Syria's Sharaa skips Iraq summit after firestorm over invitation

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will not attend the Arab League Summit in Baghdad this weekend, Syrian state media said on Monday, 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 reported, without providing a reason for Sharaa's absence. The summit is expected to focus on Gaza reconstruction and the Palestinian issue.

Sharaa's decision highlighted 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.

At least 57 Shi'ite lawmakers in Iraq's 329-member legislature petitioned the government to bar Sharaa from the summit, a copy of the request seen by Reuters showed. Rumours circulated that he could face an arrest warrant, but Iraqi authorities denied this.

Sunni politicians largely welcomed his participation in the summit as a step towards pulling Iraq away from Iran and towards Arab states, who have largely backed Sharaa.

"There are elements... working against Iraq's progress to reclaim its rightful place within the Arab community," said Raad al-Dahlaki, head of Azm Alliance, a major Sunni bloc in Iraq's parliament.

Analysts view Iraq as the last strong pillar in Iran's so-called Axis of Resistance after Assad's ouster and Israel's degrading of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Some Syrians were also concerned that Sharaa could face danger in Iraq.

For his Iraqi critics, "it's not going to be easy for them to digest, nor for the Syrian secret service to disregard those threats," said Mahmoud Toron, an analyst close to the Syrian government.