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Aboul Gheit from Beirut: Arab League Summit Will Be Held in May

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meet in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meet in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Aboul Gheit from Beirut: Arab League Summit Will Be Held in May

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meet in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit meet in Beirut. (Dalati & Nohra)

The next Arab League summit will be held in Saudi Arabia in May, announced Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit from Beirut on Tuesday.

He said the summit is likely to focus on economic issues and how to help the neediest Arab regions.

Aboul Gheit met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri for talks on the general situation in Lebanon and the region and the latest political developments.

Speaking during his meeting with Mikati, Aboul Gheit described last week’s summit between Saudi Arabia, Iran and China in Beijing as “very positive”, adding that it will lead to “some form of political and security stability between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”

He added, however, that the regional implications of the Saudi-Iranian agreement were “not yet clear.”

Riyadh and Tehran agreed last week to restore relations under an agreement that was sponsored by China.

For his part, Mikati stressed the importance of the Arab League summit in adopting economic initiatives that would help achieve development goals of Arab countries, praising the role played by Aboul Gheit and the organizations general secretariat.

Mikati and Aboul Gheit also discussed the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development, which is organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in cooperation with the Arab League and UN agencies operating in the Arab region.

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US Links Ankara-Damascus Normalization to Political Solution in Syria

Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
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US Links Ankara-Damascus Normalization to Political Solution in Syria

Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)
Meeting between Erdogan and Assad in 2010 (Archive)

Recent statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his willingness to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to normalize relations between the two countries have sparked mixed reactions.
While the Syrian opposition sees the possibility of such a meeting despite the challenges, Damascus views the statements as a political maneuver by the Turks. Meanwhile, the United States has tied the normalization process to achieving a political solution in Syria based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254, issued in 2015.
Turkish media reported on Thursday that a US administration official, who was not named, confirmed that Washington is against normalizing relations with the Syrian regime under Assad. He emphasized that Washington cannot accept normalizing ties with Damascus without progress toward a political solution that ends the conflicts in Syria.
Meanwhile, the head of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, Hadi al-Bahra, stated that a meeting between Assad and Erdogan is possible despite the obstacles. In a statement to Reuters on Thursday, Bahra said the meeting is feasible, even though Ankara is fully aware that the Assad regime cannot currently meet its demands and understands the regime’s limitations.
Bahra pointed out that the UN-led political process remains frozen and that he had briefed US and Western officials on the latest developments in the Syrian file. On Saturday, Bahra participated in a consultative meeting in Ankara with the Syrian Negotiation Commission, along with a high-level delegation from the US State Department, during which they exchanged views on the political solution and the need to establish binding mechanisms for implementing international resolutions related to the Syrian issue.
On the other side, Assad’s special advisor, Bouthaina Shaaban, dismissed Erdogan’s announcement that Ankara is awaiting a response from Damascus regarding his meeting with Assad for normalization as another political maneuver with ulterior motives.
Shaaban, speaking during a lecture at the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was reported by Turkish media on Thursday, stated that any rapprochement between the two countries is contingent on its withdrawal of forces from Syrian territory.