Syria is back in the influential Arab League, more than a decade after being thrown out for its brutal repression of pro-democracy protests, which led to the ongoing civil war.
The move is further evidence of a thaw in relations between Damascus and other Arab governments.
Syria’s re-admittance was approved at a meeting of League members in Egypt.
It comes ahead of a summit in Saudi Arabia later this month that President Bashar al-Assad may now attend.
In a statement, Syria’s foreign ministry said it had received the League’s decision “with great attention” and called for “greater Arab cooperation and partnership”.
Foreign ministers from 13 of the 22-nation group’s members were present when the decision to readmit Syria was taken.
They stressed the need to end Syria’s civil war and the resulting refugee and drug smuggling crises. Growing poverty and lack of job opportunities saw many turn to the drug trade, the BBC reported last year.
A committee involving Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq will be set up to help Syria achieve those goals.
The Arab League’s secretary general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said the move was the start of a process to resolve the crisis in Syria, which would be “gradual”.
He stressed the decision did not mean a resumption of relationships between Arab states and Syria as it was up to each country to decide this individually.
More than 300,000 civilians are thought to have been killed and more than 100,000 detained or disappeared during the civil war, according to UN estimates.
Source: bbc.com
