BEIRUT: As the new year kicks off and Arab governments warm up to the Syrian regime, the next opportunity for all Arab nations - and possibly Syria - to convene in one room will be in Beirut this month.
Lebanon is set to host the 2019 Arab Economic and Social Development Summit from Jan. 19-20. The foreign ministers of the Arab League members will meet one day earlier, on Jan. 18.
The one Arab state that will be absent - for now - is Syria.
Damascus’ membership was suspended in 2011 following the outbreak of the Syrian war, and most Arab countries severed diplomatic ties with President Bashar Assad’s regime shortly thereafter.
But this all changed in the final days of 2018, when, on Dec. 16, notorious Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir made an official visit to Damascus. Less than a week later, Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk met in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart.
In between that time, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that American troops would withdraw from Syria (though he now appears to be backtracking).
Then on Dec. 27, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus.
If the trend continues - and political sources say this is inevitable - it’s only a matter of time before Syria is again permitted representation in the Arab League, whose chartered mission is to work for the common interest of Arab states.
And Lebanon may be Syria’s door of re-entry.
There are “only two ways” for Syria’s readmission to happen, according to a source from Lebanon’s presidential palace. Though unlikely, Syria could rejoin when the foreign ministers meet in Beirut on Jan. 18. “If they decide [on having Syria reinstated], we will immediately send an invitation to Damascus,” the Baabda Palace source added.