Syria wants Arab League readmission taken off summit agenda

Arab League members should not discuss Syria's readmission into the 22-nation organisation at the group's summit in November, the country's foreign minister has told his Algerian counterpart.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad spoke to Ramtane Lamamra by phone ahead of the Arab League summit to be held in Algiers. Syria‘s Arab League membership was suspended after the start of its civil war in 2011.

“Syria’s top diplomat said his country prefers that the question of it reclaiming its Arab League seat during the Algiers summit not be tabled for the sake of Arab unity given the challenges posed by current regional and international conditions,” Mr Lamamra's office said.

The Algiers summit is due to start on November 1 and to last for two days. Relations between the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and many other Arab nations have improved after years of tension over Damascus’s perceived heavy-handed tactics against its foes in the war.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, and Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad at a news conference in Moscow on August 23. EPA

Syria was suspended from the Arab League in November 2011, eight months after anti-government protests erupted. The decision to suspend its membership was meant to punish Mr Assad’s regime for failing to end the bloodshed caused by its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Syria’s civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced half the country’s population and left large swathes of the country destroyed.

However, there have been calls from several Arab nations, including regional heavyweight Egypt, for Syria to be readmitted into the Arab League as the government has regained control over most of the country, thanks to military assistance from allies Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

“Syria’s return to the Arab League as a stable and active state will be vital for maintaining Arab national security,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said last year.

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.