The Arab League’s annual summit began in Saudi Arabia late on Friday afternoon, with 22 member states taking part.
Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad is returning to the Arab fold at the event in Jeddah – 12 years after his country was suspended by the league, when demonstrations in Syria descended into civil war.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, is attending the summit on behalf of President Sheikh Mohamed and led a delegation of senior UAE officials,.
Following months of diplomatic wrangling and efforts by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Mr Al Assad, once viewed as a pariah, finally touched down in the Saudi coastal city late on Thursday, after Riyadh managed to gather enough consensus to reinstate Syria.
Mr Assad appeared relaxed as he was greeted on the tarmac by Prince Badr bin Sultan, deputy governor of Makkah, along with Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and several Saudi officials.
The heads of states of the UAE, Kuwait, Morocco, Algeria, Oman, Sudan and Lebanon will be sending representatives to the summit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was invited to attend the Arab League summit as a guest of honour in Saudi Arabia. The leader is making a quick stop in Jeddah before joining the G7 leaders’ meeting in Hiroshima, Japan.
