Report: Hariri Prevents Bassil Letter to Abu el-Gheit on Syria
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has reportedly banned caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil from sending a letter to Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit requesting the return of Syria to the Arab League, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.
According to the daily, Bassil has prepared the letter requesting Abul Gheit to call the Arab League for an “urgent extraordinary” meeting for the return of Syria to the council.
However, it said that Hariri has rejected Bassil’s request and prevented him from sending the letter.
In 2011, Syria was suspended from the Arab League over its failure to end the bloodshed cause by brutal government crackdowns on pro-democracy protests in a move that aimed to increase the international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.
The daily said it was able to obtain a copy of the letter which read “today is the time to fix the mistake. We ask your Excellency to call for an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers for Syria's return to the Arab League, and invite Syria to the Beirut economic summit on January 20, 2019.”
An Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, or AESD, that Lebanon is hosting this weekend has been marred by controversy days before delegates arrive.
The question of whether to invite Syria, whose membership in the Arab League was suspended in 2011, quickly became an issue.
Pro-Syrian groups led by Hizbullah have insisted that the Syrian government should be invited.
Source: Naharnet
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