ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will not attend the upcoming Arab League summit in the Iraqi capital Baghdad next week, Syria’s state-owned broadcaster reported on Monday.

In late April, Iraq extended a formal invitation for Sharaa to attend the Arab League summit taking place in Baghdad on Saturday.

Syria’s state-owned al-ikhbaria on Monday confirmed that the President will not attend the event, announcing that the Syrian delegation will instead be led by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

“The Syrian delegation to the summit will be headed by His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad al-Shaibani, who will represent Syria in the discussions and negotiations that will take place during the meeting,” reported the channel.

Baghdad will be home to the 34th Arab League Summit on May 17, where leaders from Arab states will gather and discuss the latest developments in the Arab world, this primarily includes the Israeli war on Gaza, as well as the new Syrian administration.

Several prominent Iraqi political and civil voices have time and again rejected the establishment of any relations with Sharaa’s Syria, given a rather bloody history the former al-Qaeda jihadist has in Iraq.

Shaibani visited Baghdad in March, marking the first trip of a top official from the new Damascus administration to the neighboring country, discussing bilateral relations, escalations in Syria's coastal regions, and cooperation on combating the threat of the Islamic State (ISIS).