Syrian dictator Assad given red carpet treatment for Arab League

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19 May, 2023

The Arab League summit will begin today in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah. Bashar Al-Assad will attend for the first time since 2011, having been suspended for over a decade due to his regime's killing of peaceful protesters.

Twelve years later and 500,000 Syrians have been killed in the war, the vast majority civilians as a result of regime bombing and massacres. 

While Saudi Arabia rolls out the purple carpet for Assad - having effectively restored bilateral ties with the Syrian regime - a few other Arab countries are hesitant about making amends, such as Qatar and Kuwait.