Saudi Arabia to host next Arab League summit

Leaders of Arab nations concluded 31st summit in Algeria this week

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan. EPA

Saudi Arabia will host the next Arab League summit, the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan said.

Prince Faisal was speaking during Wednesday's closing session of the 31st Arab League summit in Algeria, during which he praised efforts made for a successful meeting between regional leaders.

“Based on Saudi Arabia’s keenness to maintain the existing co-operation between us at all levels, we announce that our country will host the 32nd session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the summit level,” Prince Faisal said during his closing speech.

The summit of the 22-member Cairo-based Arab League was last held in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

Leaders of the Arab world discussed a range of issues from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to the turmoil in Syria, Yemen and Libya and the perceived interference in Arab affairs by Iran and Turkey, two non-Arab Muslim nations.

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said there was an Arab consensus on Saudi Arabia hosting the next summit.

The summit concluded with the “Algeria Declaration”. It included the Arab states' “aspirations to enhance a joint Arab action on many regional issues”, Mr Tebboune said.

The declaration said Arab leaders stressed the importance of standing up against all forms of interference in the internal affairs of the region and extended support for countries facing political crises, such as Libya, Lebanon and Yemen.

The summit was held amid rising food and energy costs, shortages, drought in some Arab countries and the soaring cost of living across much of the Middle East and Africa.