Europe News Desk!! A delegation from the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union visited Damascus, underscoring the importance of bringing Syria back into the Arab world. Syria’s membership of the Arab League was suspended in 2011 after the civil war broke out, Xinhua news agency reported. Mohammad al-Halbousi, chairman of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union and speaker of the Iraqi parliament, led a high-ranking delegation to Damascus on Sunday. Eight Arab MPs met with President Bashar al-Assad and then went to the Syrian Parliament to meet with MPs. Among the visitors was Egyptian parliament speaker Hanafi Ali al-Ghabali, the first top official from an African country to visit Syria during the 11-year war. Speaking to reporters in Damascus, al-Halbusi said that the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union is committed to working at all levels to bring Syria back to the Arab region, to play its role in the Arab, regional and international arena.
Al-Ghabali said that he and other lawmakers had come to Syria to show solidarity with the Syrian people. Egypt said, we don’t wait for Syria to come to us, we come to Syria because it is our country too. Al-Ghabali said his visit to Syria was not on the schedule of the recent Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union mini-summit in Baghdad. President Assad stressed that the delegation’s visit to his country means a lot to the Syrian people, as it signals support for them, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA. He said the visit confirms that effective Arab institutions are capable of taking the initiative in different circumstances and moving forward in the interest of the Arab people. He also thanked Arab countries for the swift response shown at various levels to help the Syrian people recover from the effects of the earthquake.
–IANS
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