Arab FMs Welcome Syria’s Return to the Arab League Ahead of Jeddah Summit

General view of the Arab league's foreign ministers meeting ahead of the Arab Summit, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 17, 2023. (SPA)
General view of the Arab league's foreign ministers meeting ahead of the Arab Summit, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 17, 2023. (SPA)
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Arab FMs Welcome Syria’s Return to the Arab League Ahead of Jeddah Summit

General view of the Arab league's foreign ministers meeting ahead of the Arab Summit, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 17, 2023. (SPA)
General view of the Arab league's foreign ministers meeting ahead of the Arab Summit, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 17, 2023. (SPA)

Arab foreign ministers Wednesday in Saudi Arabia welcomed back Syria to the Arab League and called for a ceasefire in conflict-hit Sudan ahead of the organization's annual summit taking place in the kingdom.

This year's summit, starting Friday in the city of Jeddah, will mark the readmittance of war-torn Syria into the 22-member league, after a 12-year suspension.

Syria's membership was frozen following Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown on the 2011 mass protests against his rule. The country quickly descended into a civil war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Wednesday that the region is at a crossroads, facing a host of challenges. He called for cooperation between Arab countries to achieve security, stability and economic prosperity.

Prince Faisal also welcomed Syria’s return, as did the league's Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad after the meeting told reporters that he hopes Arab governments will help with reconstruction and Syrian refugee returns.

He hinted that Assad will attend the summit Friday. “Per usual, Syria cannot be absent from any summit,” he said.

Syria’s return to the Arab fold comes as Damascus is also trying to amend ties with Türkiye, a key backer of the armed Syrian opposition groups in the country’s northwest.

The summit also comes as Arab governments are scrambling to resolve the conflict in Sudan between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting in the East African country, which broke out in mid-April, has left over 600 people dead and displaced tens of thousands.

In Wednesday's meeting, top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria called for a ceasefire in Sudan and an end to the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.



Iraqi Oil Minister: Kurdistan Region's Oil Exports to Resume Next Week

A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
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Iraqi Oil Minister: Kurdistan Region's Oil Exports to Resume Next Week

A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters
A view shows the al-Shuaiba oil refinery in southwest Basra, Iraq April 20, 2017. Reuters

Oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region will resume next week, Iraq's oil minister said on Monday, resolving a near two-year dispute as ties between Baghdad and Erbil improve.
The oil flows were halted by Türkiye in March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorized pipeline exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government between 2014 and 2018.

"Tomorrow, a delegation from the Ministry of Oil... will visit the Kurdish region to negotiate the mechanism for receiving oil from the region and exporting it. The export process will resume within a week," Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters.

According to Reuters, he added that Baghdad would receive 300,000 barrels per day from the region.

Erbil-based Rudaw TV earlier cited Kurdistan's natural resources minister, Kamal Mohammed, as saying oil exports could resume before March as all legal procedures have been completed.

The Iraqi parliament approved a budget amendment this month to subsidize production costs for international oil companies operating in Kurdistan, a move aimed at unblocking northern oil exports.

The resumption is expected to ease economic pressure in the Kurdistan region, where the halt has led to salary delays for public sector workers and cuts to essential services.