Participation in the meeting of the Syrian Arab League after 11 years

Syria’s more than a decade-long expulsion from the Arab League ended and Syrian officials attended an Arab League meeting held in Saudi Arabia after 11 years.

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammad Al-Jadaan, while addressing the meeting broadcast live by the official TV channel Al-Akhbariya, said that I take this opportunity to welcome the Syrian Arab Republic to the League of Arab States.

“We look forward to working with someone to achieve all that we desire,” Mohammad Al-Jadaan added.

It will be the first meeting of Syrian officials since November 2011, when Syria was banned from the Arab League after it was suspended by Damascus over a violent crackdown on protests. More than 500,000 people have died in the ongoing conflict in Syria and millions more have been displaced.

Earlier this month, the Arab League officially welcomed the Syrian government, paving the way for Syria to join the Arab League. have been invited to attend the summit, which will be their first meeting since the 2010 summit in Libya.

According to state media on Monday, the United Arab Emirates has invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend the United Nations climate summit in Dubai later this year.

This is the first time Bashar al-Assad has been invited to attend a world summit since the start of the Syrian war.

According to the official news agency Sana, the Emirati Governor of Syria Abdul Hakim Al Nuaimi has sent an invitation to Bashar al-Assad to participate in the COP28 climate conference by the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

COP summits are usually attended by Western heads of state opposed to normalizing relations with Syria, as well as imposing sanctions on Syria because of its civil war.

US President Joe Biden and France’s Emmanuel Macron were among those who attended talks in Egypt last year. Bashar al-Assad has seized power and regained lost territory with the support of Iran and Russia.

The UAE restored ties with Syria in 2018 and has been leading the recent charge to reintegrate Damascus into the Arab world.

The Saudi government, which cut ties with the Assad regime in 2012 and openly backed the ouster of the longtime Syrian leader, confirmed last week that the two countries’ respective diplomatic missions would resume work.