Arab states seek to take 'leading role' in resolving Syria's internal conflict

Foreign ministers of the GCC, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq stress need to end country's humanitarian crisis during talks in Jeddah

Foreign ministers from the GCC states, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt meet in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday. Saudi Press Agency via Reuters

Foreign ministers of the Gulf Co-operation Council and Egypt, Iraq and Jordan agreed on Friday that the Arab world must play a leading role in efforts to broker a solution to Syria's war, following talks aimed at easing Damascus's isolation.

The top diplomats from GCC members Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with those of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, met in Jeddah at the invitation of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

The ministers stressed the "importance of having an Arab leadership role in efforts to end the crisis", according to a statement released by the Saudi foreign ministry.

They also discussed "the necessary mechanisms for this role" and agreed to intensify "consultations among Arab countries to ensure the success of these efforts".

Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 over the government's violent crackdown on protests against President Bashar Al Assad's rule. The protests escalated into a civil war that has claimed more than half a million lives and forced about half of the population from their homes, including millions who fled to neighbouring countries.

A gradual easing of the Assad government's isolation gained impetus after the devastating February 6 earthquake that left millions of people in southern Turkey and northern Syria in need of aid. Foreign ministers of several Arab states visited Damascus to offer condolences to Mr Al Assad and offer humanitarian support for the quake victims, most of whom live in the last rebel-held region in the Syria's north-west.

In the latest sign of easing tensions with Damascus, which remains under western sanctions over the war, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad travelled to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday — the first such visit since the war began — for talks with Prince Faisal in Jeddah.

Mr Mekdad and his Saudi counterpart discussed "the necessary steps" to end Damascus's isolation, according to a Saudi statement on Wednesday.

At the foreign ministers' meeting on Friday, top Arab diplomats "agreed on the importance of resolving the humanitarian crisis" in Syria and securing conditions that would allow for refugee returns, according to the Saudi Foreign Ministry statement.

The ministers also stressed the importance of "combating terrorism in all its forms and organisations, combating drug smuggling and trafficking, and the importance of state institutions preserving Syria's sovereignty over its lands to end the presence of armed militias there, and external interference in Syrian internal affairs".

The Jeddah meeting is one of a flurry of initiatives following an agreement last month by Saudi Arabia and Iran, a key backer of Mr Al Assad, to restore diplomatic relations after a gap of seven years.

On Friday, an exchange of nearly 900 prisoners from Yemen's civil war between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the government got under way.

The Saudi ambassador to Yemen visited Sanaa, Yemen's rebel-held capital, this week for talks with the Houthis on ending the devastating civil war that has raged since a Saudi-led military coalition intervened on behalf of the government in 2015.

And late on Wednesday, Qatar and Bahrain agreed to re-establish relations that were suspended during an Arab boycott of Doha from 2017 to 2021.

The flurry of diplomatic moves has raised the prospects of Syria being readmitted to the Arab League at a meeting in Saudi Arabia next month

Although the Arab League takes decisions by consensus, unanimous agreement is unlikely, a Riyadh-based diplomat who declined to be identified said.

"The meeting aims to overcome the Gulf differences over Syria as much as possible," the diplomat told AFP, singling out Qatar.

"The Saudis are trying at least to ensure that Qatar does not object to Syria's return to the Arab League if the issue is put to any vote," the diplomat said.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman dismissed talk of Syria's readmission in a television interview on Thursday, saying: "There is nothing proposed, it is all speculation."