Iraqi PM defends Syrian president's visit despite calls for his arrest

 Ahmad al-Sharaa previously carried out terror attacks against civilians in Iraq as an Al-Qaeda chief following the 2003 US invasion  

News Desk - The Cradle 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced on 2 May that the presence of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the upcoming Arab League summit in Baghdad is important because he represents the Syrian state regardless of how power was transferred.

After Sudani issued an invitation to Sharaa to visit Iraq for the 17 May Arab summit, Iraqi lawmakers have tried to take measures to block Sharaa's entry to the country. They have called for his arrest if he enters Baghdad, citing his past as a commander of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the forerunners of ISIS.

Al-Qaeda and ISI killed tens of thousands of Iraqis by dispatching car bombs and suicide bombers to kill Shia civilians in the years after the 2003 invasion of Iraq in an effort to spark a sectarian war.

Sudani emphasized Baghdad's role in the region, given its balanced stances and its commitment to addressing all issues, stating that “Iraq will be a proactive country at the summit and will propose solutions to the various crises plaguing the region.”

The Iraqi prime minister affirmed that “the Syrian president's invitation to the summit came within the protocol of the Arab League,” noting that “Sharaa's presence at the summit is important to clarify Syria's new vision, given Arab concern for Syria to overcome its ordeal, and that Syria's security is part of Iraq's national security.”

The premier stressed the need to “adopt clear positions to achieve stability in Syria and confront challenges, especially security-related ones,” noting that “most Arab countries are keen to see Syria overcome its decades-long ordeal, and we will spare no effort in supporting Syria and respecting its choices.”

Sharaa has come under international condemnation for the massacre of over 1,600 Alawite civilians on the Syrian coast in March, as well as the ongoing kidnapping and enslavement of Alawite women by extremist factions affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Interior (General Security) and the Ministry of Defense.

Extremist gunmen affiliated with Syria's security forces went door to door, executing Alawite men – and in many cases women and children – on the basis of their religious identity while looting and burning homes.

One week after the massacres, SOHR observed that Syrian authorities prevented foreign journalists from reaching provinces of the Syrian coastlines, in a move “designed to cover criminals responsible for war crimes and mass genocide” and “to obliterate evidence through preventing the documentation of violations committed in the Syrian coastline.”