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After 11 years of hiatus, Syria was readmitted to the Arab League on Sunday following a push to normalise ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
This comes after Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic relations with Iran, one of the regime’s biggest backers, and to bilaterally re-establish ties with Damascus. In April, Saudi Arabia and Syria announced the move to re-open embassies and resume flights.
“The reinstatement of Syria does not mean normalisation of relations between Arab countries and Syria”, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters in Cairo. “This is a sovereign decision for each country to make”, he added.
Some members were sceptical of the move believing that they should secure commitments from Assad on humanitarian issues before being allowed to be readmitted.
A human rights group, the Syria Campaign, said that Syria’s readmittance was “a devastating setback for justice and human rights for Syria and for the whole region”.
Russia welcomed the move, with a spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry stating: “Moscow welcomes this long-awaited step, the logical result of the process, which has gained momentum, of returning Syria to the ‘Arab family'”.
