BAGHDAD: Several powerful pro-Iran Iraqi politicians have in recent days voiced opposition to a potential visit by Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Iraq for the upcoming Arab League summit.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said earlier this week that Baghdad has invited Sharaa to attend the Arab League summit, scheduled to take place in the capital on May 17.

If Sharaa attends, it would be his official visit as Syria’s leader to Iraq, where he was imprisoned for years on charges of belonging to Al Qaeda following the 2003 US-led invasion.

The Dawa party, led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said it rejects Baghdad hosting someone who has committed “crimes” against Iraqis.

Maliki is a key figure in Iraqi politics and a leading member of the Coordination Framework, the main pro-Iran coalition that holds a parliamentary majority and helped bring Sudani to power. “It is essential that the judicial record... of anyone participating in the Arab summit at any level is free of charges and crimes,” Maliki’s party added, without naming Sharaa.

Several Iraqi security sources said that an old arrest warrant for Sharaa remains in place from his time as a member of Al Qaeda. However, authorities may choose not to enforce it, prioritising stable relations with Syria’s new leadership to help maintain regional stability.

Earlier this week, Sudani met with Sharaa in Doha in a meeting facilitated by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

US-sanctioned Qais al-Khazali, head of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq force which is part of the Coordination Framework, warned on X Saturday that a visit by Sharaa “could have consequences if the law were enforced and he got arrested” due to the outstanding warrant against him. It is too soon for Sharaa to visit Iraq, he said.

Iraq’s powerful faction Kataeb Hezbollah’s spokesman, Abu Ali al-Askari, said that the Arab summit “would definitely not stop due to the absence of the convicted Abu Mohammed al-Jolani,” using Sharaa’s nom de guerre which he has abandoned after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad. Pro-Iran Kataeb Hezbollah has previously fought in Syria alongside Assad forces.

The ouster of Assad, who was a close ally of the government in Baghdad, has complicated relations between the neighbouring countries.

Iraq, a majority-Shia country, remains deeply scarred by decades of conflict following the US-led invasion, which triggered sectarian violence and the rise of Sunni groups, including Al Qaeda and the militant Islamic State group.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2025