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Syria’s new authorities hope for country’s return to Arab League — top diplomat

He also said that hopes that "Arab countries will establish contacts" with the new administration in Damascus so that Syria could "play a due role" in the region

TUNIS, January 18. /TASS/. Syria’s new authorities hope that Syria will ultimately return to the Arab League, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, the minister of foreign affairs in Syria’s transitional government, said.

"We hope that the Arab League will support the will of the Syrian people and we hope to return there soon," he said after a meeting with a visiting Arab League delegation led by Assistant Secretary-general Hossam Zaki. "We are looking forward to Syria’s return to the Arab League."

He also said that hopes that "Arab countries will establish contacts" with the new administration in Damascus so that Syria could "play a due role" in the region.

Zaki, in turn, said that Syria is "a key country" in the region and "what is going on there affects Arab countries." He reassured that the Arab League "is working with member nations to invigorate Syria’s participation" in its activities.

Damascus’ membership in the Arab League was suspended in November 2011 amid the domestic crisis in that country, which entailed an armed conflict. After devastating earthquakes on February 6, 2023, the majority of Arab nations opted to move closer to Syria and offered a large-scale humanitarian assistance to it.

On May 7, 2023, the Arab League Council decided to reinstate Syria as the regional community’s member and on May 19, 2023, Syria’s then President Bashar Assad took part in an Arab League summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah, for the first time since 2010.

Armed opposition units in Syria launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates in late November 2024. On December 8, they entered Damascus, while President Bashar Assad stepped down and fled the country. On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who had led the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Idlib governorate, announced his appointment as head of Syria’s interim government, saying that the transitional period will last until March 1, 2025.

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