ALBAWABA - Amnesty International criticized UAE for extending an invitation to Bashar al-Assad to the UN COP28 climate summit. al-Assad has not participated in a global summit since the eruption of unrest in Syria in 2011.
Countries have backed UAE's decision to invite al-Assad to the upcoming climate summit in November, saying that it is their right to extend the invitation. In a statement to the Financial Times, the U.S. Security Council said that it was “up to the UAE who they invite to COP28”.
However, countries have emphasized their stance as they oppose normalizing relationships with the Assad regime until authentic steps are taken to resolve the conflict in Syria and hold the criminal regime accountable.
This comes after Syria's return to the Arab League after the summit held on Friday, as Saudi Arabia led attempts to strengthen regional relations with Syria.
During the G7 summit in Hiroshima, it was stated that countries “should only consider normalization and reconstruction assistance once there is authentic and enduring progress towards a political solution” in Syria.
On Tuesday, UAE's ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja, formally invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Issac Herzog to attend the COP28 climate summit in Dubai along with a number of other foreign leaders.
