Baghdad hosts Arab League summit

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq is hosting the Arab League summit on Saturday for the first time in over a decade, signifying its return to the center stage of the Arab world amid a host of regional crises. 

Discussions at the summit are expected to focus on the war in Gaza and other regional developments, including the situation in Syria post-Bashar al-Assad, the latest from Lebanon and Yemen, and conflicts in Sudan and Libya. 

“The summit will act on unifying Arab ranks and efforts in the face of challenges to the Arab world,” Hussein Allawi, advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, told Rudaw on Saturday. 

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud are in Baghdad for the talks. 

Many key leaders from the bloc’s 27 member states, however, are skipping the summit. Most Gulf countries are participating at a ministerial level and Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa sent Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in his stead. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is attending, as is Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as a guest. 

“This meeting comes at a crucial juncture in the history of the Arab world, requiring unified efforts,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told a preparatory meeting of foreign ministers in Baghdad on Thursday. “The rapidly evolving political and security landscape in the region compels us to work together.” 

Baghdad last hosted the Arab League summit in 2012.

Syrian President Sharaa’s decision to skip the summit follows controversy over Baghdad’s decision to invite him. On Monday night, protesters took to the streets in Iraq’s Shiite-majority southern province of Basra, chanting slogans against Sharaa using his nom de guerre Jolani. “No, no to Jolani. No, no to terrorism,” demonstrators shouted.

Sharaa was elected interim president in late January after a coalition of opposition groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - which he commanded before its dissolution and merger into the Syrian defense ministry - toppled the regime of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad.

While most Arab countries congratulated Sharaa on his appointment as president, Iraq withheld formal recognition, reflecting Baghdad’s cautious stance toward the new leadership that has historic ties to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS).