Syria’s Bashar al-Assad with Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, Damascus, December 16, 2018
Syria’s leader Bashir al-Assad has celebrated “victory” in the conquest of much of the country, hosting Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir.
Bashir — like Assad, accused of the mass killing and displacement of millions of his citizens — appeared in Damascus on Saturday. He was the first Arab League leader to visit Syria during its 93-conflict.
Syrian State outlets showed Assad greeting the Sudanese leader at Damascus airport on Sunday afternoon. SANA reported tersely, “President Omar Hassan al-Bashir…arrived this afternoon on a visit to the Syrian Arab Republic.”
The two men discussed the “situations and crises faced by many Arab countries” and “new principles for inter-Arab relations, based on the respect of the sovereignty of countries and non-interference in internal affairs”. A Sudanese official said Bashir returned to Khartoum “from an important visit”.
The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership at the end of 2011 amid the Assad regime’s violent repression of protests, including detentions that led to the executions and other deaths of tens of thousands of Syrians.
A Sudanese official said late on Sunday that Bashir, last in Damascus in 2008, had returned to Khartoum “from an important visit” to the Syrian capital.
Sudanese opposition figures condemned the meeting as a “new alliance between the regional dictators”. Fadlallah Burma Nasser, the Deputy leader of Sudan’s National Umma party said Bashir’s visit is “useless for the Sudanese [people], as well as for Syria”, while Fathi Fadul, a spokesman for Sudan’s Communist Party, asserted that the President is trying to maintain his grip on power by linking with Russia and its regional allies.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Bashir for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Russia-Iran-Turkey to Discuss Constitutional Committee
Russia, Iran, and Turkey will confer on composition of a Syrian constitutional committee, with diplomats saying that an agreement could finally be struck.
Foreign ministers of the three countries meet on Tuesday in Geneva.
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has sought agreement since January on 150 members of the committee, but the Assad regime has objected to the composition of the 50 members from civil society and “independent” groups, alongside 50 members each from the regime and the opposition.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reportedly said on Sunday at the Doha Forum that Turkey and other nations will consider working with Bashar al-Assad if he wins a democratic election.
