The 32nd Arab League summit opens in Saudi Arabia today. The summit will involve several meetings over five days between
Syrian President Bashar al Assad addresses parliament in 2016 after the last election | Photo: AFP
The 32nd Arab League summit opens in Saudi Arabia today. The summit will involve several meetings over five days between the 22 senior Arab officials and ministers apart of the league.
Saudi King Salman has invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend todays summit, his first Arab League summit since the Syrian conflict broke out in 2011. Regional neighbors have gradually warmed up to Assad as he has remained in power. The UAE re-established ties with Syria in 2018 and has been leading the recent charge to reintegrate Damascus into the Arab League. A decision made in March by Saudi Arabia and Iran, close allies of Syria, to resume ties has further shifted the regional political landscape and rapprochement accelerated after the earthquakes on February 6.
Not every country in the region has been eager to resume ties with Assad. Qatar has stated it would not normalize relations and did not attend the vote to reinstate Syria’s membership that occurred earlier this month.
Syria’s reintegration into the Arab League reflects growing political influence in Saudi Arabia that will likely continue to grow as the country becomes more involved in arbitrating crises like the Sudan crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
