Saudi Arabia invites Syrian president to Arab summit

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia has invited Syrian President Bashar Assad to the upcoming Arab League summit in the oil-rich kingdom. The Syrian president’s office Wednesday did not specify whether he will attend the May 19 summit in Jeddah. It comes as Damascus slowly returns to the Arab fold, following a 12-year-period of political isolation. Days ago, the Arab League restored Syria’s membership into the organization after it was suspended for brutally cracking down on mass protests against Assad in 2011. The Syrian popular uprising turned into a vicious civil war that killed nearly a half million people and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.