Confirmation of President Bashar al-Assad’s participation in the Arab League Summit | Pro IQRA News

“President Bashar al-Assad will attend this summit,” Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Maqdad said, speaking to the media during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Jeddah.

The war-torn country will attend the 22-member Arab League summit for the first time after a 12-year suspension. In 2011, the Arab League froze its membership following President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on popular protests against the government.

Civil war started in the country after these protests, where more than five lakh people have been killed and half of the population of the country of 23 million people has been displaced. During the ongoing meeting in Jeddah, Arab foreign ministers welcomed Syria’s return to the Arab League.

Dr. Faisal Moqdad thanked Saudi Arabia for inviting the Syrian president to the summit. Speaking to the media, he said: “Saudi Arabia has made great efforts to plan this meeting and ensure the participation of all Arab countries. We are very grateful that all countries are now present at this summit.” And this is a success for (the nation’s) leadership.”

In addition to Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Ghaith and Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf also welcomed Syria’s return to the Arab League.

However, some Arab countries, notably Qatar, are skeptical of Syria’s return to the Arab League. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani said on Wednesday that his country opposes Syria’s return but does not want to stand “against the Arab consensus”. He said that, however, each Arab country can normalize relations with Syria on its own.

From Qatar’s point of view, “Syria must find a just and comprehensive solution to its conflict,” he said. Earlier, during his opening meeting, Prince Faisal bin Farhan underlined the need for unity among Arab countries to overcome the mutual challenges and difficulties facing the Arab world.

The Saudi foreign minister said that joint Arab efforts should be made to face these challenges and find solutions so that our region can be secure and stable. He urged Arab countries to put aside their differences and reject foreign interference in their internal affairs.

Faisal bin Farhan added that the region has an abundance of human potential and natural resources, which should encourage Arab countries to cooperate with each other while taking into account the interests of the people.

According to the sources, various political issues including the ongoing crisis in Sudan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the reunification of the Syrian Organization will be discussed in this Arab summit.

According to media reports, a meeting of several ministerial committees within the organization was also held and issues such as Iran’s and Turkey’s interference in Arab internal affairs were discussed. Earlier, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ataf handed over the presidency of the organization to his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.