aljazeera
It’s been more than a decade after Bashar al-Assad, the esteemed president of war-torn Syria, has been welcomed back into the Arab soil. Al-Assad attended the regional bloc’s 32nd summit that kicked off in Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jeddah for the first time since his country’s suspension following the eruption of war in Syria in 2011.
In the said speech, he referred to the summit as a “historic opportunity” to address the crisis spreading across the region as hundreds protested in rebel-held northern Syria against his participation in the summit. “I hope that it marks the beginning of a new phase of Arab action for solidarity among us, for peace in our region, development and prosperity instead of war and destruction,” al-Assad told the summit attendees. He further claimed that Syria would always belong to the Arab world but called for non-interference in the internal affairs of Arab states, as stated in his words, “It is important to leave internal affairs to the country’s people as they are best able to manage their own affairs.”
As all the influential leaders walked towards the main hall, al-Assad exchanged greetings with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, among others. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the de facto ruler of the kingdom, hugged al-Assad before their official picture was taken ahead of the start of the meeting. He hoped Syria’s “return to the Arab League leads to the end of its crisis”. Syria’s Arab League membership was revoked after al-Assad ordered a crackdown on protesters in March 2011 that spiralled the country into a severe state of war which has since then killed nearly half a million people and displaced another 23 million. Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia, who at a time was heavily influenced by the United States, has taken the diplomatic lead in the Arab world in the past year, re-establishing ties with Iran, welcoming Syria back to the fold, and mediating in the Sudan conflict. The renewed re-establishment of ties between Riyadh and Damascus would serve as the most significant development yet in moves by Arab states to normalise ties with al-Assad.