The Latest: Iraqi FM says Syria should return to Arab fold

BEIRUT – The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):

11:50 a.m.

Iraq's foreign minister says Syria should not be isolated from its Arab neighbors, and lauded Damascus for staying "strong" and united in the face of many adversities.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari spoke during a visit to the Syrian capital on Monday. He says Syria must find its way back to the Arab fold.

The 22-member Arab League froze Syria's membership following the start of the civil war in 2011, which was followed by sanctions and the severing of diplomatic ties.

Al-Jaafari added that "no one should isolate Syria" and that he has been advocating dialogue to restore ties.

Nearly 450,000 Syrians have been killed in the war, and the country has been devastated by the violence that drew the involvement of foreign militaries of regional and international powers as well as foreign militias and militants.

Al-Jaafari said Syria and Iraq have been victorious in their fight against the Islamic State group, which now only controls small pockets in Syria.

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11:30 a.m.

Syria's state-run news agency says hundreds of Syrian refugees have crossed into the country from neighboring Lebanon, the last batch to return home in recent weeks.

SANA says buses carrying the returnees arrived at Syrian border crossings on Monday. It's the fifth group of refugees to return home from Lebanon. The Lebanese English-language newspaper, Daily Star, said more than 800 were crossing into Syria.

The Syrian government has been calling on refugees to return home, saying the war has subsided. Last week, President Bashar Assad granted general amnesty to army deserters, a move designed to boost the number of returning refugees. U.N. officials say it is too early for organized mass return.

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10:45 a.m.

A vital border crossing linking Syria and Jordan has reopened for the first time in three years, promising to restore commercial trade and travel between the two countries.

Another crossing, for U.N. observers along the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has also reopened on Monday. Syria State TV showed the Syrian flag raised at the crossing which has been closed for four years because of the fighting.

The Quneitra crossing will only be opened for the U.N. observers for now, who have been stationed there to monitor a cease-fire between the two countries since 1974. But the observers left the crossing as Syria's civil war made it unsafe.

At Naseeb crossing, dozens of private cars lined up to cross from Jordan. Security personnel and dogs searched the vehicles.

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10 a.m.

Jordan and Syria have agreed to reopen a vital border crossing between the two countries, three years after the commercial lifeline fell to rebel groups and traffic was halted.

Israel also said on Sunday that the Quneitra crossing with Syria will reopen on Monday to U.N. observers, four years after it was closed because of the fighting.

The reopening of the crossings is a major boost to the Syrian government, keen on sending messages to its citizens and the world that it is slowly emerging victorious from the bloody conflict and beginning to restore vital services and relations. In eastern Syria, state TV said its broadcast has returned to Deir el-Zour city, seven years after it was halted when armed groups seized control of the area.