Qatar : Our position on normalization with the Syrian regime “has not changed”

Doha : Qatar affirmed, on Sunday evening, that its position on normalization with the Syrian regime “has not changed,” and its support for “what achieves Arab consensus.”

This came, according to what was quoted by the Qatar News Agency, according to Majid al-Ansari, the spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, shortly after the Arab League issued a decision for the “immediate” return of Syria to fill its frozen seat, about 12 years ago.

Earlier on Sunday, the Arab League decided to resume the participation of delegations of the Syrian regime's government in the meetings of its council and all its affiliated organizations and agencies, starting today.

Al-Ansari said, "Qatar always seeks to support what achieves Arab consensus and will not be an obstacle to that," without clarifying Doha's position on the decision to return Damascus to its seat in the university.

And he added, "However, the official position of the State of Qatar on normalization with the Syrian regime is a decision linked primarily to progress in a political solution that achieves the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people."

He added that “the position of the State of Qatar on normalization with the Syrian regime has not changed,” referring to its rejection of normalization, which it has repeated more than once.

Al-Ansari expressed Qatar's aspiration to work with the Arab brothers in achieving the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people for dignity, peace, development and prosperity.

He hoped that "this consensus would motivate the Syrian regime to address the roots of the crisis that led to its boycott, and to work to take positive steps towards addressing the issues of the Syrian people and improving its relations with its Arab surroundings, in a way that enhances security and stability in the region."

On April 14, the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jassim Al Thani, said in a televised interview that his country’s boycott of the Syrian regime “is valid and does not oblige anyone.”

Syria's membership in the Arab League was suspended in 2011, against the backdrop of the Syrian regime's suppression of popular protests calling for change. Qatar was one of the most prominent countries that boycotted the head of the regime, Bashar al-Assad, and it is the only country that hosts an ambassador for the Syrian opposition coalition.

Earlier Sunday, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, said in a press conference that "the decision to establish normal relations between Syria and the Arab countries is a sovereign decision for each country separately."