Syria took another major step toward ending a decade of isolation as Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Egypt on Sunday voted to allow the regime of President Bashar Assad back into the fold.
Despite reservations expressed by the Biden administration, the ministers backed a partial lifting of the 12-year suspension on Damascus sparked by the outbreak of a brutal civil war that divided many countries in the region, Gamal Roshdy, spokesman for the Arab League’s secretary general, told reporters in Cairo.
The closed-door vote came just before a scheduled Arab League summit hosted by Saudi Arabia on May 19 which is expected to offer more details on Syria’s path back to full normalization. It was unclear if Mr. Assad would be invited to attend the Saudi summit.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Sunday’s action clears the way for Mr. Assad to take part in the summit, although he stressed Syria’s pariah status has not been completely lifted.
“This doesn’t mean that the Syria crisis has been resolved. On the contrary,” he said. “But it allows the Arab [states] for the first time in years to communicate with the Syrian government to discuss all the problems.”
Many Arab governments still have not restored formal diplomatic relations with Syria, and the Arab League move will not affect that.
The Assad government has managed to restore control over much of the country, getting critical help from Russia and Iran, although pockets of Syria remain in the hands of anti-government rebels and of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurd forces.
More than 500,000 soldiers and civilians are estimated to have died in the war, and Syria’s neighbors still harbor millions of refugees who fled the fighting at home.
Multiple Arab governments have reached out to Mr. Assad in recent months, a process accelerated by the need for aid to Syrian residents hit by a devastating earthquake along the Turkish border in early February.
It was not clear if Arab League ministers were prepared for a full restoration of Syria’s membership, with several countries still harboring reservations about the Assad regime.
Iran remains a major military supporter of Syria, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi last week made the first trip by an Iranian leader to Damascus since 2010.
Syria’s diplomatic rehabilitation has gone ahead despite clear unhappiness in Washington.
“The U.S. does not support normalization with the Syrian regime, nor do we support other countries, including our partners and allies, partaking in normalization either,” State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters Thursday.
With U.S. and international sanctions still in place on the Assad regime, the Arab League vote is not expected to open up a flood of investment and international aid to help rebuild Syria’s economy, devastated after more than a decade of conflict. But it likely means Washington’s efforts to isolate and eventually drive Mr. Assad from power are rapidly losing steam in the region.
But Jordan, considered a U.S. ally in the region, hosted regional talks last week on Syria that included both Saudi Arabia and Egypt, outlining a process to gradually normalize ties with the Assad regime.
Jordan’s foreign minister told The Associated Press the gathering was the “beginning of an Arab-led political path” for a solution to the crisis.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, speaking before Sunday’s vote, added that “the different stages of the Syrian crisis proved that it has no military solution, and that there is no victor nor defeated in this conflict.”
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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