Syria’s Assad in UAE for second post-quake Gulf visit

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on his first visit to the Gulf country since last month’s devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan congratulated al-Assad and his wife Asma in the capital Abu Dhabi on Sunday, official news agency WAM said.

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Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement on Twitter that the two held “constructive talks aimed at developing relations between our two countries”.

Sheikh Mohammed said, “Our discussions also explored ways to enhance cooperation to accelerate stability and progress in Syria and the region.”

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This is al-Assad’s second trip to the oil-rich country, following a trip to Oman last month. These two visits are his only official engagements in Arab countries since the start of the Syrian war in 2011.

Abu Dhabi, which normalized relations with al-Assad’s internationally isolated government in 2018, has contributed to aid efforts after the February 6 earthquake that rocked southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. Was shaken, in which thousands of people were killed.

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The Syrian president said that Asma, on her first known official trip abroad with al-Assad since 2011, would meet Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the mother of the Emirati president and known in the UAE as the “Mother of the Nation”. are considered in

I welcomed President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to the United Arab Emirates today and we held constructive talks aimed at developing relations between the two countries. Our discussions also explored ways to enhance cooperation to accelerate stability and progress in Syria and the region. pic.twitter.com/QlcIWomFDE

– Mohamed Bin Zayed (@MohamedBinZayed) March 19, 2023

The visit marks a continuation of ongoing ties between Syria and other Arab countries, a decade after the 22-member Arab League suspended Damascus’s membership over al-Assad’s crackdown on protesters and civilians during the subsequent war. even more time later.

International sympathy after earthquake appears to have fueled years of regional rapprochement

“The UAE’s approach and efforts towards Syria are part of a deep vision and comprehensive approach aimed at strengthening Arab and regional stability,” Anwar Gargash, senior Emirati presidential advisor, said on Twitter.

“The UAE’s position is clear on the need for Syria to return to its place in the Arab world and regain legitimacy in the region,” Gargash said on Twitter.

“This was confirmed by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed during his meeting with Al-Assad today,” the adviser said.

The UAE has pledged more than $100 million in aid to earthquake-hit Syria, the largest ever by a single country.

It has also dispatched a search and rescue team, provided thousands of tons of emergency relief materials, and provided medical treatment for Syrian earthquake victims in Emirati hospitals.

And the UAE’s foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, became the first senior Arab official to visit Syria since the earthquake last month.

Emirati analyst Abdulkhaleq Abdullah said that Abu Dhabi “along with many Arab states, is convinced that the time has come to reconcile with Assad … and see Syria return to the Arab League and Arab fold”.

“The UAE is striving to reconcile enemies of the past and turn them into friends of tomorrow,” Abdullah told the AFP news agency.