Delegates from nine Arab nations are meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss the possibility of normalising relations with Syria and its return to the Arab League.
Ministers and top officials from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – along with those of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan were to meet on Friday at Saudi Arabia’s request.
Syria’s suspension from the Arab League was imposed after President Bashar al-Assad’s government launched a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011.
Al-Assad has been shunned by many Middle Eastern countries and is a Western pariah over the 12-year war, which has killed more than half a million people and forced about half of Syria’s pre-war population from their homes.
Saudi Arabia, which has long resisted normalisation with al-Assad, said after a rapprochement with Iran, Syria’s key regional ally, a new approach was needed with Damascus.
