On this day 80 years ago, on March 22, 1945 (February 9, 1945 in the lunar calendar), the League of Arab States was established. The League of Arab States is a regional international organization established by the League of Arab States to strengthen the unity and cooperation of Arab countries. It is referred to as the Arab League or the Arab League. In March 1945, representatives of 7 Arab countries from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen met in Cairo and adopted the Treaty of the League of Arab States, declaring the establishment of the League. By 1993 there were 22 member states. The purpose is to strengthen close cooperation among member states, safeguard the independence and sovereignty of Arab countries, and coordinate each other's activities. The main organizational bodies are the summit, the League Council and the Secretariat, and the headquarters is located in Cairo. Since its establishment, the member states of the League have successively concluded a number of treaties and agreements to strengthen cooperation in various aspects. They have played an active role in safeguarding the rights and interests of the oil states in the region, supporting the just cause of the Palestinian people, and handling differences among Arab countries and resolving conflicts among countries in the region. They are an important political force in the contemporary international community, especially in the Middle East. On March 22, 1945, at the initiative of Egypt, representatives of seven Arab countries met in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and adopted the Charter of the Arab League. The League of Arab States was officially established, referred to as the Arab League. On October 20, 1945, after the end of World War II, the Middle East turned its attention to internal conflicts, and Arab countries sought unity in the struggle for the Holy Land. Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon formed the Arab League, and the pan-Arabism of wartime ceased to exist. Closer cooperation between member states, coordination of political activities among each other, safeguarding the independence and sovereignty of Arab countries, comprehensive consideration of Arab affairs and interests, member states cooperate closely in economic, financial, transportation, culture, health, social welfare, nationality, visas, enforcement of judgments and extradition. Member states respect each other's political systems, disputes between each other shall not be resolved by force, and treaties and agreements concluded between member states and other countries are not binding on other countries. In 2008, 22 countries have joined: Algeria, UAE, Palestine, Bahrain, Djibouti, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Comoros. Background information: The Regional Organization of Arab States in the Middle East, established in Cairo on March 22, 1945. The founding members were Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan (present-day Jordan), Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The other members were Libya (1953), Sudan (1956), Tunisia and Morocco (1958), Kuwait (1961), Algeria (1962), Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (1971), Mauritania (1973), Somalia (1974), the Palestine Liberation Organization (1976) and Djibouti (1977). (When Yemen was divided into two states in 1967-1990, each government had its own representatives.) Each member state has one vote in the Arab League Council, and decisions made are binding only on countries that vote in favor. When the League was established in 1945, its purpose was to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic, and social planning of its member states and to mediate disputes between member states or between member states and third parties. The signing of the Agreement on Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation on April 13, 1950, put the signatories on an obligation to coordinate military defense measures. In the early days of the League, attention was mainly focused on various economic, cultural and social planning. In 1959, the League held the first Arab Oil Conference. In 1964, the League of Arab States Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization was established. In the same year, despite Jordan's opposition, the PLO was admitted as the representative of all Palestinians. Under the leadership of Riad, the third secretary general (1972-1979), the Arab League intensified its political activities. However, the alliance was weakened by internal political problems, particularly differences of opinion on Israel and Palestine. After Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel on March 26, 1979, the other members of the Arab League decided to suspend Egypt's membership and move the league headquarters from Cairo to Tunisia. Egypt became a member of the Arab League again in 1989, and the league headquarters was moved back to Cairo in 1990. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the subsequent involvement of Western countries, mainly the United States, at Saudi Arabia's request to expel Iraq from Kuwait, created a deep rift in the Arab League. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Djibouti, and Somalia favored the presence of foreign troops in Saudi Arabia. All but the last three countries were more or less militarily involved in the war.