Algeria’s foreign minister expressed his country's support for Syria's return to the Arab League during a visit to Damascus on Monday.
Syria, now in its 12th year of civil war, was suspended from the 22-member group after the conflict broke out in 2011 and President Bashar Al Assad's violent crackdown on protests.
“Syria’s absence from the Arab League harms co-operation between Arab countries,” said Algerian Foreign Affairs Minister Ramtane Lamamra at a news conference with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad.
“Syria is co-ordinating with Algeria and several Arab countries to revisit the status of Syria’s membership in the league," Mr Mekdad said.
The civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced half the country’s population and left large parts of Syria destroyed.
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A Syrian child, displaced with their family from Deir Ezzor, plays with her doll inside the damaged building where she is living in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. All photos: AFP -
Syrian girls, displaced with their family from Deir Ezzor, look at the camera inside the damaged building where they are living in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. -
A view of a damaged building housing internally displaced Syrians from Deir Ezzor in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. -
A Syrian girl, displaced with her family from Deir Ezzor, looks at the camera inside the damaged building where she is living in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. -
A Syrian boy, displaced with his family from Deir Ezzor, watches inside the damaged building where he is living in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. -
A Syrian mother, displaced with her family from Deir Ezzor, rocks a baby to sleep inside the damaged building where she is living in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. -
Syrian children, displaced with their family from Deir Ezzor, stand on the balcony of a damaged building where they are living in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. -
Syrian children, displaced with their family from Deir Ezzor, play in a damaged building where they now live in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. -
A Syrian boy, displaced with his family from Deir Ezzor, looks at the camera inside the damaged building where he is living in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. -
A Syrian mother, displaced with her family from Deir Ezzor, rocks a baby to sleep inside the damaged building where she is living in Syria's northern city of Raqqa.
But with Mr Assad regaining control over most of the country, thanks to military assistance from allies Iran and Russia, Arab countries have inched towards restoring ties, most notably the UAE and Bahrain.
In October, Jordan's King Abdullah II received a call from Mr Assad, the first between the two leaders in a decade.
Algeria will host the 2022 Arab League summit in November, and the Assad government in Damascus is eager to continue rekindling regional diplomatic relations.
Mr Lamamra also met Mr Assad and delivered a letter from Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboun.
