Leaders of Arab countries and their representatives are gathering in Jeddah on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast for the 32nd summit of the Arab League. This year's Arab summit is historic: for the first time in 12 years, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will attend it.
The main issues on the summit's agenda will be Syria's return to the League, crisis management in Yemen, Libya and Syria, and the situation around the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including the recent escalation between radical groups in the Gaza Strip and Israel. The Arab leaders will also discuss strengthening economic ties and coordinating efforts to fight terrorism.
Syria's place in the League
Syria stood at the origins of the inter-Arab organization in 1945. However, in November 2011, the Arab League foreign ministers decided to suspend Damascus' membership in the regional grouping amid a standoff between the Syrian government forces and the armed opposition. Most Arab countries recalled their ambassadors and joined the economic boycott of Syria.
The impetus for countries in the region to normalize relations with Damascus were the devastating earthquakes of February 2023, which killed thousands of people in Turkey and Syria. The aftermath of the disaster demonstrated that a humanitarian catastrophe in the Syrian republic can only be avoided by joint efforts.
On May 7, the foreign ministers of the Arab League countries decided to return Syria to its place in the regional community. Al-Assad's office later reported that he had received an official invitation from Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to the summit.
Significance of the summit
The Arab League summit in 2023 is of particular importance also because the region is in full swing to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, countries that define the bigger part of the security architecture in the Middle East.
The dialogue between Riyadh and Tehran resumed in April 2021 following a conciliatory initiative by former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi. Since then, the sides have held a series of consultations, but agreements to restore relations were not reached until March 10, 2023, mediated by Beijing.
Many experts agree that Syria's return to the League was made possible in large part by the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. In addition, observers believe that the rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran opens up prospects for resolving the conflict in Yemen, which has been ongoing since August 2014.
Conflict in Sudan
One of the key topics at the Arab leaders' meeting will be the resolution of the conflict in Sudan. The situation in this country has been exacerbated by disagreements between army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also leads the Sovereignty Council, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemidti), the head of the rapid support force (special forces), who is his deputy in this body. The main contradictions between the two structures are related to the issue of forming a unified armed force. More than 800 civilians were killed in the fighting, according to the Sudan Doctors' Committee.
On May 7, following the session of the Arab League Council, it was decided to form the Arab contact group for settling the crisis in Sudan, which included the representatives of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki said May 17 that the group "will hold meetings on the sidelines of the summit at the level of foreign ministers" to discuss further actions to achieve peace.
Also, since May 6, representatives of Sudan's army and special forces have been holding talks in Jeddah. On May 11, they signed a declaration on the protection of civilians, which aims to safeguard humanitarian aid, restore access to basic services and remove armed personnel from civilian sites. As noted by the Saudi foreign ministry, further talks in Jeddah will focus on reaching an agreement on a real cease-fire for about 10 days.
Riyadh has extended an official invitation to al-Burhan to attend the summit in Jeddah. However, a special envoy will represent the head of Sudan's Sovereignty Council, Zaki said.
Escalation in the Gaza Strip
The decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict usually tops the agenda of Arab League summits. The 32nd summit was no exception. The latest escalation of the conflict occurred earlier this month, just days before the regional community summit.
On May 9, the Israeli army launched Operation Shield and Arrow in the Gaza Strip, striking military installations of the Jihad group in response to the massive shelling of the Jewish state a week earlier. On the evening of May 13, the Gaza Strip and Israel, with active mediation by Egypt, agreed to a mutual ceasefire.
On the escalation, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinians threatens regional security, and his Jordanian counterpart Ayman al-Safadi called for "resuming serious and comprehensive negotiations" on the Palestinian dossier.
Preparations for the summit
As is customary, meetings of the relevant departments of the Arab League countries take place before the summit. They discuss draft resolutions which will be presented to the leaders of the organization's member countries, and also work out the agenda of the summit. According to Asharq TV sources, foreign ministers gathered in Jeddah on May 17 submitted drafts of at least 32 resolutions.
For the first time in 12 years, Syria's foreign minister was present at the meeting of the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad noted that "there was no disagreement on the Syrian dossier at the Arab ministers' meeting." On the sidelines of the session, Mekdad held talks with his counterparts from Jordan, Lebanon, the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and also met with the League secretary-general.
Participants
The Arab League heads of state and government and their representatives will gather in Jeddah in almost full. This will be the first summit of the Arab organization since 2010, which will be attended by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, King Mohammed VI of Morocco and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will also participate in the meeting.
Kuwait sent Crown Prince Mashaal Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah to the summit, while Oman sent Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation and Special Representative of Sultan Asaad bin Tariq Al Said.
Previous summit
The 31st Arab League summit was held in Algiers in November 2022. It was the first face-to-face meeting of Leauge leaders in more than three years due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the Algerian summit could not boast of a broad representation. For various reasons, the leaders of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were absent.
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Photo: B.alotaby/Creative Commons 4.0
Based on materials from TASS