The U.N. chief expressed hope Monday that Syria’s return to the Arab League and its engagement with regional powers could spur progress in resolving the 13-year Syrian civil war, as Damascus faced pressure to be transparent about chemical weapons.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he believes the region “has a vital role to play in the search for settlement of the conflict,” which began with an uprising against President Bashar Assad’s rule in 2011 that was met with a violent crackdown. The civil war has killed nearly a half million people, and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.
Syria was reinstated in the 22-nation Arab League on Sunday after a 12-year suspension. It was a symbolic victory for Assad, who can join the group’s May 19 summit, though Western sanctions will continue to block reconstruction funds to the war-battered country.
