Iraq, Jordan want Syria to return to Arab League after long suspension

In this file picture, Arab foreign ministers take part in their 153rd annual session at the Arab League headquarters in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo on March 4, 2020. (By AFP)

Iraq and Jordan have called for the restoration of Syria’s membership in the Arab League as a founding member of the regional organization, more than a decade after it was suspended from the 22-member bloc.

Speaking at the 34th conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad on Saturday, Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives Mohammed al-Halbousi called upon “all Arab countries, both at parliamentary and state levels, to adopt a final decision on Syria’s return to the Arab diplomatic fold.”

He urged Arab states to help worn-torn Syria perform its Arab, regional and international role effectively, work diligently for the country’s stability and reconstruction of its badly damaged infrastructure, and assist Syrian refugees to return to their homeland.

“Syria is facing a difficult situation in the aftermath of the February 6, devastating earthquake, which claimed thousands of lives and caused severe damage to public and private properties. We should all assume our responsibilities and help Syria overcome the repercussions of the crisis,” Halbousi said.

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“The international community is going through very difficult circumstances, which require further collective and deliberate efforts in order to maintain stability and security. Food security was on top of the agenda during the recent session of the Executive Committee of the Arab Parliamentary Union held in the Egyptian capital Cairo, and proposed initiatives to address the issue were thoroughly discussed,” he pointed out.

The top Iraqi legislator went on to censure the brutal Israeli military raid on the northern West Bank city of Nablus, where at least 11 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded on February 22.

“Iraq condemns in the strongest terms the attacks by Israeli occupation forces against our Palestinian brethren and sisters. We reiterate our firm and principled support for the Palestinian issue, irrespective of the time span needed for its resolution and all international challenges that it would entail,” Halbousi said.

“We strongly believe that our Palestinian brethren reserve the legitimate right to establish their own sovereign independent state with the holy city of al-Quds as its capital,” he said.

Moreover, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi described it as necessary for Syria to return to the Arab League.

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“Syria represents the history, glory and civilization of the Arab world. It sufferings have exacerbated after the terrible earthquake disaster. This requires us to send more humanitarian aids to noble Syrians. We want Syria to act as an active and effective member of the Arab League in its decision-making,” Safadi  said.

The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011, citing an alleged crackdown by Damascus on opposition protests. Syria has denounced the move as “illegal and a violation of the organization’s charter.”

Syria was one of the six founding members of the Arab League in 1945. In recent months, an increasing number of countries and political parties have called for the reversal of its suspension from the Arab League