There is a divergence in the positions of the Maghreb countries regarding Syria’s return to the Arab League and its contribution to deepening the crisis

Rashid Khashana The Maghreb positions on Syria’s return to the Arab League diverged, between enthusiastic and even participating in cooking the return (Algeria) and rejecting or conservative (Morocco). Note that these positions did not remain static, but rather developed in response to the initiatives coming from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Emirates to accelerate the return. The earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey was an occasion for Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to break the ice in bilateral relations, which had lasted for more than ten years, to make the first phone call with his counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, and express his condolences to the earthquake victims. Algeria has been a long-time advocate of Syria’s return to Arab institutions, but it has not been able to lead the reconciliation path that Saudi Arabia was able to launch, along with Egypt and the UAE. In this climate, Bashar al-Assad’s visit to both the Emirates and Oman came to constitute a violation of previous Arab decisions, and to put the file of boycotting Syria on the shelf. After seeing Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad meeting with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, was a miraculous event a few months ago, we saw on the screens Al-Miqdad in Riyadh, receiving a lot of hospitality from the Saudis, paving the way from there to make similar visits to other Arab countries. .
If Saudi Arabia had added a regional dimension to reconciliation with Al-Assad through the “historic agreement” that preceded it between Riyadh and Tehran, which is Bashar Al-Assad’s main ally, this would not have been available to Algeria, which does not harbor any affection for Iran’s rulers. However, it has not hesitated to revitalize relations with Damascus recently, and has even begun urging reconciliation with the Syrian regime. This new trend was clearly evident in the call of the Arab countries to return the Assad regime to Syria’s seat in the Arab League, after the controversy caused by calls to suspend Syria’s membership and allow the opposition to sit in its seat. The formation of the Syrian-Algerian Business Council was also considered an important step on the path to normalizing relations, with the aim of developing economic cooperation between the two countries, in all commercial, industrial and tourism fields.
It may be said that the Algerian-Syrian rapprochement was expected, because Algerian officials believe that the winds of the armed rebellion led by the “Islamic Salvation Front” in the 1990s in Algeria, which is described as the “Black Decade,” was the prelude to what happened in Syria later, according to Minister Faisal. Al-Miqdad, in statements he made to an Algerian television channel. He stressed in this dialogue that Algeria’s positions were clear and consistent regarding the events that Syria had witnessed over the past decade, and that the two countries were fighting the same enemies.
The meeting of foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, on Syria, in Jeddah, with the participation of Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan, opened the door wide to Syrian-Arab normalization, as the goal of the meeting was to overcome Gulf disputes over Syria as much as possible. The meeting, which was not attended by more than ten members of the League, was held a month before Riyadh hosted the next Arab summit, which will decide on the issue of Syria’s return to the League of Arab States, after its membership was suspended since 2012.
What is striking in this regard is that Tunisia, which was behind the adoption of the decision to suspend membership at the time, with the encouragement of Gulf states, is today one of the first initiators of reconciliation with Damascus, as it reopened its embassy in Syria, appointed a new ambassador in Damascus, and received Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad, in His second Maghreb visit after Algeria. It is clear that the Tunisian position constituted a 180-degree turn in this issue, as it was the government led by the “Ennahda Movement” in 2012 that called for the “Friends of Syria Conference,” which paved the way for imposing sanctions on the Syrian regime and isolating it at the Arab and international levels. Hosting the conference was due to the fact that the “Renaissance” Tunisian government at the time was involved in a regional and international alliance sponsored by America, France, and Turkey, which made political Islam organizations the leaders of the stage, after the overthrow of Ben Ali in Tunisia, Mubarak in Egypt, and Gaddafi in Libya. It is noteworthy that French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the time was the first to propose forming a “Friends of Syria Group” to support the uprising that aimed to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.
More than seventy countries and international organizations participated in the conference, which was held on February 24, 2012, and was attended by then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other figures, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The conference concluded with a declaration calling on the Syrian government to end the violence, cease fire, allow humanitarian aid to enter the areas most affected by the war in Syria, and impose more sanctions on the pillars of the regime, such as a travel ban on officials, freezing their assets, stopping commercial dealings in the oil field, and reducing the level of diplomatic representation. . But the step that disturbed the Syrian regime more than any other was the recognition of the opposition “Syrian National Council” as the sole representative of the Syrian people. In this context, Tunisia severed its diplomatic relations with Damascus and expelled the Syrian ambassador, and several Arab countries followed suit, including Saudi Arabia and Morocco. After the late President Beji Caid Essebsi assumed the presidency in Tunisia in 2014, he did not agree to deal in this way with the Syrian regime, but he could not change the Tunisian position, because he was bound by an alliance that brought together his party, “Nidaa Tounes” and the “Ennahdha Movement.” Caid Essebsi was inclined towards moderate countries, which in recent years began to show their desire to review the Arab boycott of Syria.

