Second Syrian delegation arrives in Jeddah for Arab Summit preparation

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Syria's Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday, heading a Syrian delegation that will participate in meetings in preparation for the upcoming Arab summit on 19 May.

"The title of this summit is the joint Arab action and we are looking forward to the future," the top Syrian official told reporters as he arrived at Jeddah airport.

Mekdad further stated that the delegation is "happy to be in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and we hope the summit would be successful."

The Minister dismissed the turbulent relations between Syria and other Arab countries as he said, "We don’t look at the past, rather, we are looking forward to the future." Adding that "there are many challenges to be discussed, and we should mobilize our Arab powers to face them, including the Arab-Israeli conflict and the climate issue."

The official Syrian news agency SANA revealed that the Saudi Delegate Foreign Minister Mazen bin Hamad Al-Hamli and Ambassador Salman Al-Mutairi received Minister Mekdad after his arrival in Jeddah.

The Syrian delegation includes Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, Information Minister Boutros Hallak, Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Soussan, and Director of the Office of Foreign Minister Jamal Naguib.

On Sunday, a Syrian delegation led by Economy Minister Mohammad Samer Khalil arrived in Jeddah in preparation for their work in the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League, which is in charge of economic cooperation and integration within the bloc.

The Syrian presidency said Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad received an invitation to next week's Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, the first such invitation since the war on the country broke out.

The Arab League on May 7 welcomed Syria's government back into the bloc.

In a statement, the Syrian presidency announced that Al-Assad received an invitation from Saudi King Salman "to participate in the thirty-second Arab League summit, which will be held in Jeddah on May 19."

The Syrian President considered that the summit "will enhance joint Arab action to achieve the aspirations of the Arab peoples," the statement indicated.

Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Jordan, Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, delivered the invitation. The last Arab League summit that Al-Assad attended was in 2010 in Libya.

The invitation comes a day after Riyadh and Damascus announced that work would resume at their respective diplomatic missions in Syria and Saudi Arabia, after more than a decade of severed ties.

The Kingdom severed ties with the Syrian government in 2012. However, in April, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with Al-Assad in Damascus on the first such visit since the war on Syria ensued.