DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister met with Syria’s president in Damascus on Tuesday, in the strongest sign yet that the Arab world is ready to reconnect with strongman Bashar Assad.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s first visit by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the first visit by a UAE foreign minister since the Syrian conflict a decade ago and some Arab countries are improving relations with Syria. The UAE has gradually improved relations with Damascus as the tide of the war has turned in Assad’s favor.
Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League and its neighbors boycotted it in 2011 after a civil war. However, improving relations between Syria and the oil-rich Arab countries could be a major boost to post-war reconstruction.
The official announcement about the trip from Assad’s office came hours after some Lebanese media outlets reported the visit. It is not clear why he delayed releasing the news.
The Syrian conflict began in March 2011. It killed more than 400,000 people and displaced half of the country’s population. Large parts of Syria have been destroyed and rebuilding will cost billions of dollars.
The UAE is one of several Gulf countries that have recently normalized relations with Israel.
Gulf countries, many of them at odds with Iran, have also sought warmer ties with Damascus, hoping to steer it away from Tehran. Iran, which has historical ties with Syria, has sent advisors and resources to support Assad during the 10-year war.
A Syrian boy rides a bicycle through a devastated part of the Syrian old city of Homs on February 26, 2016. (Hassan Ammar / AP)
Iran’s support of Assad in the conflict with Russia helped him tilt the balance of power in his favor, confining the rebels to a small part of the country’s northwest.
“It will be almost impossible to change Iran’s position in Syria in the short term. Iran is very well connected,” said Chris Doyle, director of the Arab-British Understanding Council. “Russia has not succeeded.”
“At best, the Syrian regime can start playing Iran and the UAE against each other to get some free space for maneuvers,” he said. Doyle said other Arab states are wary of what Damascus sees as how relations develop.
According to Syrian State TV, Sheikh Abdullah led a large delegation to Damascus. The foreign minister was earlier in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where he met top officials.
Assad’s office quoted the president as praising the “purposeful and wise stance taken by the United Arab Emirates”. The President said that the UAE has always stood with the Syrian people.
According to Assad’s office, the two sides discussed ways to develop cooperation and investment opportunities.
Last month, the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed, received a telephone call from Assad in which he discussed strengthening ties and cooperation.
Example: A Syrian man walks on a bridge over a propaganda poster of President Bashar Assad in the Syrian capital Damascus on May 25, 2021. (AP photo/Hasan Ammar)
The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in December 2018, but relations remained cold.
In September, Assad summoned King Abdullah II of Jordan for the first time since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011. The two countries reopened a major border crossing.
The United Arab Emirates was a supporter of the Syrian opposition, which is now largely confined to a small corner in northwestern Syria after Assad’s forces gained control of much of Syria in recent years.
The visit comes at a time when Syria’s economy is crumbling and reeling from Western sanctions, and at a time when Damascus desperately needs to boost ties with the oil-rich countries. The UAE is home to thousands of Syrians who work in the Gulf country and send money to their relatives at home.
Arab and Western countries generally blame Assad for his deadly crackdown on protests that began in 2011 and developed into a civil war, and supported the opposition in the early days of the conflict.
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