Iran Press/ Middle East: Syrian president Bashar al-Assad officially welcomed Omar al-Bashir at the Damascus airport, before they both headed to the presidential palace.
The two leaders discussed the "situations and crises faced by many Arab countries", according to SANA.
Assad and Bashir also insist on the need to build “new principles for inter-Arab relations based on the respect of the sovereignty of the countries and non-interference in internal affairs.”
The Syrian president said his country would remain committed to its “Arab identity” despite the conflict in which some Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, fueled it by arming terrorists seeking to overthrow the government of Syria.
He also said some Arab countries’ dependence on the West will not bring any benefits to their peoples.
President al-Bashir, for his part, said that weakening Syria means weakening Arab causes, and what happened in it during the past years cannot be separated from this reality.
He expressed hope that Syria will recover its vitality and role in the region as soon as possible, and that its people will be able to decide the country’s future themselves without any foreign interference.
Bashir had returned to Khartoum late Sunday from the Syrian capital. The Sudanese president last visited the Syrian capital in 2008 for the Arab League summit which was held there that year.
Under the influence of Persian Gulf monarchies specially Saudi Arabia, the Arab League suspended Syria's membership at the end of 2011, but there have been growing calls in the Arab world in recent months to normalize ties with Syria and give it back its seat in the Arab League.
The Arab Parliament recently called on the Arab League to end its suspension of Syria’s membership at the 22-member Pan-Arab body.
In November, the UAE negotiated the reopening of its embassy in Syria and return of its envoy to Damascus, a source in Damascus said Emirati officials had been meeting with the Syrian government over the issue.
Also Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sunday the Ankara government would consider working with Assad after upcoming election.
Syria has been able to purge ISIS and other terrorist groups from most of the country with support from Iran and Russia as well as the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
Syria war, which began in March 2011, has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians and dislocated thousands more while destroying most of the country’s infrastructure and industrial capacity.
Today government forces and their allies control most parts of Syria while anti-Damascus militants occupy just small pockets of territory on the country's fringes.101/205
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