Global Courant 2023-05-19 23:22:43
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was given a warm welcome at an Arab summit on Friday and given a hug by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince at a gathering of leaders who had shunned him for years, in a policy change opposed by the US and other Western powers .
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shook hands with a beaming Assad as the summit in Jeddah kicked off and turned the page on enmity toward a leader who was backed by Shiite Iran and Russia to beat back his enemies in the Syrian civil war .
The summit showcased Saudi Arabia’s redoubled efforts to assert dominance on the global stage, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance and Crown Prince Mohammed reiterating Riyadh’s willingness to mediate the war with Russia.
Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia, once heavily influenced by the United States, has taken diplomatic leadership in the Arab world in the past year, restoring ties with Iran, welcoming Syria back and mediating in the Sudan conflict.
With many Arab states hoping that Assad will now take steps to distance Syria from Shiite Iran, Assad said “the country’s past, present and future is Arabism,” but without mentioning Tehran — for decades a close Syrian ally.
In an apparent swipe at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has supported Syrian rebels and sent Turkish troops into parts of northern Syria, Assad pointed to the “danger of expansionist Ottoman thinking”, describing it as influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood – an Islamic group viewed as an enemy by Damascus and many other Arab states.
Crown Prince Mohammed said he hoped Syria’s “return to the Arab League will lead to the end of the crisis,” 12 years after Arab states suspended Syria when it became embroiled in a civil war that has killed more than 350,000 people.
Saudi Arabia would “not allow our region to turn into a field of conflict,” he said, saying the page had turned on “painful years of struggle.”
Washington has objected to any move toward normalization with Assad, saying progress must first be made toward a political resolution of the conflict.
Zelenskyy, who wants to build support for Kiev’s fight against Russia, asked delegates to support Ukraine’s peace formula and thanked Riyadh for his role in brokering the release of prisoners last year.
In a letter to the summit, President Vladimir Putin said Russia attached “great importance to the development of friendly relations and constructive partnership” with regional states.
Gulf states have tried to remain neutral in the Ukraine conflict despite Western pressure on Gulf oil producers to help isolate Russia, a fellow OPEC+ member.
Arab leaders in attendance included Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who said in 2018 that the region could not tolerate “a war criminal” like Assad. Qatar has reluctantly withdrawn its opposition to Riyadh’s move to take back Syria.
Finding a political solution to the 12-year-old conflict remains a major dilemma for Arab and Western countries.
According to UNHCR, more than 14 million Syrians have fled their homes since 2011 and about 6.8 million remain internally displaced in their own country, where 90% of the population lives below the poverty line. About 5.5 million Syrian refugees live in neighboring countries Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
