Tunisia Calls for Arab League to Readmit Syria
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Syria's "natural place" is within the Arab League, Tunisia's foreign minister said, ahead of the organization’s annual summit in Tunis in March.
"Syria is an Arab state, and its natural place is within the Arab League," Khemaies Jhinaoui said during a Saturday news conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who is on a tour of North African countries.
The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in November 2011 as the death toll in the country's foreign-backed war mounted.
"The question of Syria returning to the Arab League does not depend on Tunisia but on the Arab League," Jhinaoui said.
"The foreign ministers (of member states) will decide on this subject," he added. "What interests us is Syria's stability and security."
The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in December, the same month as Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir made the first visit of any Arab leader to the Syrian capital since the start of the war. But Qatar earlier this month rejected normalizing ties with Damascus.
Lavrov backed overtures to readmit Syria.
"As we have discussed in Algeria and Morocco over the past few days, we would like Tunis to also support Syria's return to the Arab family, the Arab League," Russia's foreign minister said, according to Interfax news agency.
