Syria won’t surrender to blackmail over Arab League return: Deputy FM

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad says his country will eventually return to the Arab League, stressing that the Damascus government will never surrender to blackmail or accept conditions for the restoration of its membership to the regional organization.

“Those who are trying to ignore Syria or to impose conditions for its return to the Arab League will not succeed, since Syria will not surrender to blackmail and is not primarily concerned with anything other than its domestic problems,” Mekdad said.

He added that certain anti-Syria decisions are being made by some Arab states on the instructions of extra-regional powers.

“We monitor all developments concerning Syria's return to the Arab League and the reopening of diplomatic missions in Damascus. Nevertheless, the pressures that we are facing at regional and international levels pose serious challenges to this process,” the senior Syrian official pointed out.

PressTV-Tunisia urges Arab League to restore Syria’s membership

Tunisia's foreign minister has called for the restoration of Syria’s membership in the Arab League.

The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in November 2011, citing alleged crackdown by Damascus on opposition protests. Syria denounced the move as "illegal and a violation of the organization’s charter.”

On January 26, Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui called on the Arab League to restore Syria’s membership, saying the “natural place” of the country is within the 22-member regional organization.

PressTV-Lebanon FM calls for Syria's return to Arab League

Lebanon's Caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has called for reinstating Syria into the Arab League.

“Syria is an Arab state, and its natural place is within the Arab League,” Jhinaoui said during a news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Tunis.

“The question of Syria returning to the Arab League does not depend on Tunisia but on the Arab League,” he noted, adding, “The foreign ministers (of member states) will decide on this subject.”

Tunisia is scheduled to host the 30th annual summit of the Arab League in March.

PressTV-Iraqi FM: Baghdad backs Syria’s return to Arab League

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Hakim says Baghdad supports the restoration of Syria's suspended membership of the Arab League.

The issue of possible restoration of Syria’s membership to the Arab League comes especially after a recent move by some Arab countries to re-open their embassies in Damascus.

Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on December 28, 2018 that work at the kingdom’s embassy “in the Syrian Arab Republic was going on whilst the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Kingdom of Bahrain was carrying out its duties and flights connecting the two countries were operational without interruption.”

This came a day after the United Arab Emirates officially reopened its embassy in Damascus.

PressTV-'UAE embassy move proves failure of anti-Syria plots'

An analyst says the UAE’s reopening of its embassy in Damascus and the US’s announcement that it will withdraw its forces from Syria reflects the failure of plots targeting the country.

The Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the reopening of its embassy “reaffirms the keenness of the United Arab Emirates to restore relations between the two friendly countries to their normal course.”

The move “will strengthen and activate the Arab role in supporting the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to prevent the dangers of regional interference in Syrian Arab affairs,” the ministry pointed out.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

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