Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir Becomes First Arab League Member To Visit Syria Since 2011

Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir made a surprise trip to Syria on Sunday, becoming the first Arab League leader to visit the country since the war began there in 2011.

The president met with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, whose bloody crackdown on protests nearly eight years ago led to Syria’s suspension from the 22-member organisation.

The visit by the accused war criminal comes amid growing calls from Arab states to normalise ties with Syria, after years of condemning it, as many see the war nearing its end.

Last week, the Arab League parliament called on the Arab League to reinstate Syria’s membership, according to Egypt’s state run news agency. And in October, Jordan reopened a major border crossing between the two countries, boosting trade.

Outside of the Arab League, too, there are signs of a detente. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sunday that Ankara would consider working with Assad again under certain circumstances.

“If it is a democratic election, and if it is a credible one then everybody should consider [working with him],” he said. His words come just a year after Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called Assad a “terrorist”, and that peace was impossible while he remained in power.

The growing moves towards a settlement with the Syrian government are a reflection of the reality on the ground. Over the past few years, with the help of Russian and Iranian forces, Assad’s forces have gradually won back most of the country from opposition rebels.

Many Arab countries backed rebel groups fighting to oust Assad, and isolated its leadership as it brutally crushed the uprising against it. Today, only the province of Idlib remains under the control of opposition forces, while a third of the country is held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Last year the UN estimated that it will cost at least $250bn to rebuild Syria, and Western countries have tied any assistance to a political solution. Some Arab states, such as Jordan and Lebanon, have expressed an eagerness to step in.

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Bashir and Assad reportedly discussed “situations and crises faced by many Arab countries”, according to the Syrian presidency. Both said there was a need for “new principles for inter-Arab relations based on the respect of the sovereignty of countries and non-interference in internal affairs”, a statement added.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for multiple counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, which stem from a conflict that erupted in Darfur in 2003.

Assad has also been accused of war crimes. As early as 2013, just two years into the conflict, the UN’s human rights chief at the time said a commission of inquiry into rights violations in Syria had “produced massive evidence … [of] very serious crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity” and that “the evidence indicates responsibility at the highest level of government, including the head of state.”

Efforts to refer Assad to the ICC have been blocked at the Security Council by Russia and China.