Arab Parliamentary Delegation Meets Syria President

Parliament speakers from Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Palestine, Libya, Egypt as well as heads of delegations of Oman and Lebanon arrived in Damascus on February 26 in an unprecedented move during the last 12 years and were welcomed by the Syrian president.

After the welcoming ceremony, the Syrian parliament held a joint session and the speakers of the Arab parliaments made speeches. Iraq’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi along with other Arab counterparts held a special meeting with al-Assad. Al-Halbousi had a separate meeting with the Syrian president.

The trip came true after al-Halbousi asked the Arab states in February 25 meeting of the speakers and representatives of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union to make a final decision on the return of Syria to the Arab union. Following the beginning of crisis in Syria in 2011, the governments of Saudi Arabia and some other Arab states backed militants opposing the Syrian government and shut down their embassies in Damascus to cut their ties with the war-stricken country. The parliamentarians’ visit in the current period shows that the authorities of the mentioned nations have reached to the conclusion after a decade that the continuation of the past policies and the decline of ties with Syria were not fruitful for them and they should start new relationship with the Arab country.