“Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Attend Arab Summit in Saudi Arabia”

The Syrian presidency announced, on Thursday, that the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, will travel to the Saudi city of Jeddah to attend the Arab summit scheduled for Friday.

The Syrian presidency said in a statement posted on its Facebook page that al-Assad will participate in “the work of the thirty-second session of the Arab League Council meeting at the summit level, which will be held tomorrow, Friday.”

Damascus’ membership in the League of Arab States was suspended in response to its suppression of popular protests, which took to the streets in 2011 before turning into a bloody conflict that claimed the lives of more than half a million people.

Saudi Arabia invited the head of the Syrian regime to attend the summit after the Arab countries agreed to restore Damascus to its full membership in the Arab League.

Several Western powers oppose the Arab opening to Damascus, especially Washington and London.

AndThe US State Department condemned itWednesday, Syria’s return to the Arab League. US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told Al-Hurra: “We do not believe that Syria deserves readmission to the Arab League at this time. This is a point we have made clear to all our partners.”

Patel added, “We understand that our partners intend to use direct engagement with the Assad regime to drive further progress and demand progress in these areas over the coming months. While we question Assad’s willingness to take the necessary steps to resolve the Syrian crisis, we agree with our Arab partners on the ultimate goals.” .

Patel revealed that the United States has also made it clear to its partners, “that we will abide by the basic principles of our sanctions,” and he said, “We have been consulting with our partners about their plans, making it clear that we will not normalize with the Assad regime and that our sanctions will remain in effect.”

The Sirte summit in Libya in 2010 was the last summit that Assad attended before the conflict broke out in 2011, and then his country’s membership in the Arab League was suspended in the same year.