Saudi prince Badr bin Sultan, deputy governor of the Mecca district, met Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad at the Jeddah airport, who arrived at the Arab League summit.
A week ago, the Arab League restored the membership of Damascus, although the unresolved conflict continues in Syria. Bashar al-Assad attends the summit for the first time since 2010. During the years of the civil war, Assad has only visited Russia and Iran, and Damascus’ exit from international isolation has been outlined in the past two years. The Syrian newspaper Al-Watan reported that Assad is likely to hold several bilateral meetings in Jeddah.
The February earthquake, which caused a wave of solidarity, apparently contributed to the normalization of relations. Washington strongly opposes any rapprochement with the Syrian regime and insists on the need to resolve the conflict in the country on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions.
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