AKIPRESS.COM - Members of the Arab League gathered in Kuwait City for its annual summit. The Syrian civil war and political turmoil in Egypt dominated the agenda for the meeting, Deutsche Welle reported.

In his opening remarks, Kuwait's sheikh called on the member nations to strive for more cooperation. This year's summit is taking place amid several crises across the Middle East, which threaten to destabilize the region.

“The dangers around us are enormous and we will not move towards joint Arab action without our unity and without casting aside our differences,” Sheikh Sabah, the summit host, said.

Not only has the Syrian civil war threatened security in its neighboring countries, but political disputes surrounding the role of Islamists across Arab League nations also threaten to cause a deep rift among the allies.

This month, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar in protest of the country's support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The interim government in Cairo banned the Islamist party last year following the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi. The judiciary is currently pursuing tough legal action against the Islamist party's members linked to violence last summer.

Israel's negotiations for a peace-deal framework with Palestinian leadership were also discussed on Tuesday.

The leader of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), Ahmed Jarba, called for more Arab League support. “Leaving Syria's seat empty sends a message to President Bashar al-Assad… the seat is waiting for you once the battle is settled,” Jarba told the opening session. The umbrella group of Syrian opposition groups had been promised a seat last year. However, it must still fulfill legal requirements in order to win final approval from the Arab League.

Jarba asked the Arab League nations to “pressure the international community to commit to its promises to supply sophisticated weapons to our revolutionaries” and to provide greater humanitarian aid to the embattled country's refugees.

“The legitimate Syrian resistance has been betrayed by the international community and left as easy prey to tyrant forces,” Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz said. “This must be sorted out... in order to send a strong message to the international community so that it will change its attitude towards Syria.”

Many Western leaders have expressed their support of the Syrian National Coalition, condemning the Assad regime for its use of deadly force against civilians and refusal to answer to the will of the people. However, some among them remain wary of the role of Islamist extremists in the Syrian opposition and have, for that reason, been cautious about their legal recognition of the coalition.