In this connection and after a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia of the Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Thursday, which was an unprecedented diplomatic move in over a decade, Riyadh hosted a multiparty consular meeting.
The meeting was attended by foreign ministers of Persian Gulf monarchies, plus Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan on Friday and issued a statement on Saturday supporting stability in Syria.
AFP had earlier reported that the meeting would discuss Syria return to the Arab League after a suspension of the country by the bloc since 2012. This appears to be a prelude to leaders’ summit, scheduled for May 19 in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia reportedly plans to invite the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the summit.
According to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the closing statement of the Friday meeting read: “A political solution is the only solution to the Syrian crisis, and the presence of Arab leadership role in efforts aimed at ending the crisis and creating the necessary mechanisms for this role, as well as increasing consultation between the Arab countries, is important to guarantee the success of these efforts.”
The statement further said that there were talks about the efforts aimed at finding a political solution for Syria that would help end all of the consequences of crisis in the country and protect its security, stability, unity, and its Arab identity for it to “re-embrace the Arab world to the good of the brotherly country.”
“The foreign ministers agreed on the importance of settling the humanitarian crisis and creating a proper environment for access of all parts of Syria to the aids and secure return of the refugees to their country, as well as further measures. The agreement is in a way that contributes to stabilization of the situation across Syria,” the statement added.
The statement also held that the foreign ministers stressed the importance of fighting all kinds of terrorism and terrorist organizations and drugs smuggling and find it significant to create state institutions for protection of Syrian sovereignty to eliminate the armed groups and end the foreign intervention in Syrian affairs.
Pushing to soften Qatar’s tough stance on Syria
After years of hostility to Syria, Arab countries have recently begun to resume ties with Damascus, and in such an atmosphere, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited two Persian Gulf countries of the UAE and Oman in two months in trips unprecedented since the eruption of crisis. The recent Arab meeting in Saudi Arabia that followed the visit of the Syrian foreign minister to the kingdom shows that the normalization of relations between the Arab countries and Damascus is in its final stages, and next month’s meeting of the leaders of the Arab League member states in Saudi Arabia will complete the process of the return of Syria to the bloc. The Saudi foreign Ministry announced in a statement on Thursday that Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and his Syrian counterpart discussed “the necessary steps to achieve a comprehensive political solution to the Syrian crisis that ends all its consequences, secure national reconciliation, and helps Syria return to the Arab world and restore its natural role there.
The AFP, citing an Arab diplomatic source, reported that Saudi Arabia is pushing to bring back Syria to the Arab League under the cover of (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council.
The diplomatic source further said that the Saudis are trying to at least avoid Qatar opposing Syria return in case of a vote held.
The Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that Doha’s stance on Syria has not changed and any change in stance would be majorly tied to Arab consensus and field developments that meet the demands of the Syrian people.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Thani on Thursday told Qatar national television that talks about return of Syria to the bloc were just speculations and that the reasons for suspension of Syria from the Arab League “still stand” for Doha.
In an interview broadcast by the national television, the PM said that there is no proposal on the table and Syria return to the Arab League is “just media speculation we hear on the media.”
Despite this position by Doha, Qataris are likely to soften their tone on Syria within a month to avoid isolation and falling behind rivals.
In the meantime, what is unignorable is that there is a consensus on the role of the Iranian-Saudi agreement in holding the consultative meeting of Jeddah to restore the relations between the Arab countries and Syria.
The Friday meeting in Jeddah following Syrian FM’s Saudi visit
demonstrated that the Arab-Syrian rapprochement is in its final stages
and the next month summit of Arab leaders will return Syria seat in the
Arab League.
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