Jeddah negotiations position Syria for re-admission into the Arab family

 As regional relations change as a result of Saudi Arabia and Iran resuming diplomatic relations, Arab nations will debate ending Syria's protracted diplomatic isolation on Friday in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia has requested a meeting of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, comprising Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as their ministries and top officials.

The suspension of Syria from the Arab League, which came into effect in 2011 when President Bashar al-Assad's administration began a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests, will be discussed in the Red Sea city.

With the support of Iran and Russia, Assad has been rejected by many Middle Eastern nations and has become a pariah in the West because of the 12-year conflict, which has killed over 500,000 people and driven out almost half of Syria's pre-war population.

But on Wednesday, Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad made his first visit to Jeddah since the start of the war, signaling the latest easing of attitudes towards Damascus.

Mekdad and his Saudi colleague discussed "the necessary steps" to break Damascus' isolation, according to a Saudi statement on Wednesday.

Protests from Western capitals are certain to follow any request to reinstate Syria to the 22-member Arab League, whose upcoming summit is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia next month.

Syria's reinstatement, in the opinion of think tanker Aron Lund of Century International, "sends a message to the opposition that Assad will triumph in the end and that their foreign backers will betray them."

Sam Heller, a Syria expert, stated that Damascus has been trying for bilateral contacts with Saudi Arabia and other countries.

But late on Thursday, the opposition leader of Qatar, the prime minister, shot down any notion that Syria may rejoin the Arab League.

In a televised interview, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani stated, "There is nothing proposed; it is all speculation."