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Saudi Arabi plans to invite Assad to Arab League summit — agency

According to the sources, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is expected to visit Damascus early next week to hand over an official invitation to the summit to Syrian President Bashar Assad

DUBAI, April 2. /TASS/. Saudi Arabia plans to invite Syrian President Bashar Assad to the Arab League summit in Riyadh on May 19, Reuters said on Sunday, citing two sources.

According to the sources, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is expected to visit Damascus early next week to hand over an official invitation to the summit to Assad.

Syria’s membership in the Arab League was suspended in November 2011 following escalation of the armed conflict in that country. Failing to force the Syrian authorities into concessions in favor of the opposition, most of the Arab countries recalled their ambassadors from Damascus and joined the economic boycott of Syria. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and several other countries extended military and financial assistance to illegal armed groups fighting against the Syrian government during the conflict.

In recent years, several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Bahrain, resumed the work of their diplomatic missions in Damascus but the issue of Syria’s reinstatement as an Arab League member still stirs up debates among its member nations.

The Arab League, formerly known as the League of Arab States, was set up on March 22, 1945 in Cairo by seven Arab nations, namely Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (now Jordan), and Yemen. Now, the organization has 22 member states.

Reuters said earlier citing unnamed sources that Saudi Arabia and Syria had agreed to open embassies, which had stayed closed since 2011 when the two countries severed diplomatic relations. A Saudi foreign ministry spokesman refuted these reports. In an interview with the El Ihbariye television channel, he said that Riyadh and Damascus were looking at resuming consular services for their citizens.

A diplomatic source in Beirut told TASS on March 20 that the Saudi foreign minister planned to visit Syria during the Eif al-Fitr (Uraza Bayram) holiday celebrated this year on April 22, after the Ramadan fasting. The source also said that the visit would be times to mark the opening of thee Saudi embassy in Damascus after a 12-year break.

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