Syria Returns To Arab League After 12 Years

The meeting of the foreign ministers of the member states of the Arab League to lift years-long suspension of Syria’s membership was held in Egyptian capital Cairo on May 7.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Sameh Shoukry stated at the beginning of the ministerial meeting that all phases of the Syrian crisis have proven that the crisis has no military solution and that the crisis must be resolved based on political negotiations.

The Syrian government and national forces of the country are primarily responsible for achieving the political solution without foreign dictates, Shoukry said, adding that all forms of terrorism in Syria must be overcome.

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Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ahmed Al-Sahhaf also emphasized that Syria’s return to the Arab League will be agreed upon in the meeting.

Then, Spokesman for the Arab League’s secretary general Gamal Roshdy also announced that foreign ministers of the Arab states have decided to pave the way for returning Syria to its seat in the Arab League.

Prior to the Sunday meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan Ayman al-Ṣafadi said in an interview with CNN that Syria’s return to the Arab League is very likely given the fact that the Arab League’s member states initially agreed to the war-torn country’s return to the bloc.

It should be noted that a few months after the onset of the Syrian crisis in November 2011, some Arab states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia decided to suspend Syria’s membership in the Arab League because of its failure to implement the provisions of the Arab peace plan for finding a political solution and settlement in the Arab country by the government in Damascus.

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