Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Sia al-Sudani was confirmed to have Syrian President Ahmad al-Shala invited to the Arab Summit in Baghdad next month, sparking controversy in Iraq on Thursday.
The reason behind the engagement lies in the Syrian president’s past connections with Iraqi al-Qaeda, where he served as a senior field leader for a terrorist group when fighting the US and Iraqi forces after a 2003 US-led invasion overthrew Saddam Hussein.
Al Sudhani confirmed that Baghdad invited Al Shala to the Arab summit during discussions at the Sulaimani Forum in Iraq on Wednesday.
“Yes, an official invitation has been delivered to him. He is welcome to attend and participate in the Arab summit,” Al Sudhani told the public.
Al-Sharaa was one of the thousands of foreign fighters who made a US-led invasion in 2003, mainly through Syria, to Iraq. He was arrested by the US military in 2005 and was jailed until 2011. He then returned to Syria and formed a terrorist group belonging to al-Qaeda, fighting President Bashar al-Assad. He broke ties with al-Qaeda in 2016 and created Hayat Taharil al-Sham (HTS).