Beirut, SANA – Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said that “Syria is the biggest void in our conference today, and we feel the weight of its absence.”
During the opening session of the ministerial meeting to discuss the agenda of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit on Friday, Bassil said Syria must be returned to the Arab League “to stop our losses before we stop Syria’s losses.”
“Syria should be embraced by the Arab League, not thrown into the jaws of terrorism,” he said, adding “we shouldn’t wait for permission for its return, because it would be a historic shame on us to suspend its membership based on external commands and wait for external permission to return it.”
On a relevant note, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim said in a statement after meeting Bassil that suspending Syria’s membership in the Arab League was a mistake from the beginning, and that dialogue with Syria is always important.
Hazem Sabbagh