On Thursday, Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad of Syria engaged in discussions with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, regarding the forthcoming meeting of the Arab Liaison Committee on Syria.
According to a statement released by Assad’s Foreign Ministry on Friday, Mekdad and bin Farhan delved into Syria’s ongoing endeavours to monitor the progress of the Arab Liaison Committee’s initiatives.
The statement further highlighted their exchange on ensuring thorough preparations for the upcoming liaison committee meeting scheduled to take place in Baghdad.
However, the statement refrained from specifying the exact date for the committee’s meeting, which has remained suspended since August of 2023.
Resume after suspension
At the end of August 2023, both Arab and Western media outlets, including Asharq Al-Awsat, reported the suspension of meetings by the Arab ministerial committee tasked with overseeing Arab normalization with the Assad regime. This suspension was attributed to the regime’s failure to respond to the outlined roadmap.
Citing Arab diplomatic sources, the newspaper stated that the Assad regime had not provided any substantial response concerning the three key issues forming the foundation of the recent Arab outreach. These issues include facilitating the repatriation of refugees, advancing toward a political resolution, and implementing concrete measures to combat drug trafficking and the proliferation of Captagon pills.
Following this report, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency suggested that U.S. pressure was instrumental in halting the meetings of the Liaison Committee.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
