Arab leaders — minus Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — meet in Saudi Arabia for a summit on Sunday as world powers face off over Syria and tensions rise between Riyadh and Tehran.

Saudi Arabia is pushing for a tough, unified stance against its regional arch-rival Iran at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League.

The two regional titans, locked in proxy wars in Syria and in Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbour Yemen, back opposing parties in Iraq and Lebanon.

The summit begins 24 hours after the United States, France and Britain launched controversial air strikes in war-torn Syria in response to a reported regime chemical attack on the decimated rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta last week.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which both voiced support for the strikes, remain locked in a months-long diplomatic standoff, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Iran.

Summits of the Arab League, established in 1945, rarely result in action.

The last time the bloc made a concrete move was in 2011, when it suspended Syria’s membership over the Assad regime’s role in the war.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman will chair Sunday’s summit in the eastern city of Dhahran, home to Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco and 160 kilometres (100 miles) across the Gulf from Iran.

Syria’s war, the most complex of the region’s conflicts, is the main point of contention pitting Riyadh and its allies, who mainly back Sunni rebels, against regime backer Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday declared its full support for US-led air raids on Syria, which the Pentagon said had “successfully hit every target”.

Qatar, which has confirmed it will attend the summit, also backed the strikes.

Its foreign ministry tweeted support for “operations against specific military targets used by Syrian regime in its chemical attacks”.

Gulf Arab states have made massive donations to Syria but have not officially offered asylum to Syrians.

Despite widespread Arab condemnation of the suspected chemical attack, the Dhahran summit is unlikely to call for Assad to step down.

Seven years into a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, Saudi Arabia and Iran now agree that the country’s future cannot be decided solely by the Assad regime, whose troops have regained the upper hand with massive support from Russia.

Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32-year-old son of the king and de facto ruler of the world’s largest exporter of oil, has said Assad will stay.

The question of Jerusalem is also likely to figure prominently at the summit as the United States prepares to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv after declaring the disputed city the capital of Israel in a break with decades of international diplomacy.

Arab ministers at a preliminary meeting in Riyadh on Thursday focused heavily on blocking the move, unanimously condemning the decision by US President Donald Trump.

But Saudi Arabia’s crown prince struck a somewhat different tone during a US tour earlier this month.

While Saudi Arabia does not officially recognise Israel, Prince Mohammed told US magazine The Atlantic that Israelis, like Palestinians, had a right to their own land.

“There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries”, he said.</s>Qatar will not be represented by a senior official at an Arab summit taking place in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, in a sign that a nearly year-old dispute between Gulf Arab neighbours is still a long way from being resolved.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty.

The Qatari delegation will be headed by Doha's permanent representative to the Arab League, Saif bin Muqaddam al-Buainain, the state news agency said without elaborating.

Most of the 22 other countries are represented by heads of state or government. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani headed Qatar's delegation at last year's Arab summit in Jordan.

Sheikh Tamim returned to Doha on Saturday from a U.S. trip where he met President Donald Trump, who had publicly sided with the Saudis and Emiratis early in the crisis, but is now pushing for a resolution to restore Gulf Arab unity and maintain a united front against Iran.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Thursday that Qatar's crisis would not be on the table at the Arab League summit, Al Arabiya reported.

Ahead of the summit, the four boycotting nations reaffirmed that their demands on Qatar — including closing Al Jazeera television station and reducing ties with Iran — were "a necessary basis" for a resolution to the crisis.

The summit is expected to focus heavily on Syria and Iran.

Saudi Arabia is pushing for a tough, unified stance against its regional rival Iran at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League.

The two regional titans, locked in proxy wars in Syria and in Saudi Arabia's southern neighbor Yemen, back opposing parties in Iraq and Lebanon.

