Dawa Party objects to Arab Summit invitation for Syria’s Ahmed Al-Sharaa

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Dawa Party, led by former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, has voiced strong opposition to the possible participation of Syrian interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in the upcoming Arab League Summit, citing criminal allegations and past involvement in violence against Iraqis.

In a statement Sunday, the party said summit attendees should meet a basic threshold of legal accountability.

“Summit participants must have a clean judicial record, both Iraqi and international,” the statement read. “The blood of Iraqis is not cheap to the extent that someone who has violated it… should be invited to Baghdad.”

While the statement did not name Al-Sharaa directly, it drew pointed comparisons to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an international arrest warrant. It said Iraq should hold similar standards and reject figures “involved in horrific crimes against its people.”

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani formally invited Al-Sharaa to attend the summit, set for May 17 in Baghdad. The invitation was confirmed during al-Sudani’s remarks at the Sulaimani Forum on April 16 and follows a meeting between the two leaders in Doha on April 17, facilitated by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

The invitation has ignited backlash from factions within Iraq’s political landscape, particularly among members of the Coordination Framework.

Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement, said hosting Al-Sharaa would be “premature” and possibly illegal, citing what he claimed was an active arrest warrant against the Syrian figure and his alleged involvement with Al-Qaeda in Iraq in the years following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Full Translated Statement by the Dawa Party:

Iraq looks forward to the Arab Summit in Baghdad as a qualitative shift in the course of joint Arab action and in confronting turbulent challenges, and for its outcomes to rise to the level of what the Arab peoples are hoping for — from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the banks of the Gulf — especially in supporting the Palestinian cause and ending the suffering and ongoing tragedy of the people of Gaza as a result of the persistent Zionist aggression.

The coming together of Arabs and Muslims, and the unification of their ranks in this difficult time, has become an existential necessity in light of the storms of events targeting their present, the future of their generations, their resources, and their lands.

While we recognize that one of the requirements of the Charter of the Arab League and commitment to its norms is the invitation of all countries without exception, there must be consideration that the judicial record, whether Iraqi or international, is free of charges or crimes for anyone participating in the activities of the Arab Summit at any level. This is stipulated by international law, for the blood of Iraqis is not cheap to the extent that someone who has violated it, or attacked their sanctities, should be invited to Baghdad, or that someone involved in documented crimes against them should be welcomed.

The Prime Minister of the occupying entity (Benjamin Netanyahu) cannot visit or pass through many European countries due to the ruling issued against him by the International Criminal Court. Governments and capitals have refused to receive him, out of respect for the sentiments of their peoples and in commitment to the international judicial ruling. This is what must be done in Iraq as well, toward those involved in horrific crimes against its people, regardless of the justifications, in respect for Iraqi blood and loyalty to the martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the dignity and honor of the homeland.