Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani's confirmation that Syrian President Ahmad Al Sharaa has been invited to the Arab summit in Baghdad next month has caused controversy in Iraq, The National reported on Thursday.

The reason behind the furor lies in the Syrian president's past links with Al Qaeda in Iraq, where he served as a senior field leader for the terrorist group in fighting American and Iraqi troops after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Al Sudani confirmed Baghdad had invited Al Sharaa to the Arab summit during a discussion at the Sulaimani Forum in Sulaymaniyah in Iraq on Wednesday.

“Yes, a formal invitation has been delivered to him, and he is welcome to attend and participate in the Arab summit,” Al Sudani told The National.

Al Sharaa was one of thousands of foreign fighters who went to Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, mainly through Syria. He was arrested by American forces in 2005 and imprisoned until 2011. He then returned to Syria and formed an Al Qaeda-affiliated terror group fighting against the government of president Bashar Al Assad. He broke ties with Al Qaeda in 2016 and created Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), which took power in Damascus last December in an offensive that toppled the Assad regime.