Iraq backs Syria’s return to Arab League

Iraq supports restoring Syria’s membership to the Arab League, the country’s foreign minister, Mohamed Al-Hakim, said yesterday.

Al-Hakim’s remarks came during a press conference held in Russia’s capital of Moscow with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Al-Hakim arrived in Moscow yesterday upon an invitation from Lavrov on a visit to discuss to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.

During the meeting, Al-Hakim stressed that the Syrian crises “must be resolved,” calling for restoring its membership to the Arab League.

The Arab League froze Syria’s seat in 2011 against the backdrop of Bashar al-Assad regime’s use of force to crush pro-democracy protests in the country. In recent weeks, there have been increasing Arab calls for normalising ties with the Assad regime, including a visit by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to Damascus, and the reopening of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain embassies in the Syrian capital.

The two ministers also discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, the regional issues related to Syria, Palestine and Iran, and international relations.

On his part, Lavrov pledged to support Iraq in its “fight against Daesh and to enhance security ties between the two countries.”