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Conflict in Syria

West hindering Syria’s return to Arab League, diplomat says

Syria’s Arab League membership was frozen in November 2011

© EPA/YOUSSEF BADAWI

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. The West is trying to prove the viability of its policy in the Middle East by preventing Syria from returning to the Arab League, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday.

"Attempts by our Western partners who represent and head the respective coalition to prevent Damascus’ return to the Arab League, which will be another manifestation of the failure of their policy in the region, <…> is the obstacle," she said. "No one sees any other stumbling blocks."

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Zakharova explained that the normalization of relations between Damascus and Arab countries, which is in full swing, undermines the validity of the Western concept, according to which only regime change makes it possible for a country to develop both within its borders and beyond.

The diplomat pointed out that the Arab League is an organization, which regulates life in the region, and it cannot operate effectively, if a country representing a whole gamut of problems and prospects of the region is not among its members.

Earlier reports said that the issue of Syria’s return to the Arab League would be discussed during the summit, which will be held in Tunisia on March 31, 2019.

Syria’s Arab League membership was frozen in November 2011 after the beginning of the conflict in the country. Most Arab nations recalled their ambassadors from Damascus and curbed trade ties with Syria.

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