Syria’s Sharaa skips Iraq summit after firestorm over invitation to Gaza-focused gathering

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will not attend the Arab League Summit in Baghdad this weekend, Syrian state media says, after Iraq’s invitation spurred controversy over the rebel-turned-leader’s potential return to a country where he fought and was jailed.

Syria’s delegation to Saturday’s summit will be headed by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, state-owned Ekhbariya TV reports, without providing a reason for Sharaa’s absence. The summit is expected to focus on Gaza reconstruction and the Palestinian issue.

Sharaa’s decision highlights Syria’s mixed results establishing ties across the region after former President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster last year. Sharaa has made rapid inroads with Sunni-majority Gulf Arab states Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but has tread more carefully with others where Iran has had strong influence, like Shi’ite-majority Iraq.

Sharaa fought with Al Qaeda in Iraq after the U.S-led invasion in 2003. He was imprisoned there for more than five years, then released for lack of evidence in 2011, according to a senior Iraqi security official.

He then opened Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, breaking away in 2016 to form what became Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group that ousted Assad.

Iraq’s prime minister invited Sharaa last month to the summit, prompting criticism from mainly Shi’ite Muslim factions who accuse Sharaa of orchestrating attacks against Shi’ites during his years in Iraq.