DUBAI (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday for an official visit accompanied by his wife, Asma al-Assad, at a time when Arab countries showed more openness to easing the crisis. Damascus isolation.
The visit was marked by more ceremony than his previous visit to the UAE last year, which was his first to an Arab country since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, when Gulf states, including the UAE, supported opposition fighters fighting to overthrow Assad.
And official media said that the President of the State, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, received him upon his arrival in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, and he received a huge greeting as his convoy entered the royal palace. Al-Assad’s plane was received by Emirati fighters.
“We had constructive talks aimed at developing relations between our two countries,” Sheikh Mohammed later said on Twitter. Our discussions also discussed ways to enhance cooperation to accelerate stability and progress in Syria and the region.
The Syrian presidency said that Asma al-Assad, in her first known official visit to al-Assad since 2011, will meet Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the mother of the Emirati president and who is considered in the Emirates as the “Mother of the Emirates.”
The United Arab Emirates, a US ally, has led a shift in the Middle East toward reviving ties with Assad, who held talks in Amman last month on his first foreign trip since the devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey, and visited Russia earlier this month.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and to a lesser extent the United Arab Emirates, have been supporting the rebels against Assad. But Abu Dhabi has rebuilt ties with Damascus in recent years despite US objections as it looks to counter the influence of Iran, which along with Russia has helped Assad turn the tide against his foes.
And Saudi Arabia, the regional power, which recently reached an agreement with rival Iran to restore bilateral relations, opened the door to a possible dialogue with Damascus especially on humanitarian issues, saying that the Arab consensus was building that isolating Syria was not feasible.
Qatar, like Washington, has expressed its opposition to any moves toward rehabilitating or normalizing relations with Assad, citing his government’s brutality during the conflict and the need to see progress toward a political solution.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the Syrian conflict, which emerged from an uprising against Assad, drew in several foreign powers, and divided the country.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman and Ghaida Ghantous in Dubai). Editing by David Goodman and Raisa Kasulowski
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