Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Jordan, Nayef bin Bandar al-Sudairi. Source: the Syrian Presidency office.
On May 10, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad received an official invitation to the upcoming Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia.
In a statement, the Syrian Presidency said that al-Assad received an invitation from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud “to participate in the thirty-second Arab League summit, which will be held in Jeddah on May 19.”
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Jordan, Nayef bin Bandar al-Sudairi, paid a visit to the Syrian capital, Damascus, to personally deliver the invitation.
“Holding the upcoming Arab summit in Saudi Arabia will enhance joint Arab action to achieve the aspirations of the Arab peoples,” the statement quotes President al-Assad as saying to the Saudi ambassador.
Foreign ministers from Arab League member states agreed on May 7 to reinstate Syria’s membership in the organization after its suspension more than a decade ago. Saudi Arabia played a leading role in the efforts to readmit the country.
The invitation comes a day after Saudi Arabia and Syria announced that work would resume at their respective diplomatic missions in Riyadh and Damascus, officially ending the disagreement that began after the outbreak of the war in Syria in 2011.
Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states, including Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, believe that returning Syria to the Arab fold will help coordinate regional war on drugs, solve humanitarian problems in the country and push forward the political settlement.
It is unclear yet if the upcoming Arab League summit will result in any major announcements on Syria. However, with President al-Assad attending, there is no doubt that the war-torn country will be the focus of the summit.
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