RE-ENTRY OF SYRIA IN ARAB WORLD
RE-ENTRY OF SYRIA IN ARAB WORLD
BEIRUT — Syria’s
return to the Arab fold, although not officially on the agenda, dominated the
Arab League’s social and economic summit held in Lebanon on January 19 and 20.
In 2011, Syria was suspended from the Arab League
after the government brutally quelled what began as peaceful protests demanding
political and economic rights.
As the war is drawing to a close and Bashar al
Assad - supported by Russia and Iran - seems set to continue as leader, Arab
countries are moving towards patching-up their relationships with Assad.
Hezbollah and its allies in Lebanon used the timing
- in mid-December both the UAE and Bahrain reopened embassies in Damascus - to
create just enough noise at the summit to bring the issue of Syria’s inclusion
to a head.
Gebran Bassil, the Foreign Minister and a member of
the leading Christian party, which is in a political alliance with Hezbollah,
said the failure to invite Syria to the summit in Beirut was a “historic
shame”.
Yassine Jaber, a member of parliament from the
Shiite Amal party - another Hezbollah ally - told TRT World that
the summit should have never been organised without Syria.
“It should have been hosted once the Arab nations
were together on a rapprochement with Syria,” he said. “It is too late now, no
one paid heed to our advice.”
Syria.
Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Secretary-General of the league,
said that so far there is no unanimity among the countries to revoke Syria’s
suspension.
"The condition is not ripe yet regarding the
return of sisterly Syria to occupy its seat in the Arab League,” he said.
“Because there are different points of view.”
The event in Lebanon was further mired in a
controversy over Libya. Amal’s workers burnt a Libyan flag and threatened not
to allow the Libyan delegation to pass through the airport if they flew in. The
party’s ideologue Musa Sadr went missing in 1978 in Gaddafi-ruled Libya. Since
then, Amal has accused Libya of being reluctant to find out what happened to
the revered cleric.
The ruckus created over Libya did not go down well
with many Arab countries, who thought it better to not send their
leaders.
The Lebanon summit was lacklustre, attended by only
two heads of state - of Mauritiana and Qatar. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani’s
attendance was last minute and brief. Some experts said that the Qatari Emir
paid a visit to salvage Lebanon’s reputation while others saw it as a hint that
in time, even Qatar may ease relations with Assad-led Syria. So far, Qatar has
said that nothing has changed in Syria to seek a revision of diplomatic
ties.
All that the summit in Lebanon achieved was
building on the mood to raise the matter of Syria’s return when the 22-member
league meets in Tunisia in March.
However, the chatter of Syria’s readmission started
last month.
Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, seen to be close
to the Saudis, became the first Arab leader to visit the country during the
eight-year war. Soon after his visit, two other Saudi allies, the United Arab
Emirates and Bahrain - who stood together with Riyadh on the Qatar blockade -
reopened their missions in Syria.
The press also reported the reestablishment of
commercial links. Fly Dubai is reportedly pondering flights to the Syrian
capital and reentering the Syrian market. DP World, a global port operator in
Dubai, is also setting up a 2,500 km-long transport corridor from Jebel Ali
Port to the Naseeb-Jaber border crossing between Jordan and Syria, reports
said. The corridor will create a smooth flow of goods to Syria through a closer
collaboration between customs offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and
Lebanon.
The renewal of diplomatic relations and talk of
commercial ties indicated a thaw between Syria and the Arab world.
However, it came to an abrupt halt when the US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went on a whirlwind tour of the Arab world,
according to a Lebanese source close to both Hezbollah and the Assad government
who chose to stay anonymous.
“Pompeo has told the Saudis and the Emiratis and
others that wait, we are leaving slowly,” he said, “America has asked them not
to rush.”
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