The summit begins 24 hours after the U.S., France and Britain launched controversial missile strikes in war-torn Syria in response to a reported Assad regime chemical attack on the decimated opposition enclave of eastern Ghouta last week.</s>DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA: Arab leaders—minus Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—meet in Saudi Arabia for a summit on Sunday as world powers face off over Syria and tensions rise between Riyadh and Tehran. Saudi Arabia is pushing for a tough, unified stance against its regional arch-rival Iran at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League. The two regional titans, locked in proxy wars in Syria and in Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbor Yemen, back opposing parties in Iraq and Lebanon. The summit begins 24 hours after the United States, France and Britain launched controversial air strikes in war-torn Syria in response to a reported regime chemical attack on the decimated rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta last week. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which both voiced support for the strikes, remain locked in a months-long diplomatic standoff, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Iran.</s>DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Arab League leaders on Sunday called for an international probe into the “criminal” use of chemical weapons in Syria and condemned what they see as Iran’s interference in the affairs of other countries.

Regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran have for decades been locked in a struggle for supremacy that is now being played out in proxy wars in several countries, including Yemen and Syria.

“We stress our absolute condemnation of the use of chemical weapons against the sisterly Syrian people and we demand an independent international investigation to guarantee the application of international law to everyone proven to use chemical weapons,” said a document distributed to journalists.

It emphasized the need for a political solution to the multi-sided Syrian war, which has killed at least half a million people in the past seven years.

A previous statement read out at the close of the summit in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran did not mention Syria.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have expressed support for Saturday’s missile strikes by the United States, Britain and France against three alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria, while other Arab states such as Iraq and Lebanon have condemned the strikes.

The Syrian government denies using or possessing chemical weapons and said the strikes were an act of aggression.

Military help over the past three years from Russia and Iran, which also backs Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and Shi’ite Muslim militias in Iraq, has allowed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to crush the rebel threat to topple him.

The communique called for additional international sanctions on Iran and urged Tehran to withdraw “its militias” from Syria and Yemen.

“We renew our strong condemnation of terrorist acts carried out by Iran in the Arab region, and we reject its blatant interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries,” King Salman said in an opening speech. Iran denies the accusations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed cooperating with the Arab League on regional security, specifically in Iraq and Syria following the defeat of Islamic State militants there, according to Russian news agencies.

Saudi Arabia, which takes over the rotating chair of the Arab summit from Jordan, announced that the current gathering would be named the “Quds (Jerusalem) Summit”, a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which Arab states condemned.

Delegates pledged in the closing statement to support the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. King Salman said Saudi Arabia was donating $200 million to support them, including $50 million for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Qatar did not send a senior official to Dhahran in a sign that its 10-month-old dispute with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt is still a long way from being resolved.

The four countries severed diplomatic and transport ties with Doha in June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty.

The Qatari delegation was headed by Doha’s permanent representative to the Arab League, Saif bin Muqaddam al-Buainain, Qatar’s state news agency said, without elaborating.

Most of the 22 other countries were represented by heads of state or government. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani headed Qatar’s delegation at last year’s summit in Jordan.

Sheikh Tamim returned to Doha on Saturday from a U.S. trip where he met Trump. Trump publicly sided with the Saudis and Emiratis early in the crisis but is now pushing for a resolution to restore Gulf Arab unity and maintain a united front against Iran.

Ahead of the summit, the four boycotting nations said their demands - including closing the Al Jazeera television station and reducing ties with Iran - were “a necessary basis” for a resolution to the crisis with Qatar.</s>Arab leaders -- minus Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- meet in Saudi Arabia for a summit on Sunday as world powers face off over Syria and tensions rise between Riyadh and Tehran.

Saudi Arabia is pushing for a tough, unified stance against its regional arch-rival at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League.

The two regional titans, locked in proxy wars in Syria and in Saudi Arabia's southern neighbour Yemen, back opposing parties in Iraq and Lebanon.

The summit begins 24 hours after the United States, and launched controversial air strikes in war-torn Syria in response to a reported regime chemical attack on the decimated rebel enclave of last week.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which both voiced support for the strikes, remain locked in a months-long diplomatic standoff, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to

Summits of the Arab League, established in 1945, rarely result in action. The last time the bloc made a concrete move was in 2011, when it suspended Syria's membership over the Assad regime's role in the war.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman will chair Sunday's summit in the eastern city of Dhahran, home to Saudi Arabia's oil giant Aramco and 160 kilometres (100 miles) across the Gulf from

Syria's war, the most complex of the region's conflicts, is the main point of contention pitting Riyadh and its allies, who mainly back Sunni rebels, against regime backer and its Lebanese ally

Saudi Arabia on Saturday declared its full support for US-led air raids on Syria, which the Pentagon said had "successfully hit every target".

