A meeting of Arab foreign ministers begins in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to discuss the issue of Syria
The consultative meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq began in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Friday evening, which is being held to discuss the return of the Syrian regime to the Arab League.
The official Saudi Al-Ekhbariya channel broadcasted televised footage of the start of the meeting, which was called for by the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in the presence of 8 Arab foreign ministers and the diplomatic advisor to the President of the Emirates, without mentioning any details of what is being circulated.
The foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq arrived today, Thursday, in Jeddah, to participate in the consultative meeting.
And according to what was reported by the Saudi Press Agency, “SPA”, Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Al-Khuraiji received the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and the foreign ministers of Egypt, Sameh Shukri, and the foreign ministers of Egypt, Ayman Al-Safadi, Jordan, Ayman Al-Safadi, Oman, Badr Al-Busaidi, Kuwait, Salem Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Iraq. Fouad Hussein, Bahrain Abdul Latif Al-Zayani, and Emirati advisor Anwar Gargash, at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah Governorate, each separately.
Earlier, “France Presse” quoted what it described as an “Arab diplomat” that “there is a possibility” that the Syrian regime’s foreign minister, Faisal al-Miqdad, will attend the Jeddah meeting on Friday to “present the Syrian point of view.” However, according to the “Al-Ikhbariya” scenes, the Syrian regime’s foreign minister was not present.
On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia received Al-Miqdad for the first time since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution.
The pace of rapprochement between Arab countries and the Syrian regime is accelerating, the latest of which was Saudi Arabia’s reception of Al-Miqdad, and the agreement to start procedures for resuming consular services and flights between the two countries.
Syria’s membership in the League of Arab States was suspended in response to the brutal crackdown launched by the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, on peaceful protests in his country.
Archyde.com quoted a Jordanian official as saying that Jordan is pushing for a “joint Arab peace plan that might put an end to the devastating repercussions of the Syrian conflict,” which has been going on for more than 10 years.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the kingdom had proposed forming a joint Arab group “to deal with the Syrian government directly on a detailed plan to end the conflict”. He added, “The detailed road map deals with all the main issues… and resolving the crisis so that Syria can restore its role in the region and rejoin the League of Arab States.”
On the eve of the Jeddah meeting, the Qatari prime minister considered that the reasons for suspending Damascus’ membership still exist for Doha.
In an interview with “Qatar TV”, the Qatari Prime Minister confirmed that “the reasons for suspending Syria’s membership in the League of Arab States and boycotting the Syrian regime still exist,” adding: “It is true that the war in Syria has stopped, but the Syrian people are still displaced, People are still in prisons, and we in the State of Qatar do not want to impose solutions in Syria, as the solution is in the hands of the Syrian people. The unilateral decision of the State of Qatar is not to take any step if there is no political progress to solve the Syrian crisis, and it is a sovereign decision of the State of Qatar that we adhere to.”
Despite the path of Arab openness to the regime of Bashar al-Assad, many Arab countries still refuse any normalization with it before serious steps are taken towards reaching a political solution in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy, foremost of which is Resolution 2254.
Efforts to return the Syrian regime to the Arab League are facing “resistance” from Arab countries, according to Arab officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper confirmed that at least five members of the League of Arab States, including Morocco, Kuwait, Qatar and Yemen, refuse to rejoin the Syrian regime, adding that Egypt, which has revived relations with the Syrian regime in recent months, is also resisting the decision.
(The New Arab)
