This handout picture released by the Syrian Presidency Telegram account on May 10, 2023 shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meeting with Saudi's ambassador to Jordan, Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairy, in Damascus. Assad received an invitation to next week's Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, the presidency said, the first such invitation since the country's war began in 2011. (Credit: AFP PHOTO / HO / SyriaN PRESIDENCY TELEGRAM PAGE)
DAMASCUS — Saudi Arabia's King Salman
bin Abdulaziz has invited Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to
attend an Arab League summit in the Gulf country on May 19,
Syrian state media reported on Wednesday.
Arab foreign ministers agreed on Sunday that Syria could resume its role in the body, 12 years after its membership was suspended over Assad's crackdown on protests against him.
The invitation is a powerful signal that the regional isolation of Assad and his war-battered country is ending.
Regional countries — including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others — had for years supported anti-Assad rebels but Syria's army, backed by Iran, Russia and allied paramilitary groups, regained most of the country.
The icy ties with Assad began to thaw more quickly after the devastating earthquakes in February. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister visited Damascus last month and his ministry on Tuesday said that the kingdom will reopen its diplomatic mission in Damascus.
Sources had told Reuters in April that Assad would be invited to the summit. While Arab countries appear to have brought the Syrian leader in from the cold, they are still making key demands for him to curb Syria's flourishing drugs trade and secure the return of refugees.
bin Abdulaziz has invited Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to
attend an Arab League summit in the Gulf country on May 19,
Syrian state media reported on Wednesday.
Arab foreign ministers agreed on Sunday that Syria could
resume its role in the body, 12 years after its membership was
suspended over Assad's crackdown on...