Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is officially back in the Arab fold. After more than a dozen years of ostracism, he was warmly embraced by regional leaders at the Arab League summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this week.This once-unthinkable comeback creates a “conundrum” for the United States, which continues to oppose normalisation with the Syrian government but has not been able to stop its Arab partners from rekindling ties with Damascus, analysts say.US officials have said that, while they do not back normalisation with al-Assad, they share the goals that restored relations could bring, including expanding humanitarian access to conflict-torn regions, combating ISIL (ISIS), reducing Iran’s influence and countering the trafficking of the drug Captagon.
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