Foreign ministers of nine Arab nations arrive in Jeddah to discuss Syria

Talks on Friday are expected to focus on the status of Damascus in the Arab League

Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Al Khuraiji receives Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry at the Royal Hall, in Jeddah. Photo: Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Foreign ministers from nine Arab nations have begun arriving in Jeddah for a meeting of nine Arab countries on Friday focused on ending Syria's isolation at a time of fast-paced diplomatic shifts across the region.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted a picture of the kingdom's Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Al Khuraiji welcoming Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry at the coastal city's Royal Hall on Friday afternoon.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, and the Foreign Ministers of Kuwait, Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah, and Oman, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, arrived soon after Mr Shoukry, the Saudi ministry said on Twitter.

Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and Ayman Al Safadi, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan, also arrived in Jeddah.

Friday's talks in the Red Sea city of Jeddah come two days after Syria's Foreign Minister arrived on an unannounced visit to the kingdom — the first since the outbreak of the country's civil war in 2011.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry confirmed during a press briefing that the top officials of the six GCC countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — as well as Egypt, Iraq and Jordan had been invited to Jeddah to discuss Syria.

“There are many developments regarding the situation in Syria and [the] points of view of Arab states about the return of Syria to the Arab League," Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said during the press briefing.

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, who is expected to attend the talks in Jeddah, said nothing concrete had yet been proposed.

“It is all speculation about Syria [returning] to the Arab League, and the decision is up to the Syrian people," Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Foreign Minister, said in a televised interview on Qatar TV.

“Qatar's position is clear — that there were reasons to suspend Syria's membership, and these reasons still exist," he said.

Last year, Qatar was one of the few remaining Arab countries that said it would refuse to consider the normalisation of ties with Syria.

Doha expressed hope that other countries would be discouraged from taking steps to thaw ties with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s government.

Syria’s suspension from the Arab League has been in place since the Assad government launched a brutal clampdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011.

Although the 22-nation Arab League takes decisions by a simple majority, unanimous consensus is what the kingdom will be hoping for ahead of its hosting the summit in Riyadh on May 19.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in Jeddah on Wednesday. Saudi Press Agency

“The meeting aims to overcome the Gulf's differences over Syria as much as possible," a Riyadh-based diplomat told AFP, singling out Qatar, an outspoken critic of Mr Al Assad’s government.

“I will not say taking a unified position because this will not happen, but the Saudis are trying, at least, to ensure that Qatar does not object to Syria's return to the Arab League if the issue is put to any vote," the diplomat told AFP.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad said after their meeting in Jeddah on Wednesday that they had agreed on the importance of resolving humanitarian difficulties, as well as providing an environment for aid to reach all parts of Syria.

“Both sides also discussed the necessary steps to achieve a comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis that would end all its repercussions, achieve national reconciliation and contribute to the return of Syria to the Arab fold and the resumption of its role in the Arab world,” the statement said.

Saudi political researcher and analyst Hasan Almustafa said the statement was an important one that laid out the guidelines for a road map towards the normalisation of Saudi-Syrian ties.

“Syria's return to the Arab world aims to stop violence and terrorism and limit armed factions that exploit security conditions to extend their influence. Also, the humanitarian side, the return of the displaced, reconstruction and alleviating the suffering of the Syrians … all are urgent priorities,” Mr Almustafa said.