No Arab consensus on Syria’s readmission to Arab league
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Foreign ministers of Gulf countries, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq did not reach an agreement to fully readmit Syria to the Arab League due to many files that need solving, including the Captagon trade and Iran’s presence in Syria.
The final communiqué of Jeddah meeting merely discussed the Syrian crisis and stressed the necessity of a political solution, sending a message to Syria that there will be no normalization without resolving several outstanding issues.
The participants in Jeddah on April 14 discussed Syria’s full readmission to the Arab League. The meeting was sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman.
Syria was expelled from the Arab League in 2011 over the government’s brutal crackdown against protestors.
However, the difference between the Jeddah meeting and previous Arab stances over the 12-year-old Syrian crisis is that diplomatic relations are gradually returning, and Syria is being directly addressed without closing the door completely.
However, the Jeddah statement did not mention Syria’s readmission into the League of Arab States, which was the subject of the meeting. They agreed on the need to intensify discussions among Arab states to find mechanisms to help normalize the situation in Syria.
A report by the Financial Times said that there is a dispute between Arab states about the recent Saudi rapprochement with
Syria, which became apparent following a meeting of Arab foreign ministers held on April 14 in the city of Jeddah to discuss Syria’s readmission to the Arab League.
A few countries headed to normalize with Syria, which is what Turkey is already doing, but it is more like an intersection of interests.
Other countries oppose the rapprochement since Syria did not take real steps toward a political solution.
The report said citing informed officials that there was a sharp pushback against Saudi Arabia’s rapprochement from countries including Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan. They all asked what Syria can offer in return for that rapprochement, according to one official.
The Syrian Captagon narcotic issue is a complication for Syria on the road back to the “Arab fold.”
Other informed officials noted the presence of Iranian forces and their backed militias in Syria and Iran’s influence over al-Assad, mean that the quick readmission of Syria under its influence is a reward to Iran, according to the report.
The communiqué of Jeddah shows that these two issues were already discussed when it concentrated that all foreign forces and militias must pull out from Syria and stressed fighting the narcotic trade in addition to resolving refugee and humanitarian situation issues.