Syria’s de Facto President to Skip Arab League Summit in Iraq

Syria’s self-appointed interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa will not attend the upcoming Arab League summit in the Iraqi capital, according to an Arab diplomatic source who spoke with AFP on 12 May.

In his stead, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani will lead the Syrian delegation to Baghdad.

Kurdistan24 reported on Monday that Sharaa’s decision to skip the summit is based on “a wave of warnings and explicit threats” from Shia political figures in Iraq.

“These threats were conveyed through several private messages sent by top [Shia] political figures who opposed Sharaa’s presence in Iraq, citing pending judicial demands from Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council,” the Kurdish news outlet says.

Many influential Iraqi politicians opposed the Iraqi government’s invitation to Sharaa and called for his arrest, citing his past as a commander of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the forerunners of ISIS.

“It is imperative that anyone participating in the Arab Summit at any level have a clean Iraqi or international judicial record free of charges or crimes. This is what international law stipulates, as the blood of Iraqis is not cheap to invite to Baghdad someone who violated it and violated their sanctity, or to welcome someone involved in documented crimes against them,” the Islamic Dawa Party, led by prominent Shia leader Nouri al-Maliki, said in a statement late last month.

Days later, Iraqi Member of Parliament Alaa al-Haidari filed a lawsuit with the Iraqi Public Prosecution against Sharaa for his previous role as the founder of the Al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) under the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani.

“I filed the complaint against the terrorist Julani, known as Ahmad al-Sharaa [who] was part of ISIS organizations in Iraqi territory,” Haidari told reporters.

HTS was previously known as the Nusra Front, which was established in 2011 when ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi sent Sharaa to Syria with fighters and money to establish a group to fight against the former government of Bashar al-Assad.

Sharaa entered Iraq in 2003 to join the nascent insurgency following the US invasion, which had the goal of sparking a civil war between Iraq’s Sunni and Shia communities.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq sent hundreds of car bombs to kill thousands of civilians in Shia areas, such as Najaf, Karbala, and Sadr City. The group later became known as the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) and finally the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

While fighting for Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Sharaa was arrested by US forces and held in Camp Bucca prison, but was then released under mysterious circumstances.

“While in Iraq, where he was a member of Al-Qaeda, Sharaa was arrested by the Americans between 2007 and 2008. However, he was later released by the Americans themselves. The Iraqis had no involvement, and no Iraqi judicial ruling was issued against him at the time,” sources speaking with Shafaq News stated.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani defended Sharaa’s invitation, saying that his presence at the Arab League summit in Baghdad is important because he represents the Syrian state, regardless of how power was transferred.

On Saturday, the Iraqi government announced a ban on protests from 11 to 20 May.

“Protests will not be permitted during this period, regardless of the cause, and no permits will be issued for demonstrations,” an Interior Ministry statement reads. According to local reports, any attempt to protest will be considered “unlawful,” with authorities instructed to arrest those involved.