Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said, on Tuesday, that increased communication with Syria may pave the way for its return to the Arab League with the improvement of relations following more than ten years of isolation, but it is too early at the present time to discuss such a step.
The Saudi minister reiterated that the consensus is growing in the Arab world that isolating Syria does not work and that dialogue with Damascus is necessary, especially to address the humanitarian situation there.
“Dialogue in order to address these concerns is necessary,” he told reporters in London. “It may eventually lead to Syria returning to the Arab League and so on. But at the moment I think it is too early to discuss this.”
Syria has been largely isolated from the rest of the Arab world following a bloody crackdown by its president, Bashar al-Assad, on protests once morest his rule in 2011.
The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in 2011 and many Arab countries withdrew their envoys from Damascus.
But Assad benefited from an outpouring of support from Arab countries in the followingmath of the devastating earthquake on February 6, which killed thousands of Syrians.
Algeria hosted its first Arab summit since before the COVID-19 pandemic in November, but Damascus did not participate following the host country failed to persuade other Arab states to end Syria’s suspension.
Saudi Arabia will host the Arab summit this year. In response to a question regarding whether Syria would be invited to attend the summit, Prince Faisal said, “I think it is too early to talk regarding that.”
“But I can say … that there is a consensus in the Arab world, and that the status quo cannot continue. This means that we have to find a way to overcome it,” he added.
