THE Syria ended more than ten years of diplomatic isolation in its context Arab Leagueas Syrian officials today participated in a preparatory meeting ahead of next Friday’s summit in Saudi Arabia.

“I welcome the Syrian Arab Republic to the League of Arab States,” Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaann said during the meeting in Jeddah, which was broadcast live on Al-Ekhbariya public television.

It is the first time that Syrian officials have participated in a meeting of the Arab League since November 2011when the agency suspended the participation of the president’s regime Bashar al-Assaddue to the violent crackdown on protests that turned into a conflict that has killed at least 500,000 people and displaced millions more.

The background behind the “reconnection”

In a regional context of diplomatic rapprochements, the League readmitted the Syrian regime on May 7, thus ensuring Assad’s return to the organization.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had on May 10 invited the Syrian president to the annual summit to be held on Friday, May 19 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea. This is his first participation since 2010, when the summit took place in Libya.

Regional capitals have slowly come around to Assad, who has held on to power and regained ground he had lost with the crucial support of Iran and Russia, although the government still does not control large swaths of northern Syria.

The United Arab Emirates restored relations with Syria in 2018 and recently took the lead in efforts to readmit Damascus.

Diplomatic activity has mostly recovered since the deadly earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey on February 6.

Riyadh, which cut ties with the Syrian government in 2012, confirmed last week that diplomatic missions in Syria and Saudi Arabia had resumed work.
However, some countries are wary of re-engaging with Assad, such as Qatar, which has said it will not normalize relations with the Syrian government.