Syria’s interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa will not attend the upcoming Arab summit scheduled to be held in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, later this month, the Syrian presidency has said.
In a statement issued yesterday, the presidency said the Syrian delegation to the summit will be headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Asaad Al-Shaibani.
The Iraqi authorities have reportedly been on a state of alert in preparation for hosting the Arab Summit scheduled for 17 May.
As part of the preparations, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior banned demonstrations in Baghdad until 20 May, while stressing that security forces have mobilised all their capabilities to welcome “Iraq’s guests”.
The Ministry announced that “the security forces will take the necessary legal action against any demonstrator who attempts to distract the security forces from their assigned duties during this period.”
Shia groups in Iraq were angered after Prime MInister Mohammed Al-Sudani invited Al-Sharaa, nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, to the Arab Summit. They argue that there is still an active Iraqi arrest warrant for Al-Sharaa as a former leader of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, an Al-Qaeda affiliate.
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