Arab League foreign ministers have adopted a decision to readmit Syria after more than a decade of suspension, a League spokesperson said.
The move is consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad.
As part of the plan, a ministerial contact group will be formed to liaise with the Syrian government and seek “step-by-step” solutions to the crisis.
Syria’s membership was suspended in 2011 after a crackdown on street protests against President Assad that led to a devastating civil war.
The decision said Syria could resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately, while calling for a resolution of the crisis resulting from Syria’s civil war, including the flight of refugees to neighbouring countries and drug smuggling across the region.
It was taken at a closed meeting of foreign ministers at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo, said Gamal Roshdy, spokesman for the Arab League’s secretary general.
All 13 of the 22 member states that attended the session endorsed the decision. The Arab League generally tries to reach agreements by consensus but sometimes opts for simple majorities.
Following the announcement on Sunday, Syria called for Arab states to show “mutual respect”.
Arab states should pursue “an effective approach based on mutual respect”, the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement that also stressed the “importance of joint work and dialogue to undertake the challenges facing Arab countries”.
There is still no Arab consensus on normalisation with Damascus.
While Arab states including the United Arab Emirates have pushed for Syria and Assad’s rehabilitation, others, including Qatar, have remained opposed to full normalisation without a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wins a fourth term in office with 95.1 per cent of the votes in an election critics say was marked by fraud.
Several governments did not attend the meeting, including Qatar, which continues to back opposition groups against the Assad government.
Some have been keen to set conditions for Syria’s return, with Jordan’s foreign minister saying last week that the Arab League’s re-acceptance of Syria would only be the start of “a very long and difficult and challenging process”.
Yesterday’s decision said Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and the Arab League’s Secretary General would form a ministerial contact group to liaise with the Syrian government and seek “step-by-step” solutions to the crisis.
Practical steps include continuing efforts to facilitate the delivery of aid in Syria, according to a copy of the decision seen by Reuters.
The Arab rapprochement with Damascus accelerated after a deadly earthquake on February 6 that shattered parts of the war-torn country, most notably from Saudi Arabia, which once backed opposition groups trying to overthrow Assad
Syria’s membership of the Arab League was suspended in 2011 after a crackdown on street protests against Mr Assad that led to a devastating civil war, and many Arab states pulled their envoys out of Damascus.
The conflict has killed nearly a half million people since March 2011 and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.
Recently, Arab states have been trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to an Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh to discuss the pace of normalising ties and on what terms Syria could be allowed back.
Responding to a question over whether Assad could participate at the summit in Saudi Arabia, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a news conference in Cairo yesterday the Syrian leader could “if he wishes to”.
“If he wishes, because Syria, starting from this evening, is a full member of the Arab League, and from tomorrow morning they have the right to occupy any seat.
“When the invitation is sent by the hosting country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and if he wishes to participate, he will participate,” he added.
Saudi Arabia long resisted restoring relations with Assad but said after its recent rapprochement with Iran — Syria’s key regional ally — that a new approach was needed with Damascus.