FILE PHOTO: Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad addresses the new members of parliament in Damascus, Syria in this handout released by SANA on August 12, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – In the first such trip since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Syria’s foreign minister arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday – ahead of a meeting between other regional envoys over the return of Damascus to the Arab League.

Foreign Ministers from Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries gathered in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, a Qatari official said, adding that an “Arab consensus” plus a “change on the ground” would shift Qatar’s position on rapprochement with Syria. The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait.

They will “hold a session of talks on efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves the unity, security, and stability of Syria,” a Saudi statement said. The foreign officials will also discuss “facilitating the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland and securing humanitarian access to the affected areas in Syria.”

Riyadh plans to invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19, sources told Reuters. Qatar has previously said it had no plans to normalize ties with Damascus and spoke out against efforts by other governments to do so.

Assad’s attendance would mark the most significant development in his rehabilitation within the Arab world in over a decade, after Syria was suspended from the Arab League over the Syrian leader’s brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests – violence that led to a protracted civil war.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad’s arrival came as Damascus and Tunisia announced they would reopen their respective embassies, six years after Tunisia reinstated a limited diplomatic mission in Syria to help track more than 3,000 Tunisian Islamist militants fighting there.