Qatar, which has confirmed it will attend the summit, also backed the strikes. Its foreign ministry tweeted support for "operations against specific military targets used by Syrian regime in its chemical attacks".

Gulf Arab states have made massive donations to Syria but have not officially offered asylum to Syrians.

Despite widespread Arab condemnation of the suspected chemical attack, the is unlikely to call for Assad to step down.

Seven years into a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, Saudi Arabia and now agree that the country's future cannot be decided solely by the Assad regime, whose troops have regained the upper hand with massive support from Russia.

Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32-year-old son of the king and de facto ruler of the world's largest exporter of oil, has said Assad will stay.

The question of Jerusalem is also likely to figure prominently at the summit as the prepares to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv after declaring the disputed city the capital of Israel in a break with decades of diplomacy.

Arab ministers at a preliminary meeting in Riyadh on Thursday focused heavily on blocking the move, unanimously condemning the decision by

But Saudi Arabia's crown prince struck a somewhat different tone during a US tour earlier this month.

While Saudi Arabia does not officially recognise Israel, Prince Mohammed told US magazine The Atlantic that Israelis, like Palestinians, had a right to their own land.

"There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries", he said.</s>Leaders at the Arab League summit have failed to discuss the US-led strikes that came as a result of the "criminal" alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The summit took place in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, a day after the coordinated attacks by the US, UK and France on three sites allegedly linked to the production of chemical weapons in Syria.

According to a summit spokesman, the leaders were to discuss the Syrian conflict but not the strikes that targeted the sites near Damascus as well as in the province of Homs.

The leaders called for an international probe while condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters after the summit.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar have previously issued statements in support of the action while Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon expressed concern.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose government has denied using or possessing chemical weapons, was not present at the meeting after the country was suspended from the group in 2011.

Al Jazeera's senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said it was "odd" that the recent strikes in Syria were not on the agenda.

"It couldn't get more odd," he said. "It's what you call a bottomless summit."

Jerusalem move 'null and illegitimate'

In their closing statement on Sunday, Arab leaders rejected US President Donald Trump's decision of recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel "null and illegitimate".

Breaking with years of US policy, Trump also announced the US embassy would move to Jerusalem, drawing international condemnation and sparking a wave of heated protests around the world.

In response, Saudi Arabia renamed this year's summit "Quds [Jerusalem] Summit".

"We confirm that East Jerusalem is an inseparable part of the Palestinian land," Saudi King Salman said.

The status of Jerusalem, which is home to holy religious sites and has particular significance for Muslims, Christians and Jews, has long remained a sensitive topic and one of the core issues in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"Washington says it has taken the Jerusalem file off the negotiation table," said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"This violates international law and is a precedent that we consider a major setback."

Qatar blockade not discussed

The summit was the first since a major diplomatic dispute between Qatar and some its Gulf neighbours.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain - all members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Doha on June 5, 2017, and imposed a land, sea and air embargo, accusing it of supporting "terrorism". Qatar has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Al-Jubeir, Saudi foreign minister, said Qatar was not on the agenda because "it's not a big issue".

"It's not a big problem," he said. "It's a very, very small problem."

While Qatar's emir did not attend the summit, the country's Arab League representative was present at the meeting.

"We've never seen the Arab world in such bad shape with leadership not able to cope with the challenges facing the Arab world, so much so that most of the points of contention that the Arab leaders don't agree to were not put on the agenda and the ones that they agreed to were put on the agenda," said Al Jazeera's Bishara.</s>A summit of the Arab League has called for an international probe into the "criminal" use of chemical weapons in Syria and condemned what it said was Iran's interference in the affairs of Arab countries.

The summit in Saudi Arabia came a day after the United States, along with allies France and Britain, launched air strikes on Syria in response to a suspected chemical attack that killed dozens of people last week.

"We demand an independent international investigation to guarantee the application of international law against anyone proven to have used chemical weapons," said a final statement issued by the Arab League after the summit.

The statement also called for more international sanctions on Iran and urged it to withdraw "its militias" from Syria and Yemen.

