Syria return to Arab League is ‘speculation’, says Qatar PM

DOHA: Talk of Syria returning to the Arab League is speculation as the reasons for its expulsion still exist, the prime minister of Qatar said on Thursday.

Qatar has been an outspoken critic of Bashar Al-Assad´s government which will be at the centre of talks between nine Arab countries in Saudi Arabia on Friday. Diplomats say that Syria´s return to the Arab League and presence at an expected summit in May will be discussed.

However, Qatar´s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, who will be at the talks, said nothing has been proposed. “It is all speculation about Syria (returning) in the Arab League, and the decision is up to the Syrian people,” Al-Thani said in a nationally televised interview.

“Qatar´s position is clear that there were reasons to suspend Syria´s membership, and these reasons still exist,” he added. Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 months after Assad ordered a brutal crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising.