US voices opposition to Syria’s readmission to Arab League

• White House says US would not normalise relations with Syria.
• US says Assad didn’t deserve normalisation of ties after brutal war.
• Says its sanctions on middle eastern nation remain in full effect.

The United States has voiced opposition to the Arab League’s readmission of Syria to its fold, as a statement released by White House said that it would not normalise ties with the regime of Bashar al-Assad, a foreign news agency reported.

The international forum readmitted Syria after over a decade of suspension, consolidating a regional push to normalise its strained relations ties with Assad, in a move highly criticised by Washington.

“We continue to believe that we will not normalise our relations with the Assad regime and we don’t support our allies and partners doing so either,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told the reporters.

He said that the Syrian president didn’t deserve the normalisation of ties after a waging a brutal war.

“We do not believe that Syria merits readmission to the Arab League at this time.”

Reaffirming its stance on Assad-led Syria, Washington announced that the US sanctions on the middle eastern nation remain in full effect. 

The United States has consistently withstood reconciliation with Syria but the Arab League voted on Sunday to welcome back Syria, effectively concluding that Assad had won the war that has killed half a million people and displaced half the pre-war population since 2011.

The league had closed its doors to Damascus in 2011 for brutally crushing the peaceful protests that erupted earlier that year and escalated into a full-scale military conflict that has so far claimed the lives of 500,000 people, uprooted millions and left the country’s industry and infrastructure in shambles.

The decision, which means Syria can resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately, also calls for a resolution of the crisis resulting from the country’s civil war, including the flight of refugees to neighbouring countries and drug smuggling across the region.

Additional input from AFP