Arab League Resumes Activities In Damascus, Mauritanian Ambassador Begins Duties

A beekeeper showcasing his honey production at a festival in Damascus last month (EPA)
A beekeeper showcasing his honey production at a festival in Damascus last month (EPA)
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Arab League Resumes Activities In Damascus, Mauritanian Ambassador Begins Duties

A beekeeper showcasing his honey production at a festival in Damascus last month (EPA)
A beekeeper showcasing his honey production at a festival in Damascus last month (EPA)

The Arab League resumed some of its activities in Damascus for the first time since Nov. 2011, when Arab foreign ministers decided to suspend Syria’s membership in the Arab organization.

On Sunday, the Arab Union for Productive Families and Traditional and Developed Industries launched its regional office in Damascus, during a ceremony held at the Opera House, under the auspices of the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

The Union is affiliated with the Council of Arab Economic Unity, and aims to promote social and solidarity economy, assist productive families and workers in small occupations and crafts, in addition to traditional industries. The Union also works to help the unemployed, empower them socially and economically and improve their living standard.

During a meeting in Cairo in Nov. 11, the Arab foreign ministers decided to suspend Syria’s participation in the Arab League Council and all affiliated organizations and agencies until it fully implements its pledges and provides protection for Syrian civilians. The decision was followed by the closure of Arab embassies in Damascus or the reduction of their diplomatic representation.

However, sources in Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat that the activities of some of the organizations and agencies affiliated to the Arab League in Damascus have not stopped over the past years, such as the Radio and TV Training Center, the Arab Academy for E-Business and others.

As the Syrian regime regained control of the capital and most of the Syrian territory in 2018, with the support of Russia, the country resumed its efforts, through delegations and informal contacts, to return to the Arab League.

During a press conference in Moscow with Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in mid-January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed that his country and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have agreed on several points related to Syria, including “its return to the Arab family (the League of Arab States).”

In this context, a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Damascus said that Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Meqdad received, on Sunday, the credentials of Ahmed Adi Muhammad Al-Razi, the new ambassador of Mauritania in Damascus.

The Mauritanian embassy is the third Arab country to resume its diplomatic work in Damascus, following the UAE and Bahrain, which re-opened their embassies there in 2018 without appointing an ambassador.



Israeli Warplanes Strike South of Damascus 

Smoke billows from a strike in Damascus in May 2018. (Reuters file)
Smoke billows from a strike in Damascus in May 2018. (Reuters file)
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Israeli Warplanes Strike South of Damascus 

Smoke billows from a strike in Damascus in May 2018. (Reuters file)
Smoke billows from a strike in Damascus in May 2018. (Reuters file)

Israeli warplanes hit a town south of Syria's capital as well as the southern province of Daraa late on Tuesday, residents, security sources and local broadcaster Syria TV said.

Israeli planes struck the town of Kisweh approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Damascus, a Syrian security source and Syria TV said. The security source said a military site was targeted, without providing further details.

Additional Israeli air raids hit a town in the southern province of Daraa, a resident and Syria TV said.

The Israeli military said in a statement later that it attacked military targets in southern Syria including headquarters and sites which it said contained weapons.

"The Air Force is attacking strongly in southern Syria as part of the new policy we have defined of pacifying southern Syria - and the message is clear: we will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's spokesperson said in a statement.

He added: "Any attempt by the Syrian regime forces and the country's terrorist organizations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria - will be met with fire."

Residents of Damascus and Reuters reporters in the city heard the sound of airplanes flying several low passes over the capital and a series of blasts.

The bombardment came hours after Syria condemned Israel's incursion into the country's south and demanded it withdraw, according to the closing statement of a national summit.

Israel moved forces into a UN-monitored demilitarized zone within Syria after opposition factions led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, toppled former President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel will not tolerate the presence of HTS in southern Syria, nor any other forces affiliated with the country's new rulers, and demanded the territory be demilitarized.