Syria returns to Arab League amid reconciliation wave, waning US influence

ARAB League member-states have agreed to reinstate Syria's membership after its suspension 12 years ago, a statement the bloc issued after a meeting said recently, a move experts see as a "landmark event" amid a series of progressive steps toward reconciliation and the waning influence of the United States in the Middle East.

After having its membership revoked in 2011, Syria's decade of regional isolation has been effectively ended in defiance of US warnings, Bloomberg reported, as the Arab League voted for the country's return into the 22-nation bloc in Cairo ahead of a heads of state summit.