CAIRO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks on Tuesday with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in Cairo, where they discussed the ongoing Arab efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis.
The talks were held during Mekdad’s visit to Cairo to take part in a meeting of the Arab Ministerial Liaison Committee on Syria, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement.
During the meeting, Shoukry stressed the keenness of the Arab committee to resolve “the protracted Syrian crisis” in order to help the Syrian people and preserve the unity and territorial integrity of Syria.
For his part, Mekdad updated his Egyptian counterpart on the recent developments in Syria and the efforts made by his government regarding counterterrorism, the return of refugees, territorial sovereignty and security cooperation with neighboring Arab states, according to the statement.
After nearly 12 years of suspension, Syria restored its membership in the Cairo-based Arab League (AL) in May. The AL then formed a ministerial liaison committee on Syria to work on finding a comprehensive settlement for the Syrian crisis.
Syria’s AL membership was suspended in late 2011 when the Syrian conflict broke out, which led a number of Arab states to recall their ambassadors from Damascus, a move that was slammed by the Syrian leadership.