Iran has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, sending Shi’ite militias to fight alongside government forces. In Yemen, Iranian-backed Huthi rebels have seized large parts of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

Iranian state media quoted Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying the Arab League’s condemnation was the result of pressure from Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s regional rival.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP</s>DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s King Salman opened a summit of Arab leaders on Sunday by condemning an old foe, Iran, without making any reference to missile strikes by Western powers on Syrian government targets over a suspected gas attack a week ago.

Regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran have been locked in a decades-long struggle for supremacy that is being waged in proxy wars in several countries, including Yemen and Syria.

“We renew our strong condemnation of terrorist acts carried out by Iran in the Arab region, and we reject its blatant interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries,” King Salman said in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran, without giving specifics. Iran denies the charges.

King Salman made no mention of Saturday’s missile launch by the United States, Britain and France against three alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria. The Syrian government denies using - or possessing - chemical weapons and said the strikes were an act of aggression.

Saudi Arabia and its allies expressed support for the strikes on Saturday, but Iraq and Lebanon have condemned them. Other countries like Jordan and Kuwait refrained from taking a position, instead renewing calls for a political solution to the multi-sided war which has killed at least half a million people in the past seven years.

Military help over the past three years from Russia and Iran, which also backs Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and Shi’ite Muslim militias in Iraq, has allowed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to crush the rebel threat to topple him.

Saudi Arabia, which takes over the rotating chair of the Arab summit from Jordan, announced that the current gathering would be named the “Quds (Jerusalem) Summit”, a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision last year to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

King Salman said Saudi Arabia was donating $200 million to support the Palestinians, including $50 million for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Qatar did not send a senior official to the summit in a sign that its 10-month dispute with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt is still a long way from being resolved.

The four countries severed diplomatic and transport ties with Doha in June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty.

The Qatari delegation is being headed by Doha’s permanent representative to the Arab League, Saif bin Muqaddam al-Buainain, Saudi’s state news agency said, without elaborating.

Most of the 22 other countries are represented by heads of state or government. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani headed Qatar’s delegation at last year’s summit in Jordan.

Sheikh Tamim returned to Doha on Saturday from a U.S. trip where he met Trump. Trump publicly sided with the Saudis and Emiratis early in the crisis but is now pushing for a resolution to restore Gulf Arab unity and maintain a united front against Iran.

Ahead of the summit, the four boycotting nations said their demands - including closing the Al Jazeera television station and reducing ties with Iran - were “a necessary basis” for a resolution to the crisis with Qatar.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Thursday the crisis would not be discussed at the meeting, Al Arabiya reported.</s>Arab leaders — minus Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — meet in Saudi Arabia for a summit on Sunday as world powers face off over Syria and tensions rise between Riyadh and Tehran.



Saudi Arabia is pushing for a tough, unified stance against its regional arch-rival Iran at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League.

The two regional titans, locked in proxy wars in Syria and in Saudi Arabia's southern neighbour Yemen, back opposing parties in Iraq and Lebanon.

The summit begins 24 hours after the United States, France and Britain launched controversial air strikes in war-torn Syria in response to a reported regime chemical attack on the decimated rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta last week.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which both voiced support for the strikes, remain locked in a months-long diplomatic standoff, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Iran.

Summits of the Arab League, established in 1945, rarely result in action.

The last time the bloc made a concrete move was in 2011 when it suspended Syria's membership over the Assad regime's role in the war.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman will chair Sunday's summit in the eastern city of Dhahran, home to Saudi Arabia's oil giant Aramco and 160 kilometres (100 miles) across the Gulf from Iran.

Syria's war, the most complex of the region's conflicts, is the main point of contention pitting Riyadh and its allies, who mainly back Sunni rebels, against regime backer Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday declared its full support for US-led air raids on Syria, which the Pentagon said had "successfully hit every target".

Qatar, which has confirmed it will attend the summit, also backed the strikes.

Its foreign ministry tweeted support for "operations against specific military targets used by the Syrian regime in its chemical attacks".

Gulf Arab states have made massive donations to Syria but have not officially offered asylum to Syrians.

Despite widespread Arab condemnation of the suspected chemical attack, the Dhahran summit is unlikely to call for Assad to step down.

