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2024-09-17 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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The process of Syria's return to the 'Arab family' has received new impetus
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Dmitry Polyakov
[REGNUM] On September 10, the second meeting of the Arab Committee for Relations with Syria took place. The event took place in Cairo on the sidelines of the summit of the heads of the Arab League (LAS) foreign ministries. Oddly enough, the event received virtually no coverage in either the world or Russian media, although in fact it is extremely important for understanding the essence of the processes in the region.
The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the Secretary General of the Arab League. The final statement said that the parties had decided to “form a group of experts to study the topics that the Committee will work on together with the Syrian Arab Republic, and will hold its next meeting in Baghdad.”
At first glance, it may seem like a passing event. However, this is not entirely true, especially given the chronology of the Syrian-Arab normalization.
SLOWING DOWN THE PROCESS
The process of restoring relations between Damascus and the Arab states, which were practically severed with the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, was intensified after the devastating earthquake that occurred in the SAR in early 2023. The humanitarian aspect became a reason justifying the inevitability of interaction with the Syrian government.
Riyadh played a leading role in resuming ties. Its actions launched the process of Syria's return to the Arab League. To this end, Saudi Arabia initiated a series of preparatory meetings, the central one being the Inter-Arab Conference in the Jordanian capital on May 1, 2023.
The participants of the event developed a formula in which the restoration of relations with Damascus will not be one-sided, and the Syrian authorities must also make efforts towards this.
In order for full normalization to be launched and for Syria to be able to count on the participation of Arab states in the reconstruction of the country, it was required to begin the process of political reform, resume the work of the Constitutional Committee, create conditions for the return of refugees, withdraw foreign troops, and take measures to combat cross-border smuggling and drug trafficking. The demands presented were formulated in the final document, which was called the "Amman Statement."
It is important that Damascus was returned to the "Arab family" in advance. At the May 2023 Arab League summit in Jeddah, the resumption of the Bashar al-Assad government's membership in the pan-Arab organization was announced. The event was presented as a success of Syrian diplomacy.
But it was from this point on that further normalization began to stall. The key reason was Syria's slow implementation of its commitments.
To monitor Damascus's actions, an Arab Committee for Relations with Syria was created, the first meeting of which was held on August 15, 2023. The meeting was indicative. By the time it began, none of the conditions had been met. Moreover, the Syrian delegation made its proposals for resolving some issues.
For example, the resumption of the work of the Constitutional Committee and the implementation of political reforms were linked to the provision by Arab countries of guarantees to lift sanctions against the SAR. Moreover, the Syrian side insisted that the document signed following the results of the Inter-Arab Conference was not binding.
After that meeting, the Arab Committee was unable to meet for over a year. The parties were closest to resuming its work in the spring of 2024, with a meeting scheduled for May 8 in Baghdad. However, the day before the scheduled date, the event was postponed.
According to the Syrian government newspaper Al-Watan, the decision was made at the request of one of the committee members. According to the Arab press, Jordan was behind the postponement: Amman was unhappy with the lack of progress in the fight against cross-border smuggling and drug trafficking.
The Hashemite Kingdom is the most affected party in this matter, because it is through its territory that all illegal traffic from Syria to the Persian Gulf countries passes. In this regard, Jordanian law enforcement forces are forced to act, including on the territory of their northern neighbor.
Another important demand that has stalled is the resumption of the work of the Constitutional Committee. Until May 2022, its meetings were held in Geneva. But since Switzerland has de facto ceased to be a neutral party, as demonstrated in the Ukrainian conflict, Russia has proposed choosing a new negotiating platform. And Syria has agreed to this idea.
The new site was supposed to be Oman, and work was supposed to resume at the end of 2023. But it didn’t work out.
The media reported that the ninth round of the Constitutional Committee was to take place in the spring of 2024, and that one of the Arabian monarchies would act as the host. However, the work has not resumed. This indicates that the parties are still far from resolving the issue.
The refugee issue also remains a fundamental issue. In fact, the process of returning Syrian refugees home has been suspended for a year now. Lebanon suffers the most from this.
In the spring, this even caused an internal political crisis in the "land of cedars". The Syrians represent a huge burden on the economy of the neighboring country, which has been on its last legs for several years. Therefore, the Lebanese government began to simply deport people back to Syria.
SYRIA IS STEPPING UP ITS ACTIVITIES
Given the pile of unresolved issues, even the fact that the meeting took place within the Arab Committee is already a success. This shows that the parties still count on dialogue.
Yes, the demands of the committee members have not changed. They still expect Damascus to fulfill the conditions outlined in the "Amman Statement." This was also stated on September 9 at the 161st session of the Council of Ministers of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) in Riyadh.
Therefore, the main conclusion from the current meeting in Cairo is that in a year neither the positions of the Arab countries nor the position of the Syrian government have changed. However, the parties are not abandoning the process.
For the leading Arabian monarchies, Syria's return to the "Arab family" is primarily a question of reducing Iran's influence within the SAR. In addition, there is an interest in integrating Damascus into future economic projects.
So in 2024 they took a number of steps towards each other: in May, air traffic with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia was relaunched, and the day before the meeting, Riyadh announced the resumption of its diplomatic mission in the Syrian capital.
Meanwhile, for Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, fulfilling the conditions is a matter of national security. Accordingly, it is also in their interests to keep the process active.
The Syrian government also understands that their actions have led to nothing over the past year. In the conditions of an acute socio-economic crisis, the country needs outside help. Considering that Iran has already taken most of the assets it needs and is not trying to increase its support, and Russian business has significantly reduced its presence, Damascus will still have to seek help from the Arabs.
That is why the Syrian authorities are taking some counter-measures. For example, they have reshuffled the security forces, in order, among other things, to tighten control over the southern border.
Related from regnum.ru
Al-Watan: Budanov personally contacts terrorists in Syria to recruit them into the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov personally contacts the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation) Abu Muhammad al-Julani to recruit terrorists to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was reported on September 16 by the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan.
According to the publication's sources close to the opposition militias in the Syrian province of Idlib, the actions of Ukrainian intelligence in this region to search for people from post-Soviet countries willing to fight against Russia have already become public. Active work in this direction began two months ago.
“The head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kiril Budanov, maintains contact with <…> Abu Muhammad al-Julani in order to send terrorist mercenaries with experience in the Syrian war to Ukraine to take part in battles against the Russian army,” the publication says.
The newspaper noted that Russia already knows about this, so it is expected that the Russian Armed Forces will intensify strikes on terrorist camps in Idlib, where mercenaries are recruited to be sent to Ukraine.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on September 12 that Ukrainian emissaries are in Idlib to recruit Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militants to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He added that the Kiev regime is also interested in other regions in this matter.
On September 10, the Turkish newspaper Aydinlik reported on the Kiev regime's negotiations with representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to recruit terrorists to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian agents also asked the group to release those who want to fight against Russia from their prisons, and offered 75 drones in exchange.
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Posted by badanov 2024-09-17 00:00||
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