s government.

Assad has accepted Saudi King Salman’s invitation to attend the summit on Friday in Jeddah, a city on the Red Sea. This would be Assad’s first summit since the one in Libya in 2010.

Regional capitals have gradually been warming to Assad as he has held onto power and clawed back lost territory with crucial support from Iran and Russia.

The United Arab Emirates re-established ties with Syria in 2018 and has been leading the recent charge to reintegrate Damascus.

Diplomatic activity picked up after a deadly earthquake struck Syria and Turkey on February 6.

A decision in March by Saudi Arabia and Iran, a close ally of Damascus, to resume ties has also shifted the regional political landscape.

Riyadh, which cut ties with Assad’s government in 2012 and had long openly championed the Syrian leader’s ouster, confirmed last week that work would resume at the two countries’ respective diplomatic missions.

But while Syria’s frontlines have mostly quietened, large parts of the north remain outside government control, and no political solution to the conflict is in sight.

Top diplomats from nine Arab countries discussed the Syria crisis in Saudi Arabia last month, and five regional foreign ministers including Syria’s met in Jordan on May 1.

But not every country in the region has been quick to mend ties with Assad.

Qatar said this month it would not normalise relations with Assad’s government but also noted this would not be “an obstacle” to Arab League reintegration.

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