Foreign ministers from Arab League member states have voted to reinstate Syria’s membership after its suspension more than 10 years ago.
The vote took place following a meeting of top regional diplomats from Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria in Jordan last week, reported Al Jazeera.
The decision was made at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo on Sunday ahead of the Arab League Summit in Saudi Arabia on 19 May.
Syria was suspended from the Arab League after President Bashar al-Assad ordered a crackdown on protesters in March 2011 that pushed the country into a civil war.
The Syrian civil war has claimed the lives of nearly half a million people and displaced another 23 million.
On Sunday, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said al-Assad can attend the Arab League summit later this month “if he wishes to”. He said:
If he wishes, because Syria, starting from this evening, is a full member of the Arab League, and from tomorrow morning they have the right to occupy any seat.
When the invitation is sent by the hosting country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and if he wishes to participate, he will participate.
Syria called on Sunday for Arab states to show “mutual respect”, after the Arab League voted to readmit it.
Some Arab League members namely Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar had opposed al-Assad’s presence at the summit.
They said an invitation before Damascus agrees to negotiate a peace plan would be premature.
The United States has said it will not change its policy towards the Syrian government, deeming it a “rogue” state.
The Arab League is a regional organisation of Arab countries in and around North Africa and the Middle East.
It was established in 1945 with the goal of promoting closer political, economic, cultural, and social ties among its member states.
It draws its membership from Africa and the Middle East.
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