The Syrian government decided late Tuesday that it will not take part in the 4th session of the Arab-Turkish Forum nor the Arab League ministerial meetings scheduled to convene in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, on Wednesday, the state-run Syrian News Agency (SANA) reported.
Quoting an official Syrian source, SANA explained that after the issuance of the Arab League decision to suspend Syria's membership in the organization on November 12, "Syria has decided not to participate in those two meetings...because some of the countries attending both meetings were behind the Arab League's disgraceful decision against Syria", DPA reported
On Saturday, the Arab League decided to suspend Syria's membership after it failed to end a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The suspension of Syria's membership in the Arab League will go into effect as of Wednesday night.
"Syria, whose permanent concern was the protection and preservation of the present and the future of the Arab Nation...will continue playing its pan-Arab role in spite of all the attempts aimed at undermining the joint Arab action and its institutions," SANA said.
The Arab ministerial meeting was scheduled to take place on the sideline of the Arab-Turkish cooperation forum.