Arab leaders have agreed to bring Syria back into the Arab League after more than a decade of isolation, complicating American efforts to isolate dictator Bashar al-Assad and signalling a waning of US influence in the Middle East.
In an emergency meeting in Cairo, the group voted to immediately re-admit Syria to the group of 22 Arab nations that co-ordinate on regional matters. While many Arab officials remain disdainful of Assad, they say international policies isolating Syria have proven to be counterproductive, strengthening the influence of Iran, which backs Syria.
“All the stages of the Syrian crisis have proven that there is no military solution to it and there are no winners and losers,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shokuri. Sunday’s decision would mark the start of a revived political process in the country, he said.
Syria granted some small concessions ahead of the meeting. As a precondition for admission, Damascus agreed last week in a meeting in Amman, Jordan, that 1000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan would be allowed to safely return home and that the regime would co-operate with neighbours in cracking down on illegal drug smuggling out of Syria, according to Syrian government advisers and Arab officials. There are no mechanisms to ensure that the agreement is implemented, according to Arab officials.
Read the article by Summer Said and Benoit Faucon in The Australian (from The Wall Street Journal).