[NPASYRIA] The first visit of Faisal Mekdad, Syria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, to Riyadh on Wednesday, April 12, is the latest sign of the Damascus’ return to the international stage — at least in the Middle East.
During his visit to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
’s capital, Mekdad and Saudi’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Waleed al-Khuraiji, reportedly agreed to resume consular services and flights between the two countries. They also discussed Syria’s return to the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
, a 22-country regional council. Saudi Arabia surprisingly signaled its willingness to allow the government of Bashir al-Assad to re-take its seat last week after over a decade since its expulsion.
In recent months, Saudi Arabia has been quieting the aggressive foreign policy it has been known for, for the past ten years. In March, a Chinese-brokered deal eased tensions with long-time foe Iran. Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister is set to visit Damascus before the end of the month.
Saudi Arabia is not alone in its efforts to bring al-Assad back into the fold of Middle Eastern politics. Besides long-time allies Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and Leb
 ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
, Jordan, the UAE, Tunisia, Algeria and Oman have all encouraged rapprochement with the Syrian government. Egypt, Bahrain and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
are warming to the idea as well.
Yet how exactly normalization will be implemented is unclear; major hurdles remain. Saudi Arabia wants to restore stability to the region. It could also gain from Syria’s reconstruction. After the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), for instance, Saudi Arabia poured billions into Lebanon’s reconstruction, in part to buy influence in the country.
More pressing, however, is the booming trade in Captagon, a cheap amphetamine. Captagon is not only produced mainly in Syria, but is directly tied to the al-Assad government. An Arab News investigation says the government’s Fourth Division, which is headed by al-Assad’s brother, and Lebanese Hezbollah militia are deeply involved.
Much of the drug’s supply ends up in Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, where it can be sold for many times its production value. According to the same investigation, between 2020 and 2021, Saudi customs intercepted some 190 million pills. Captagon has caused a health crisis in the kingdom; authorities have been unable to stem the flow of pills.
To induce Damascus to halt its production and distribution of the drug, Riyadh will have to offer more than just political concessions. The trade is among the Syrian government’s main sources of revenue. In 2021, Damascus made around $5.7 billion from the sale of Captagon, says Arab News. The drug trade is so central to the government’s survival that Syria has been described as a ’narco-state’.
As the Wall Street Journal points out, Syria’s introduction back into the vaporous Arab League is no panacea to the country’s ailing economy and ongoing violence. Many League members — such as Morocco, Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
, Kuwait and Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
— still oppose the move. Even if they were in alignment, it may take years to convince the West to lift the crippling sanctions imposed on the country that would allow the region to freely trade and invest in Syria. To truly halt Damascus’ reliance on drug smuggling as a source of income, Saudi Arabia would have to offer material support. Yet that would put it in the crosshairs of Washington. For the moment, Saudi Arabia is unlikely to risk it.
In fact, the US congress passed the CAPTAGON Act in September of last year. The legislation calls on the government to use its diplomatic weight to halt Syria’s drug trade — not through concessions but through further pressure.
A decade ago, Riyadh warned the US that it would conduct a "major shift" away from its ally if Washington did not start acting against Bashir al-Assad and stop engaging with Iran. Today, the shoe is on the other foot. The US has scrambled to oppose Saudi Arabia’s rapprochement. The State Department said this week that, "our stance against normalization is very clear. We will not normalize with the Assad regime and we do not support others normalizing absent authentic and progress toward a political solution."
Part of the problem is that the governments pushing for normalization have a point. Syria’s population is impoverished and getting poorer by the day. US sanctions have not hurt the government, but have impeded the entry of technical equipment into the country, reconstruction, and for locals to conduct trade legally with its richer neighbors. As a recent open letter by Syria experts to the Biden administration points out, the US policy towards Syria is counterproductive and uninspired.
Yet simply restoring bilateral ties with al-Assad is not enough. Governments should continue to push for UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which calls for a ceasefire, negotiations, and to work towards free elections. Geir Pederson, the UN’s special envoy to Syria, met with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal to stress this point. Faisal pledged to push for a solution that "preserves Syria’s unity, security, stability and Arab affiliation." This does not go far enough.
Governments should establish bilateral ties with non-governmental organizations in Syria as well. Support for democracy in the northeast of the country, which is administered autonomously, could be crucial for leaving the country better off than before a decade of war. It is clear a number of autocracies across the world are eager to restore ties with al-Assad with little to no political demands. Lacking a cohesive political roadmap, support for such a settlement will undoubtedly grow.
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...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites.....jpg "<span class=Inverse>Faisal Mekdad</span>")
...Syrian foreign minister, formerly Perrmanent envoy to the UN. He replaced Wally Muallem, who died in office at age 79, having been FM since approximately age 12...
...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...
Hezbollah
[JPost] The latest airstrike comes just over a week after an alleged Israeli airstrike targeted containers at the Latakia port in northwestern Syria.
Michel Aoun