Seven years into a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, Saudi Arabia and Iran now agree that the country's future cannot be decided solely by the Assad regime, whose troops have regained the upper hand with massive support from Russia.

Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old son of the king and de facto ruler of the world's largest exporter of oil, has said Assad will stay.

The question of Jerusalem is also likely to figure prominently at the summit as the United States prepares to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv after declaring the disputed city the capital of Israel in a break with decades of international diplomacy.

Arab ministers at a preliminary meeting in Riyadh on Thursday focused heavily on blocking the move, unanimously condemning the decision by US President Donald Trump.

But Saudi Arabia's crown prince struck a somewhat different tone during a US tour earlier this month.

While Saudi Arabia does not officially recognise Israel, Prince Mohammed told US magazine The Atlantic that Israelis, like Palestinians, had a right to their own land.

"There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries", he said.</s>Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Sunday slammed Iran's "blatant interference" in regional affairs and criticised the US over Jerusalem as Arab leaders met in the kingdom for an annual gathering.

Seventeen heads of state from across the Arab world gathered in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran for the 29th Arab League summit, which this year comes as world powers face off over Syria and tensions rise between Riyadh and Tehran.

The meeting opened only 24 hours after a barrage of strikes launched by the United States, Britain and France hit targets they said were linked to chemical weapons development in Syria, which was suspended from the league seven years ago.

But King Salman avoided any mention of Syria in his address, as a seat marked "Syrian Arab Republic" sat empty in the hall.

Instead the king focused on rivalries with long-time foe Iran -- only 160 kilometres (100 miles) across the Gulf from Dhahran.

"We renew our strong condemnation of Iran's terrorist acts in the Arab region and reject its blatant interference in the affairs of Arab countries," the king said.

And despite being a stalwart ally of the United States, the ruler also criticised US President Donald Trump's controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and shift the US embassy there.

"We reiterate our rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem," Salman said. "East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories."

The king said he had named this year's meeting "the Jerusalem summit so that the entire world knows Palestine and its people remain at the heart of Arab concerns".

- Donation for East Jerusalem -

Arab ministers at a preliminary meeting in Riyadh on Thursday focused heavily on blocking the embassy move, unanimously condemning Trump's decision.

King Salman on Sunday announced a $150 million donation for the maintenance of Islamic heritage in East Jerusalem.

Earlier this month, the monarch reiterated the kingdom's "steadfast stance on the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital".

His comments came just days after his son, powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, told reporters during a US tour that Israel also had a "right" to its own state.

The remark suggested increasing rapprochement with Israel, which like Riyadh, sees Tehran as its arch rival.

Saudi Arabia is pushing for a tough, unified stance against Iran at the annual gathering of the 22-member Arab League.

The two regional titans back opposing sides in a range of hotspots across the Middle East, including Lebanon and Syria and in Saudi Arabia's southern neighbour Yemen.

Iran is backing Shiite Huthi rebels that Riyadh opposes in Yemen and on Sunday Salman praised "the UN Security Council's statement denouncing the Iranian-made ballistic missile fire on Saudi cities."

Last month the Security Council issued a statement condemning Huthi missile attacks on Saudi, but did not name Iran.

In February, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have expressed concern over Iran's failure to block supplies of missiles to Yemen's Huthi rebels.

The summit also comes with Saudi Arabia and Qatar locked in a months-long diplomatic standoff, with Riyadh accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists and being too close to Iran.

Tensions have eased slightly in recent months but Qatar still only sent its representative to the Arab League to the Dhahran summit.

Among the leaders in attendance was Sudan's Omar al-Bashir, who walked the red carpet and was greeted by King Salman. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for five counts of crimes against humanity, three counts of genocide and two counts of war crimes.

Summits of the Arab League, established in 1945, rarely result in action. The last time the bloc made a concrete move was in 2011, when it suspended Syria's membership over the Assad regime's role in the war.

Syria's war, the most complex of the region's conflicts, is the main point of contention pitting Riyadh and its allies, who mainly back Sunni rebels, against regime backer Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Gulf Arab states have made massive donations to Syria but have not officially offered asylum to Syrians.
The Arab League summits in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, their first meeting since the Qatar diplomatic crisis, focused on Jerusalem and Iran.