The foreign ministers from eight member countries of the Arab League, as well as the highest diplomatic officials of the European Union, United States and Türkiye have presented this Saturday in the Jordanian city of Aqaba an eight-point document in which they stipulate their wishes and transfer their help to the new Syrian authorities.
Broadly, the Aqaba meeting declaration calls for the creation of a “universal transitional governing body with Syrian consensus” with the aim of implementing “the steps specified by Resolution 2254 to move from the transition to a new political system“in view of the celebration of “free and fair” elections in the country.”
UN mission to work during regime transition
Hours earlier, the foreign ministers of the Arab League had already requested the establishment of a specific mission of the United Nations to coordinate with the new Islamist authorities of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham a national transition process after the fall of the regime of former president Bashar al Assad.
In this sense, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, confirmed this Saturday the start of contacts with the jihadist groupdespite the fact that Washington has classified the organization as terrorist group. “Our message to the Syrian people is this: we want them to succeed and we are prepared to help them achieve it,” Blinken concluded.
“This delicate stage requires a comprehensive national dialogueand of the solidarity of the Syrian people with all its components, sects and political and social forces,” according to the statement.
Solidarity and support with Syria
The rest of the requests are in line with the international consensus of the last days after the fall last weekend of the Al Assad dynasty: “absolute solidarity with the sister Syrian Arab Republic, in the protection of its unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty, security and stability.”
The signatories also call for “the creation of political, living and security conditions for the voluntary return of syrian refugees to their homeland and the provision of all necessary assistance” for their return.
Unanimous condemnation of Israel’s invasion of the Golan
A fundamental piece of the text is the condemns Israel’s entry into the demilitarized zone marked by the 1974 agreement that ended the Arab-Israeli war. None of the signatories accept as valid the Israeli argument that this is an operation to guarantee the security of the border: they condemn the Israeli entry and reaffirm the status of the Golan Heights as occupied territory.
Finally, the declaration calls for “the reconstruction of Syria, a State in which there is no place for terrorism or extremism, nor any violation of its sovereignty or attack on its territorial integrity by any party.”
