Arab League Chief Visits Cyprus Amid Syria Meltdown, EU Presidency

Arab League Secretary-General Dr. Nabil el-Araby is in Cyprus to meet with Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis against the background of a civil war in Syria and just ahead of Cyprus' EU Presidency which starts on July 1st.

El-Araby will discuss the current state-of-play in the Middle East and bilateral relations between Cyprus and the Arab League with Marcoullis, as well as meeting up with President Demetris Christofias.

The Arab League expelled Syria from its membership after the deaths of thousands of protesters against President Bashar al-Assad. Christofias' former close relations with Assad have become an embarassment and a dilemma to the government, torn between its close relations to Russia - the Syrian government's ally -  and its EU membership. The EU is outraged at the deaths of civilians in the country and is in the process of tightening sanctions on Assad.

Cyprus suffered a tragedy directly linked with Syria after high explosives confiscated en route to to the country from Iran detonated at a naval base, killing 13. The president has been blamed for failing to destroy the munitions, which he promised to return to Assad after apologising for confiscating them.

El-Araby is set to leave Monday evening after his round of contacts.

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