After more than a decade of suspension, the Arab League on Sunday welcomed back Syria’s government, ensuring President Bashar al-Assad’s return to the Arab fold after years of exile.

Damascus was suspended by the organization in November 2011 for its repression on nonviolent protests that had started earlier that year and had turned into a conflict that had left more than 500,000 dead, millions of people displaced, and severely damaged the nation’s infrastructure and economy.

A political resolution to the 12-year-old conflict has not yet been reached, despite the fact that the front lines have largely calmed down. Large portions of the country’s north remain ungoverned.

In a unanimous vote, the foreign ministers of the organization decided that “government delegations from the Syrian Arab Republic will resume their participation in Arab League meetings” on Sunday.

Since the start of the war, Assad has been politically marginalized, but recent weeks have witnessed a flurry of diplomatic activity ahead of an Arab League summit on May 19 in Saudi Arabia.

The ministers highlighted their “keenness to launch a leading Arab role in efforts to resolve” the Syria situation in a statement.

To maintain “direct dialogue with the Syrian government in order to reach a comprehensive solution,” they decided to establish a ministerial committee.

The resolution “brings the Arab side into communication with the Syrian government for the first time in years, in order to look into all aspects of the problem,” according to Ahmed Aboul Gheit, head of the 22-member Arab League.

He went on to say that Syria’s rejoining the organization was “the beginning… not the end of the issue” and that it was up to individual nations to determine whether to restore diplomatic relations with Damascus.

– ‘Diplomatic victory’ –

Following the announcement, Syria’s foreign ministry stressed the importance of “Arab cooperation”, in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

“The next stage requires an effective and constructive Arab approach… based on dialogue, mutual respect and common Arab interests”, it added.

Several Arab countries cut ties with Syria early in the conflict, betting on Assad’s demise, while some including Qatar and Saudi Arabia provided support to the Syrian opposition.

The last Arab League summit Assad attended was in 2010, while the opposition attended the pan-Arab group’s summit in Doha in 2013, sparking a furious reaction from Damascus.

At a press conference, Aboul Gheit stated. Once invited by the host Saudi Arabia, Assad was welcome to attend the meeting later this month.

As Assad has tenaciously clung to power and reclaimed territory that had been lost earlier in the conflict with vital help from Iran and Russia, regional capitals have gradually come to like him.

The recent push to reassert Damascus’ Arab affiliation has been led by the United Arab Emirates, with which it reestablished ties in late 2018.

Arab outreach to Assad’s regime was spurred by an earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6. Since Saudi Arabia and Iran’s decision to resume diplomatic relations in March, there has been an increase in regional diplomatic action. This effort has been facilitated by China.

“Syria’s regional isolation is officially broken,” analyst Fabrice Balanche said, calling Sunday’s decision a “diplomatic victory” for Assad.

“The earthquake is the best opportunity to get closer without losing face,” he told AFP, adding that “Saudi Arabia’s concern for Syria is part of the context of reconciliation with Iran.”

– ‘Pushed out of our homes’ –

In April, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan made the first visit to Damascus by a official from the kingdom since the start of the war, days after Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad visited Saudi Arabia, also on the first such trip.

Mekdad has visited a string of Arab countries in recent weeks in a diplomatic push.

On Monday, he attended talks in Amman with foreign ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt to discuss the long-running conflict.

Nine Arab countries including Gulf states met in Saudi Arabia last month to discuss ending Syria’s possible return to the Arab League.

Assad is hoping normalisation with wealthy Gulf nations could bring economic relief and money for reconstruction, while analysts say sanctions will likely continue to deter investment.

But with foreign forces including from Turkey and the United States still present on Syrian territory, the war is far from over and Assad remains internationally isolated.

In northwest Syria’s rebel-held Idlib region, displaced Syrians expressed frustration at the Arab League’s decision.

“We were pushed out of our homes,” said Ghassan Yussef, 54.

“I ask the Arab rulers: where are you taking us?”

