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AFP - After decades at the centre of the Arab world, Syria now sits in the dock with regional leaders meeting in Baghdad this week over how to end Bashar al-Assad's bloody crackdown on a popular uprising.
But wide disparities among Arab chiefs' positions may hamper any hope of an aggressive resolution from the meeting, the first to be held in Iraq in more than 20 years and taking place under heavy security after deadly bombings just a week ago.
Crucially, the Arab League will have to reconcile a proposal by Gulf countries to arm opponents of President Assad with calls from states like Iraq for a political resolution to the year-long crackdown monitors say has left more than 9,100 dead.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters on Monday that Syria is a "pressing issue... It has an international dimension, it has a regional (dimension)."
Deputy National Security Adviser Safa Hussein, meanwhile, admitted Syria was "not an easy issue."
"There is a division internationally and there is a division within the Arab world," he told AFP. "I don't think we should expect miracles to happen in the summit, but I would say there would be an opportunity to bring Arab opinions closer."
Iraqi authorities have insisted that the summit will focus on structural reform of the Arab League in an effort to make the organisation more active, but Syria remains in the limelight, rocked by ongoing protests and deadly clashes, US and European sanctions and a United Nations human rights probe.
Syrian forces sent shells crashing into a rebel neighbourhood of Homs for a seventh straight day on Monday, monitors said, as Russia, whose President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the crisis with his US counterpart Barack Obama, warned Damascus it must act to avoid civil war.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi has told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, however, that it was unlikely the meeting in Iraq would call for the Syrian leader to step down.
But while events in Syria will be discussed, the crushing of protests in Bahrain is not on the agenda, Zebari confirmed, though he admitted the suppression last year of Shiite-led pro-democracy rallies in Bahrain was a concern.
The summit also marks a re-emergence of Iraq, hosting its first Arab League meeting since Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which triggered UN sanctions and was eventually followed by the 2003 US-led invasion.
"This is a turning point for Iraq," Zebari said.
"For the last few years, many of these (Arab) countries were... hesitant, undecided, half-hearted. Now, no."
He added: "I think we've made a major major leap forward."
More than 100,000 security forces members are deployed to provide security in the capital, according to the Baghdad Operations Command, and Iraq has spent upwards of $500 million to refurbish major hotels and summit venues.
But despite the dramatically tighter security measures, Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq managed to carry out a wave of nationwide attacks on March 20 that cost the lives of 50 people.
Among the attacks was a car bomb that went off in a car park directly opposite the foreign ministry, killing three people.
Iraq expects at least 10 Arab leaders to attend the summit, but while some countries such as Lebanon have announced top-level representation, the majority of the bloc's 22 members have been tight-lipped over who will attend on their behalf.
The summit was originally due to be held in Baghdad a year ago but was delayed due to regional turmoil resulting from the Arab Spring uprisings as well as concerns over violence in Iraq.
As a result of the revolts, many familiar faces will not be attending: since the beginning of last year, Libya's Moamer Kadhafi was killed, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down, Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh handed power to his deputy, and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia fled to Saudi Arabia.
In addition, League-member Sudan lost a quarter of its territory last year, after South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to secede in an independence referendum.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide, will head his country's delegation, but Zebari said he will not be arrested.
In the absence of the Arab Spring-deposed autocratic rulers, Islamists who have come to the fore in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia will be making their summit debut, to sit alongside the hereditary rulers of the Gulf, Jordan and Morocco.
Baghdad itself will be represented by new faces, with a Shiite-led and Kurdish-backed government taking centre stage in the place of Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime.
And for the first time, the head of state of a country hosting an Arab League summit is a Kurd -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
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But wide disparities among Arab chiefs' positions may hamper any hope of an aggressive resolution from the meeting, the first to be held in Iraq in more than 20 years and taking place under heavy security after deadly bombings just a week ago.
Crucially, the Arab League will have to reconcile a proposal by Gulf countries to arm opponents of President Assad with calls from states like Iraq for a political resolution to the year-long crackdown monitors say has left more than 9,100 dead.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters on Monday that Syria is a "pressing issue... It has an international dimension, it has a regional (dimension)."
Deputy National Security Adviser Safa Hussein, meanwhile, admitted Syria was "not an easy issue."
"There is a division internationally and there is a division within the Arab world," he told AFP. "I don't think we should expect miracles to happen in the summit, but I would say there would be an opportunity to bring Arab opinions closer."
Iraqi authorities have insisted that the summit will focus on structural reform of the Arab League in an effort to make the organisation more active, but Syria remains in the limelight, rocked by ongoing protests and deadly clashes, US and European sanctions and a United Nations human rights probe.
Syrian forces sent shells crashing into a rebel neighbourhood of Homs for a seventh straight day on Monday, monitors said, as Russia, whose President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the crisis with his US counterpart Barack Obama, warned Damascus it must act to avoid civil war.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi has told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, however, that it was unlikely the meeting in Iraq would call for the Syrian leader to step down.
But while events in Syria will be discussed, the crushing of protests in Bahrain is not on the agenda, Zebari confirmed, though he admitted the suppression last year of Shiite-led pro-democracy rallies in Bahrain was a concern.
The summit also marks a re-emergence of Iraq, hosting its first Arab League meeting since Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which triggered UN sanctions and was eventually followed by the 2003 US-led invasion.
"This is a turning point for Iraq," Zebari said.
"For the last few years, many of these (Arab) countries were... hesitant, undecided, half-hearted. Now, no."
He added: "I think we've made a major major leap forward."
More than 100,000 security forces members are deployed to provide security in the capital, according to the Baghdad Operations Command, and Iraq has spent upwards of $500 million to refurbish major hotels and summit venues.
But despite the dramatically tighter security measures, Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq managed to carry out a wave of nationwide attacks on March 20 that cost the lives of 50 people.
Among the attacks was a car bomb that went off in a car park directly opposite the foreign ministry, killing three people.
Iraq expects at least 10 Arab leaders to attend the summit, but while some countries such as Lebanon have announced top-level representation, the majority of the bloc's 22 members have been tight-lipped over who will attend on their behalf.
The summit was originally due to be held in Baghdad a year ago but was delayed due to regional turmoil resulting from the Arab Spring uprisings as well as concerns over violence in Iraq.
As a result of the revolts, many familiar faces will not be attending: since the beginning of last year, Libya's Moamer Kadhafi was killed, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down, Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh handed power to his deputy, and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia fled to Saudi Arabia.
In addition, League-member Sudan lost a quarter of its territory last year, after South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to secede in an independence referendum.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide, will head his country's delegation, but Zebari said he will not be arrested.
In the absence of the Arab Spring-deposed autocratic rulers, Islamists who have come to the fore in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia will be making their summit debut, to sit alongside the hereditary rulers of the Gulf, Jordan and Morocco.
Baghdad itself will be represented by new faces, with a Shiite-led and Kurdish-backed government taking centre stage in the place of Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime.
And for the first time, the head of state of a country hosting an Arab League summit is a Kurd -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