Desire to fight in Syria

What angered the Syrians more than the diplomatic boycott was the influx of extremist Tunisian elements into Syria, via Libya and Turkey, to support the uprising at home by carrying out terrorist operations. These elements, numbering in the thousands, were stationed in northern Syria, obtained advanced weapons from America and Arab countries, via Turkey, and established what they said was the “caliphate system.” These militias were known for committing several crimes documented by Arab and international humanitarian organizations.
What is established is that Tunisians played an important role in organizing the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIS) not only in the military field, but also in financial management and ideological guidance. But their presence diminished in Syria, after the killing of the organization’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in October 2019. The families of some of them returned to Tunisia, where the manner of dealing with their members sparked open controversy in the local media. Hence, the Syrian issue has become a dividing line in Tunisia between those calling for the prosecution of those who traveled young people to Syria, including President Kais Saied, and those who justify and defend this.
As for Morocco, despite the “historic agreement” to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria, it did not budge on its decision to sever its diplomatic relations with Damascus in 2012. It is likely that this will take place during the upcoming Arab summit in Riyadh, mediated by Saudi Arabia, given that reconciliation between Rabat and Damascus is one of the The repercussions of the rapid changes that have occurred in the Arab regional system in recent times. Dr. Idris Lakrini, professor of political science at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakesh, expected that Morocco would announce the resumption of diplomatic relations with Syria at the Arab summit, in line with the general position on this issue. However, in an interview with the Moroccan online newspaper Hespress, Lakrini also suggested that Morocco would link its decision to resume relations “to the Syrian position on the issue of territorial integrity,” that is, the Sahara issue. Given the severity of the differences between Algeria and Morocco, some analysts saw that the Moroccan slow position in normalization with Damascus is an extension of the ongoing disputes with Algeria, in all regional and international files.
Mauritania’s position differs from its Maghreb sisters, as it did not sever diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012, like the other member countries of the League, and the Syrian ambassador continued to work from Nouakchott, while the Syrian flag was flying in the sky of the Mauritanian capital. This position came in response to pressure from parties and associations with an Arab orientation. Moreover, Mauritanian officials visited Damascus multiple times to express their support for the regime, including a Mauritanian parliamentary delegation that visited Syria last October, and whose president praised “Syria’s steadfastness.”
One of the paradoxes of Mauritanian policy is that it maintains strong relations with Assad’s Syria, and at the same time opens its northern lands to conduct annual maneuvers by the forces of thirty-four countries, under the supervision of the American Africa Command, known as AFRICOM. Hence, it is certain that Mauritania will support the call of the Arab Summit in Riyadh for reconciliation with Syria, since it did not originally commit to the previous step, i.e. rupture, twelve years ago.

Two Syrians in Libya

In Libya, politicians are dealing with two Syrias, if the duality is correct. There is Al-Assad’s Syria, which enjoys the support of internationally recognized Libyan governments, and on the other side is Syria, which sends mercenaries to support the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar. It was noted that the Turks, who saved the government of Fayez al-Sarraj from falling in 2019, contented themselves with sending Turkish trainers and military experts to Tripoli, along with Syrian militias recruited by Haftar to fight within the ranks of his forces. French researcher Marie Verde estimates the number of Syrian mercenaries in western Libya at 3,500. As for the eastern region controlled by Haftar, the number of mercenaries is estimated at 7,000, including Russians, Syrians, Sudanese, and Chadians. The United Nations estimates the total number of mercenaries in Libya at 20,000, while researcher Jalal Harchaoui believes that the number does not exceed 10,000 mercenaries.
On the basis of this background, the Maghreb appeared to be an active party in the regional conflict over Syria, both negatively and positively. However, it contributed to deepening the crisis as of Tunisia’s hosting of the “Friends of Syria” conference and sending thousands of Tunisian fighters to war zones, where their role diminished after the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

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