It is likely that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will participate Friday in the Arab summit to be held in Jeddah, following diplomatic efforts that led to the return of Damascus to its Arab surroundings after isolation that lasted for more than 11 years against the background of the devastating conflict in this country.

Al-Assad's possible participation is a major step towards ending his Arab isolation, more than a decade after Damascus was suspended after its suppression of protests that turned into a bloody conflict that claimed the lives of more than half a million people.

Experts said that his invitation to participate in the Jeddah summit also shows the influence of Saudi Arabia, which is currently promoting itself as a peacemaker in the region, after it overcame the objections of a number of countries, including Qatar, to return Syria to the Arab League during talks in Cairo earlier this month.

In addition to the normalization of relations with the Assad regime, two major crises are expected to top the agenda of the summit: the month-long conflict in Sudan between the army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Lieutenant General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, and the conflict in Yemen that has been going on for more than 8 years. .

The summit will be held in Jeddah, where representatives of the two Sudanese parties have been negotiating for about ten days, in talks sponsored by US and Saudi officials.

In Yemen, Saudi Arabia is pushing for a peace agreement with the Houthi rebels, eight years after it led a military coalition that was unable to defeat them on the battlefield.

The shuttle Saudi diplomatic efforts in the two files did not lead to a major breakthrough, but Saudi analysts and opinion writers are optimistic.

"The Jeddah summit is one of the most important summits for a long time, because it will rebuild the Arab region in a way that relies on interests and turns challenges into opportunities," Saudi analyst Suleiman al-Aqili told AFP.

He added, "If the summit is able to reintegrate Syria into the Arab system and take a strong stance on the conflict in Sudan and Yemen, it will be successful."

These recent diplomatic shifts have accelerated thanks to a surprising Chinese-brokered agreement to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran announced on March 10.

Less than two weeks later, Saudi Arabia announced that it had begun talks about resuming consular services with Syria, a close ally of Iran, before announcing the decision to reopen its missions in this country, in a move that witnessed the exchange of foreign ministers of the two countries for the first time in more than a decade.

However, the possible presence of Assad in Jeddah on Friday does not guarantee progress in resolving the brutal war in Syria.

Nor is it clear if the Arab League will succeed in its efforts on urgent issues such as the fate of Syrian refugees and the Captagon trade, which Damascus is accused of supporting.

"It is important to remember that Assad's return to the Arab League is a symbolic measure to begin the process of ending his regional isolation," said Anna Jacobs, senior Gulf analyst at the International Crisis Group.

And she continued, "In many ways, it is the beginning of political normalization, but it will be important to monitor if it will be accompanied by economic normalization, especially from the Gulf Arab countries."

Haid Hamdan, 44, a geography teacher in the capital, Damascus, said, "My family and I are interested in political news for the first time in years, and we follow the news of the summit first."

And he considered that his country's return to the Arab League represents "the beginning of a return to the world order," expecting it to result in "the reopening of embassies and companies and the return of movement and life to the country."

But others expressed less enthusiastic expectations.

"We are optimistic, but we know that the Arab summit will not be a magic wand to solve the Syrian problems," said Sawsan, a 29-year-old employee at a car sales company.

"It may be the beginning, but the road towards détente will be long and will not be easy," she added.

The same can be said about the situation in Sudan and Yemen.

Last week, the two parties to the conflict in Sudan reached a "humanitarian" agreement to pass humanitarian aid and ensure the exit of civilians from conflict areas, but they were unable to reach a truce in negotiations, which a US official described as "very difficult."

Regarding Yemen, the Saudi ambassador said in an interview with AFP that the parties to the conflict in Yemen are "serious" about ending the devastating war, but it is difficult to predict when direct talks will take place with the Houthi rebels.

Torbjorn Soltvedt of consultancy Versk Maplecroft said there was little doubt about Saudi Arabia's diplomatic approach to the summit and its aftermath.

"There are clear signs that Saudi Arabia is moving away from its previously adventurous foreign policy and is seeking to reinvent itself as a major diplomatic mediator in the region," Soltvedt said.

But he added that "the verdict is still out" on whether this mission will succeed.