GCC to meet Friday to discuss Syria's re-entry into Arab League

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 Apr 2023 22:30
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Nine Arab countries have been invited to discuss relations with Syria in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The empty seat of the Syrian delegation during an Arab League meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis in Cairo (REUTERS)

Arab sources reported on Tuesday that the Gulf Cooperation Council is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss Syria's reintegration into the Arab League.

According to sources, the League is currently split on the decision to re-include Syria's membership, with reports stating that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are trying to convince Qatar and Kuwait of its readmission before the May summit takes place.

According to Al-Hadath Saudi channel, the GCC meeting will include foreign ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. They will all be meeting in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to hold discussions with Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan.

A spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry told to reporters that Qatari diplomat Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani would attend the Arab Gulf meeting on Syria but said that Qatar’s stance on its readmission remained unchanged.

On March 7, 2023, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said that chances for Syria's reintegration into the Arab League were considerably high, but it was currently too early to discuss such a step.

Israeli-based Maariv newspaper said Syria's return to the Arab embrace of the "New Middle East", and Saudi Arabia inviting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to attend the Arab Summit set to be held in Riyadh in May will end "Syria's political marginalization between the Arab States", which has been ongoing since the war broke out in 2011.

Maariv added that Al-Assad's participation in the Arab League summit will make for an "important development" in the rapprochement between Syria and the Arab States. According to the newspaper, Syria's return to the Arab embrace "will mostly be symbolic, but it will reflect a change in the regional stance on Syria."

On April 6, CNN reported that CIA director William Burns made an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia to express his frustration that peace was breaking out in the Middle East against Washington's wishes.

"Director Burns traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he met with intelligence counterparts and country leaders on issues of shared interests," the US official said on condition of anonymity as quoted by Reuters.

"The director reinforced our commitment to intelligence cooperation, especially in areas of counter-terrorism," the official added.