Arab League

The Arab League officially called the League of Arab States  is a regional organisation of Arab states in North  and Northeast Africa and Southwest Asia (Middle East)formed with the main goal of - "draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries."
in Cairo on  March 22,1945 with 6 members - Egypt;Iraq;Jordan;Lebanon;Saudi Arabia and Syria
The Arab League facilitates political, economic, cultural, scientific and social programs designed to promote the interests of the Arab  World.
The Arab League currently has 21 members and 4 observers.

21 memeber states are -

1) Algeria                    11) Mauritania
2) Baharain                 12) Morocco
3) Comoros                13) Oman
4) Djibouti                  14) State of Palestine
5) Egypt                     15) Qatar
6) Iraq                       16) Saudi Arabia
7) Jordan                   17) Somalia
8) Kuwait                  18) Sudan
9) Lebanon                19) Syria  - Suspended from Nov 16,2011
10) Libya                   20) Tunisia
                                 21) UAE
                                 22) Yemen
The Arab League has suspended Syria until president Bashar al-Assad implements a deal to end violence against protestors and called for sanctions and transition talks with the opposition.

Observer states

Observer States are - Brazil;Venezuela;Eritrea and India
observer states entitles them to express their opinion and give advice but denies them voting rights.


Arab League Summit - Baghdad,Iraq - Thursday March 29,2012

The 23rd Annual Arab summit meeting opened in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Thursday with only 10 of the leaders of the 22-member Arab League in attendance and amid a growing rift between Arab countries over how far they should go to end the one-year conflict in Syria.

Iraq's hosting of the annual summit for the first time since 1990 was touted by Baghdad officials as a victory in their efforts to show the country is moving toward stability after years of sectarian fighting that almost tipped the nation into civil war.


The summit was the first since the wave of Arab Spring uprisings began sweeping the region more than a year ago, targeting its long-ruling strongmen. The 2011 summit was canceled because of the turmoil.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center, attends the Arab League summit in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday

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Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the League of Arab States Ahmad al-Qattan, center, attends the Arab League summit in Baghdad, Iraq

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, center, attends the Arab League summit in Baghdad, Iraq

 

Kuwait's emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, center, attends the Arab League summit in Baghdad, Iraq

 

Libyan Transitional National Council chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, center, attends the Arab League summit in Baghdad, Iraq

 

 
Ten of the Arab League’s 22 member nations sent a head of state to the summit, most notably Kuwait, whose emir traded ceremonial kisses with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a rapprochement that comes two decades after Saddam Hussein invaded that tiny neighbor in a provocation that sparked the first Persian Gulf War.
Notable were the absences of the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and most other Gulf countries, as well Morocco and Jordan - all of them headed by Sunni monarchs who deeply distrust the close ties between Baghdad's Shiite-dominated government and their top regional rival, Iran. 

The one-day summit ended with a call on Syria's embattled regime to "immediately implement" proposals put forward by joint U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to end the deadly year-long conflict. The summit's final communique said that the Arab leaders fully support the "legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people to democracy and freedom and their right to determine their future."