Arab League summit in Jeddah would have been pointless without Syria’s Assad: Top Hezbollah official

The Arab League summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah would have been pointless without the participation of the Syrian president, says a senior official of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem made the remarks on Saturday during a ceremony in the southern Lebanese region of Beqaa.

The Arab League summit would have become absurd and unproductive without Assad attending the 32nd regular session of the 22-member bloc – the first such participation since the foreign-backed militancy began in Syria more than a decade ago, he said, emphasizing that such a fact reflects the “role and position” of Damascus in the Arab world.

“Assad’s participation pulled the plug on all anti-Syria plots,” Sheikh Qassem said. “All those conspiracies developed over the past 12 years with the intent to ruin Syria, undercut its political position, and surrender it to the Tel Aviv regime have now completely failed. We have entered a new stage.”

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He also said his group has long called on Lebanese authorities to strengthen ties with Syria and the Axis of Resistance and confront the Israeli apartheid regime, which is the real enemy of Muslims and has been in collaboration with Daesh and other Takfiri terrorists. 

“The resistance front proved once again that it can alter existing equations and set out its own conditions in the region,” Sheikh Qassem added.

During his address at the Arab League summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah, Assad hoped for increased cooperation between regional states, saying, “I hope that it marks the beginning of a new phase of Arab action for solidarity among us, for peace in our region, development and prosperity instead of war and destruction.”

He noted that the gaps between Syria and other Arab states that have emerged over the last decade must be addressed, and the most important thing is to let the people manage their internal affairs and avoid external interference.

Syria's Assad in Saudi Arabia to attend Arab League summit for 1st time in over decade

Syrian President Assad has arrived in Saudi Arabia to take part in an Arab League summit upon an official invitation from King Salman.

Arab government representatives in Cairo voted on May 7 to return Syria to the Arab League after a 12-year suspension.

All 13 of the 22 member states that attended the session endorsed the decision.

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

Syria was one of the six founding members of the Arab League in 1945. In recent months, an increasing number of countries and political parties have called for the reversal of its suspension from the Arab League.

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