Arab League Votes To Readmit Syria

May 7, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—The diplomatic transformation of the Arab world following the Saudi Arabia-Iran-China agreement in February continues. Today, after having suspended Syria’s membership 12 years ago, the Arab League voted to reverse that and readmit the country. The vote was taken behind closed doors, and apparently was backed by all 13 of the member states that attended, out of a total of 22. The decision means that President Bashar al-Assad will be able to attend the next Arab League summit in Riyadh on May 19.

The statement called for the “withdrawal of all foreign forces” from Syria. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said before the May 7 meeting that only an Arab-led “political solution without foreign dictates” can end the ongoing conflict. “The different stages of the Syrian crisis proved that it has no military solution, and that there is no victor nor defeated in this conflict,” he said, according to Associated Press.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry responded by calling for “Arab cooperation,” and “an effective and constructive Arab approach ... based on dialogue, mutual respect and common Arab interests.”