World

Arab foreign ministers discuss Syria crisis at Saudi meeting

Gulf Arab foreign ministers and their counterparts from Egypt, Iraq and Jordan held a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Friday (April 14) to discuss Syria’s possible return to the Arab fold.

The meeting, held in the city of Jeddah, was called by Saudi Arabia, amid a recent thaw in regional tensions, but ended without agreement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Some Arab states, including regional heavyweights Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have mended ties with Damascus, in contrast to 2011 when many Western and Arab states boycotted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his brutal crackdown on protests.

However, Syria’s broader normalization with the Arab world remains a sensitive issue for several countries.