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UN-SUMMIT-SYRIA-ARAB-CONFLICT-DIPLOMACY
Despite suspension, Syria FM greets Arab League chief at UN
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Sept 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The head of the
Arab League exchanged a warm handshake Friday at the United Nations with the
foreign minister of Syria, which has been suspended from the body since 2011.
The exchange between Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the secretary general of the Arab
League, and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem appeared to be brief and impromptu
during the annual UN General Assembly.
In a video posted on Twitter by a journalist for Abu Dhabi newspaper The
National, Aboul Gheit walks in a hallway at the UN headquarters and sees
Muallem, who turns around.
“Good evening. Great. How are you?” Aboul Gheit says, before shaking
Muallem’s hand and kissing him on both cheeks.
The Arab League chief, who is Egyptian, then exchanges greetings with
Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and its ambassador to the
United Nations, Bashar Jaafari.
“Really, it’s always a pleasure to see you,” Aboul Gheit says to the Syrian
officials before giving a friendly tap on the shoulder.
Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 with the outbreak of
unrest ruthlessly crushed by President Bashar al-Assad.
The war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions, but
both Arab and Western officials have gradually come to accept that Assad will
succeed in maintaining power.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0814 hrs