Syria's newly appointed President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has been invited by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to attend an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo on March 4, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing a statement from the Syrian presidency.
This invitation marks a significant step in rebuilding Syria's relations with the Arab world following the fall of former President Bashar Al-Assad.
Sharaa, who leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group responsible for the offensive that removed Assad from power in December, was named president for a transitional period last month. Since taking office, Sharaa has worked to strengthen ties with Arab nations, committing to a political transition that will involve forming an inclusive government and organizing elections, which he has indicated could take up to four years to complete.
The Arab League froze Syria's membership in November 2011 over Assad’s bloody government crackdown on protesters.
However, the Arab League welcomed back Assad’s government in May of 2023, after more than a decade.
Sharaa’s HTS was once a part of Al-Nusra Front, which is Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch, and is labeled a terrorist organization by many Western governments.
HTS later broke off from Al-Nusra Front and prioritized combatting Al-Qaeda as well as the Islamic State (ISIS), of which Sharaa was critical, describing its self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq as "illegitimate".
Shortly after Sharaa came to power, the US decided to remove the $10 million bounty on his head, but did not lift the sanctions that have been imposed on Syria during its civil war.