Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki said Friday that Syria’s return to the organization was “inevitable.”
He remarked, however, that ending the suspension of its membership requires Arab consensus.
He made his comments during a press conference in Beirut ahead of the weekend’s Arab Economic and Social Development Summit (AESD).
“In 2011, Syria’s membership was suspended. The country was not expelled from the Arab League. Its return is therefore, normal,” he explained.
On Thursday, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit had also stated the Damascus’ return hinges on Arab consensus.
“This issue is sensitive and we must recognize that Syria is a founding member of the Arab League,” he said after holding talks with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
As of this moment, he added, this consensus is not yet available.
Syria's membership in the 22-member Arab League was suspended in 2011 after the Syrian regime’s military crackdown on protesters calling for reforms. The protests later turned into an armed insurgency and full-blown war. With crucial political and military backing from Russia and Iran, Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad is largely seen as having won the war, and some Arab states are calling for readmitting Syria back into the Arab fold.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had in December paid a visit to Syria, making him the first Arab leader to do so since the conflict erupted.
This move was followed by the United Arab Emirates’ reopening of its embassy in Damascus.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II had also recently said that his country was working on restoring ties with its neighbor.
Arab countries had withdrawn their diplomatic missions from Damascus in March 2012.
On Thursday, Speaker of the People's Council of Syria Hammouda Sabbagh received a delegation from the Jordanian Construction Contractors Association to discuss his country’s reconstruction after the war, reported state news agency SANA.
He hoped to bolster cooperation between Syrian and Jordanian unions during the reconstruction phase, adding that Damascus was closer, now more than ever, “to declaring the final victory.”
Head of the Association Ahmed Yaacoub hoped to restore ties between Amman and Damascus to the way they were before the conflict.
