Morocco did not participate in the Jeddah Summit, in which the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iraq, Egypt and Jordan discussed Syria’s return to the Arab League on Friday.
Algeria was leading efforts to return Syria to the ranks of the Arab League, before the UAE and Saudi Arabia took bold steps by receiving Damascus’ Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad.
It is likely that the exclusion of Morocco in Friday’s meeting is due to Rabat’s leaning towards Washington’s policy in the current circumstances, while the Gulf states want to adopt a policy that silently opposes American decisions towards the Middle East. Morocco also does not share the Gulf states’ current rapprochement with Iran, having cut ties with Tehran in 2018 after accusing it of supporting the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara.
Morocco, like Qatar, rejects Syria’s return to the Arab League and did not offer its condolences to Damascus after the earthquakes that hit Turkiye and Syria in early February, and it did not send any humanitarian aid to the country.
Morocco’s exclusion in the talks on Friday may also be a result of Algeria’s participation, as tensions between the neighbouring countries has seen them sever ties in recent years.
