Syria should return to the Arab League, since it is one of the founding members, and its presence is crucial for regional security, Hassan Mansour, a diplomatic official in charge of strategic planning at the Libyan Government of National Accord's Foreign Ministry, told Sputnik in an interview.
BENGHAZI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2018) Syria should return to the Arab League, since it is one of the founding members, and its presence is crucial for regional security, Hassan Mansour, a diplomatic official in charge of strategic planning at the Libyan Government of National Accord's Foreign Ministry, told Sputnik in an interview.
"Syria should return to its place in the Arab League, as it is a founding country, and its presence is important and necessary, especially given the sensitive period that the region is going through," Mansour said.
He voiced hope that Syria would be invited to the Arab League summits, set to take place in Beirut, Cairo and Tunis in 2019.
Mansour also said that the defeat of terrorists in Syria, which Damascus achieved with its allies' support, would promote a better diplomatic climate in relations with Syria. He praised the re-opening of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy in Damascus after a six-year-break as a particularly important step.
"The opening of the UAE Embassy in Syria is a step toward improving inter-Arab relations in general, and relations with Syria in particular. This step comes as part of the coordinated activation of Arab states toward Damascus, which is a key Arab capital," Mansour said in conclusion.
When civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, over 30 countries closed their embassies or relocated diplomatic staff to Beirut. The UAE, which closed its diplomatic mission in 2012, became on Thursday the first Arab country to restore the work of its embassy in Syria.
The beginning of the Syrian civil war has also triggered the suspension of its membership in the Arab League, a regional bloc uniting 22 states.
On December 19, a source in the Tunisian presidential administration told Sputnik that several Arab states, including Tunisia and Algeria, were coordinating their efforts to bring Syria back to the Arab League.
