Top Arab lawmakers in Syria for talks with Assad

Senior Arab lawmakers were in Syria on Sunday for talks with President Bashar Assad on bringing his country back into the fold of the Arab world.

Lawmakers from nine Arab countries, as well as Palestinian representatives, made up the delegation reflecting a continuation in the thawing of relations with Assad. On Saturday, the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union met in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, after several Arab countries in recent years moved to re-establish ties with Assad.

The process intensified following the massive Feb. 6 earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria and killed more than 47,000 people, including over 1,400 people in government-controlled areas of Syria and more than 2,400 in the rebel-held northwest.