Assad Arrives in Saudi Arabia to Attend Arab League Summit

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 - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 19.05.2023
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CAIRO (Sputnik) – Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah to attend the Arab League summit, making it his first visit to the country since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011.
On May 7, Syria resumed its participation in the work of the Arab League.
Assad arrived at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. Arab leaders began arriving in the city, located on the Red Sea, on Thursday afternoon. At the moment, it is known that the presidents of Egypt, Palestine, Tunisia and Mauritania have arrived, as well as the king of Bahrain and the heads of the Presidential Council of Yemen and Libya.
However, the attention of hundreds of journalists who came to cover the summit was focused on Assad's visit. This is the first time the head of Syria has participated in the Arab League summit since the beginning of the conflict in that country in 2011, when Damascus' participation in the work of the regional organization was suspended. In the early years of the civil war in the Arab Republic, representatives of the opposition even took Syria's place at the summits.
According to the Deputy Secretary General of the league, Khalid al-Manzalawi, despite the fact that there were many difficulties between a number of Arab countries and Syria earlier, "it is time to talk about the future and positive prospects for the benefit of the Arab world."

"Syria has become the same member of the league as other countries, with all the advantages that this membership gives. She has the right to participate in all decisions and meetings, her voice is listened to," al-Manzalawi told Sputnik.

Ahmed Fahmy, a representative of Egypt's president, noted that Cairo hopes that Syria's return to the Arab League will serve as an impetus for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis on the basis of a UN Security Council resolution.

Topics of the Summit

It is expected that the leaders of the Arab world will discuss over 30 issues related to the situation in the region and the world. Traditionally, one of the main topics will be the Palestinian problem, which has become particularly relevant in recent days due to tensions in the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. No less significant will be the discussion of the situation in Sudan, where fighting between the government army and the Rapid Reaction Forces has been going on for more than a month. The Arab League earlier announced the creation of a contact group, which included Egypt and Saudi Arabia, its task will be to convince the warring parties to stop the clashes and start negotiations.
Special attention will also be paid to resolving the long-standing conflict in Yemen, where, thanks to the restoration of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, noticeable progress has been observed recently. Most recently, a Saudi delegation headed by the kingdom's ambassador to Yemen visited Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis (the Ansar Allah group). Currently, negotiations are underway between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government of Yemen based in Aden on the exchange of prisoners.
In this photo released by Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delegates and foreign ministers of member states convene at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, May 7, 2023.  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 07.05.2023
Syria Resumes Participation in Arab League Starting From Sunday
The leaders of the Arab world will not ignore the situation in Lebanon, which is experiencing a political and economic crisis, as well as Libya, in which, due to the struggle for influence between the leaders of the east and west of the country, they have not been able to decide on the date of the presidential and parliamentary elections for several years.
It is expected that among the international topics at the summit, the situation in Ukraine will also be discussed. According to the head of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Fuad Hussein, it has influenced the global energy and food markets.
Last year, within the framework of the Arab League initiative, a contact group was formed, which included the foreign Ministers of Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, as well as the Secretary General of the regional organization.
"We strive and believe that both sides should reach a ceasefire, and if there is any request from any side, we are ready to help in this matter," Hussein said on the eve of the organization's summit, answering the question whether the Arab League's proposal on mediation in Ukraine remains in force.
As Deputy Secretary of the Arab League Al-Manzlawi told Sputnik, the league expects that the consultations of the contact group with Moscow and Kiev on resolving the crisis in Ukraine will continue.
Earlier, Arab diplomats have repeatedly declared the neutrality of the countries of the region in relation to the crisis in Ukraine. In particular, in the final statement of the Arab League summit held in Algiers in November 2022, the leaders of the Arab world declared their commitment to the principle of neutrality and the pan-Arab position on the conflict in Ukraine.
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