Algeria to host next year's Arab League summit

The next Arab League summit will be held in Algiers in March 2022, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Monday.

The announcement came during a conference of Algerian diplomats and consular missions abroad.

Tebboune said he hopes that the summit would bring forth an opportunity to "reform the Arab League."

Announcement of the summit's location comes during a host of tensions between member states.

Algeria cut diplomatic relations with neighbour Morocco in August, citing a string of "hostile actions" including espionage. Morocco rejected the various accusations.

The Arab League held talks on Monday in Lebanon with Gulf countries to help mediate a dispute sparked by comments from a Lebanese minister critical of Gulf countries' role in the war in Yemen.

Countries including Egypt have expressed their support for reinstating Syria as a member of the Arab League after a ten-year suspension.

Last year's Arab League summit was postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

In September 2020, Tebboune stressed that the Palestinian cause will remain "sacred" for Algeria, reaffirming his country's commitment to the Arab peace initiative adopted in the Arab summit held in Beirut in 2002.