Syrian Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Assad to Attend Arab Summit

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.
TT

Syrian Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Assad to Attend Arab Summit

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on May 7, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) Image used for illustrative purpose.

A senior Syrian official affirmed on Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad will be in Jeddah to take part in Friday’s Arab League summit.

 

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Susan, said in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat that “Syrian President Bashar Assad will be present in Jeddah”.

 

For the first time in 12 years, Syria will participate in the preparatory meeting of senior officials for the Arab League Summit, scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia on 19 May.

 

Susan said it is common sense to have the summit held in politically-moderate Saudi Arabia.

 

In his remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Susan said that everyone wants the summit to be a prelude for a new phase.

 

“The importance of holding the summit in Saudi Arabia is unquestionable because it is evident and clear. Saudi Arabia, with its weight and moderate policies, everyone hopes that the Jeddah summit would pave the way for a new phase amid atmospheres of optimism.”

 



Italy Says Suspending EU Sanctions on Syria Could Help Encourage Transition

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (SANA via AP)
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (SANA via AP)
TT

Italy Says Suspending EU Sanctions on Syria Could Help Encourage Transition

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (SANA via AP)
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (SANA via AP)

Italy's foreign minister says a moratorium on European Union sanctions on Syria could help encourage the country's transition after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad by opposition groups.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Syria on Friday and expressed Italy’s keen interest in helping Syria recover from civil war, rebuild its broken economy and help stabilize the region.

Tajani, who met with Syria’s new de facto leaders, including Ahmed al-Sharaa, said a stable Syria and Lebanon was of strategic and commercial importance to Europe.

He said the fall of Assad's government, as well as the Lebanon parliament's vote on Thursday to elect army commander Joseph Aoun as president, were signs of optimism for Middle East stability.

He said Italy wanted to play a leading role in Syria’s recovery and serve as a bridge between Damascus and the EU, particularly given Italy’s commercial and strategic interests in the Mediterranean.

“The Mediterranean can no longer just be a sea of death, a cemetery of migrants but a sea of commerce a sea of development,” he said.

Tajani later traveled to Lebanon and met with Aoun. Italy has long played a sizeable role in the UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon, UNIFIL.

On the eve of his visit, Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and officials from Britain, France and Germany as well as the EU foreign policy chief. He said that meeting of the so-called Quintet on Syria was key to begin the discussion about a change to the EU sanctions.

“The sanctions were against the Assad regime. If the situation has changed, we have to change our choices,” Tajani said.