Azaz Hundreds protested in rebel-held northern Syria on Friday against President Bashar al-Assads participation in the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia after a more than decade-long suspension, AFP correspondents said.

The people want the fall of the regime, chanted demonstrators in Azaz one of the main slogans from the waves of peaceful protests that broke out in Syria in 2011.

Syria cannot be represented by Assad the criminal, read a banner at the protest in the town, which is under the control of pro-Turkish groups.

Anti-Assad protests took part in other rebel-held areas, including in the northern city of Afrin where a crowd held up a large flag opposition flag.

Assad on Friday was attending his first Arab League summit since the body suspended Syria in late 2011 over the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators that led to civil war.

More than half a million people have been killed and around half of the countrys pre-war population has been forced from their homes due to the conflict.

We call on the Arab peoples to put pressure on their governments to go back on the decision (to re-admit Syria) and for Bashar al-Assad to leave, said Issam Khatib, a lawyer originally from the northern city of Aleppo.

Assad had been politically isolated in the region since the war began, but a devastating February 6 earthquake that killed thousands in Turkey and Syria sparked Arab outreach.

A flurry of diplomatic activity has been underway in recent weeks as Middle East rivals Saudi Arabia and the Syrian governments ally Iran patched up ties, shifting regional relations.

The regional detente with Damascus is a heavy blow to Syrias political and armed opposition, which received Arab support particularly in the conflicts early stages.

Damascus now controls most of Syria, after clawing back much of the ground it had lost with the crucial support of allies Iran and Russia.

The shattered country is at the mercy of foreign powers, with Russian, Iranian, Turkish and American forces all present.

The rebel-held areas of Syrias north and northwest, controlled by Islamist groups and Turkish-backed fighters, are home to more than four million people, at least half of whom have been displaced from other parts of the country.

The post Syrians in rebel-held north protest Assads return to Arab League appeared first on Iraqi News.

Riyadh Tributes to Syrian culture are everywhere at Riyadhs Damascu Cafe - from the traditional bean stew on the menu to folk songs that pour from the speakers, name-checking the war-torn countrys cities and towns.

Theres even a staffer who was hired for his resemblance to beloved Syrian comedian Duraid Lahham, and who spends long shifts posing for selfies with homesick customers

But while the crowds that flock to the cafe each day are united in love for their native country, they are sharply divided on whether their adopted home, Saudi Arabia, has done the right thing by welcoming President Bashar al-Assad to this weeks Arab League summit.

Some hope the move, which ends Assads exile of more than a dozen years from the pan-Arab body, signals an easing of Syrias broader isolation and related economic hardship since the start of the war there in 2011.

We were waiting for this moment, said 37-year-old Syrian expat Hiba Sidawi.

Its a pain now to visit our country and see our family. War didnt bring us any added value.

In the other camp are those who cant bear the thought of Assad on Saudi soil - all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid riling both Saudi and Syrian officials. 

I hate him! I hate him! said one woman. Let him come for what, what will he do? Will he fix things? Will he change the country? Hes the one who needs to be changed. I want to say out loud I am against him but I have relatives in Syria, they will drag them all and kill them.

Will he heal our pain?

Saudi Arabia cut ties with Assads government in 2012 in response to the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests that triggered the civil war, which has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions. It was also the reason Syria was suspended from the Arab League.

The steps leading to Syrias reintegration into the Arab fold go back to at least 2018, when the United Arab Emirates re-established ties with Damascus.

But the process picked up speed after a deadly earthquake struck Syria and Turkey in February, prompting an influx of aid from the region.

During the conflict, Saudi officials had openly championed Assads ouster.

But after the quake, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said a consensus was building in the Arab world that a new approach to Syria requiring negotiations with Damascus would be needed to address humanitarian crises.

The two countries foreign ministers have since exchanged visits, and Riyadh lobbied hard for Assads invitation to Fridays summit in Jeddah. 

As waiters at Damascu sang birthday songs for a customer earlier this week, one man said news of Assads impending arrival was nothing to celebrate.

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