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Syrian President Bashar Assad has been in isolation for ten years. Not anymore. Assad attended an international meeting for the first time with the Arab League summit on Friday.
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad arrived in Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening to attend the Arab League meeting in Jeddah for the first time.
Saudi Arabian state television broadcast footage of Prince Badr bin Sultan, Deputy Governor of Mecca, greeting Assad at the airport on Thursday. The United Arab Emirates has been supporting rapprochement with Syrian President Bashar Assad for some time now. Attendance at the summit marks Assad’s return to the major diplomatic stage after years of widespread isolation as a result of the Syrian civil war.
Killed more than 500,000 people to date
The last Arab summit that Assad attended was in Libya in 2010. The Arab League currently consists of 22 countries. Syria was excluded in November 2011 after the Assad government suppressed democracy protests.
In the conflicts that broke out after the suppression of the protests, more than 500,000 people have lost their lives, millions of Syrians have been displaced, and the country’s infrastructure and industry have been severely damaged.
Saudi Arabia severed ties with the Assad government in 2012. After that, Riyadh openly campaigned for the overthrow of the ruler and supported rebel groups in the Syrian civil war. Given Assad’s military successes, supported by Russia and Iran, it is clearly more important now for the regional power to present itself as a mediator in the region.
The rapprochement is also bolstered by the resumption of diplomatic relations between long-time rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, mediated by China.
No progress in ending the war
At the beginning of May, the Arab League again accepted Syria and Saudi Arabia invited Assad to Jeddah. Some states in the Syrian region have already signaled concessions. In 2018, the United Arab Emirates restarted relations with Damascus, and later the Gulf state invited Assad to the UN climate conference scheduled to take place in Dubai in November.
Qatar is one of those who oppose rapprochement with Syria. The Gulf Emirate does not want to normalize its relations with Damascus for now, but does not oppose readmission to the Arab League.
Meanwhile, Assad’s presence at the Jeddah summit does not guarantee progress in ending the war in Syria. In the northwest of the opposition-controlled country, there have been repeated mass protests against Assad’s return to the Arab League. It is also unclear whether the organization will be able to make concessions from the Syrian ruler on issues such as the future of Syrian refugees or increased trade in the stimulating Captagon.
Alongside a rapprochement with the Assad government, the summit seems likely to address two conflicts: the power struggle between two rival generals in Sudan and the decades-long civil war in Yemen, whose host is Saudi Arabia itself. side of the conflict. (AFP/SDA)
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