Read Also: Arab League Council to hold emergency meeting of FMs to discuss Sudan crisis

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Next Sunday in Cairo, the Council of the League of Arab States will host an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers to review the situation in Sudan as well as the position on Syria’s return to its seat in the Arab League, according to diplomatic sources.

The decision to convene the meeting was made, in accordance with the same source, “on the basis of a request, coordination and consultation between Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and between the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States and a number of countries, to discuss developments in the situation in Sudan as well as the Syrian issue in order to take the appropriate decision regarding its return to the Arab League before the next Arab summit scheduled in the city of Jabel Ali.”

The League of Arab States’ General Secretariat will host preparatory discussions at the level of permanent delegates the following Saturday, according to the same source.

The reintegration of Syria into the Arab League would take time and progressive measures, according to Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary general of the League of Arab States.

In the Arab League Charter, Mr. Aboul Gheit explained that a country or group of countries has the right to request that the issue of Syria’s return to the Arab League be taken into consideration. This is especially true considering that Syria was not expelled from the League but rather had its membership frozen or suspended.

Read Also: New Sudan clashes despite truce, UN warns country at ‘breaking point’

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In response to Algeria’s announcement that Amina Selmane had been chosen to represent the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) at the African Union (AU) and that Moussa Faki Mahamat had received her upon receiving her credentials, the AMU General Secretariat released a statement.

In an erroneous statement that violated diplomatic protocol, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the appointment of Amina Selmane and the acceptance of her credentials by the African Union Chairman.

The AMU General Secretariat stressed that Selmane’s appointment “coincides with the extension of the mandate of the Secretary General, Taeb Baccouche, who has repeatedly requested the appointment of a successor, most recently on the occasion of the Arab Summit in Algeria, during which the parties concerned failed to invite him to respond to his request, despite his receipt of an official invitation from the Secretary General of the League of Arab States.”

The secretariat also expressed regret over “the contradictions of the Algerian parties, who have referred to the Secretary General as (former Secretary General), while senior Algerian state officials have continued to correspond with the Secretary General on his behalf and in his capacity, from August 2022 to today, with at least nine correspondences, the last of which was sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, and the President of the Algerian Republic.

According to the statement, Algeria has not raised any objections to the Secretary General of the AMU on any of his actions within the legal timetable, including the decision to open the AMU’s office to the AU as of March 7, 2023, which no nation has contested.

However, after obtaining Amina Selmane’s letters of accreditation, the AMU General Secretariat lamented Algeria’s unwarranted criticism of the AU Chairperson.

The statement from the General Secretariat noted that Mr. Faki Mahamat had applied Article 20 of the Agreement between the African Union and its eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs), which deals with each REC appointing a representative to the AU. “We also regret the unjustified attacks against the Chairman of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, with unworthy qualifiers,” it said.

On April 13, he formally received Ms. Selmane’s letters of accreditation, “who was sworn in by the Secretary-General of AMU in her capacity as Director of Economic Affairs within the AMU.”

The General Secretariat of AMU stated, “She has become a Maghrebian diplomat working with the Secretary General and the President of the AU, whom we support and for whom we have respect and consideration.”

Read Also: Algerian manoeuvres to derail Moroccan appointment to AU fail

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The League of Arab States sent a message to all of its affiliated organizations and bodies, urging them to use a single map in all of the events it hosts, along with a photo of the Arab countries’ map, which contained the complete territory of Morocco.

The Arab League, according to Arab diplomatic sources, distributed the memorandum to its associated entities and organizations and requested compliance with its substance.

According to the same sources, the Arab League’s stance came in response to a recent protest by the Algerian envoy to the League against the presentation of the whole map of Morocco at one of the Arab Women Organization’s events in Cairo.

The Arab League’s memorandum was accompanied by a detailed map of the Arab world, including a map of Morocco that included the country’s southern provinces, as viewed by the Maghreb Arab News Agency.

In a related vein, the recent Arab housing ministerial meeting in Amman, Jordan, emphasized the importance of respecting geography and state sovereignty, as well as committing to all demonstrations organized by bodies, unions, and organizations affiliated with the Council of Arab Housing Ministers to publish a complete, undivided map of the Arab world.

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