Syria President Bashar Assad visited the United Arab Emirates on Friday, according to his administration, marking his first trip to an Arab country since the civil conflict began in Syria in 2011. Mr. Assad met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, according to a statement posted on the office’s social media pages.
According to the report, the two talked about boosting bilateral connections between their countries.
The visit is the clearest indication yet that the Arab world is willing to interact with Syria’s once-oppressed president.
It comes amid a raging conflict in Ukraine, where Mr. Assad’s major backer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, is pushing on with a military offensive that is now in its fourth week, showering devastating fire on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, the capital. Syria has backed Russia’s invasion and blamed the West for inciting it.
Syria crisis
After the crisis began 11 years ago, Syria was ejected from the 22-member Arab League and boycotted by its neighbors. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and half of Syria’s population has been displaced as a result of the conflict. Syria has been destroyed in large places, and rebuilding would cost tens of billions of dollars.
Mr. Assad was criticized by Arab and Western countries for the fatal crackdown on the 2011 protests that turned into a civil war, and they backed the opposition in the early days of the conflict.
When asked about Mr. Assad’s visit to the UAE, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We are deeply disappointed and troubled by this apparent attempt to legitimise Bashar Al-Assad, who remains responsible and accountable for the death and suffering of countless Syrians, the displacement of more than half of the pre-war Syrian population, and the arbitrary detention and disappearance of over 150,000 Syrian men, women, and children.” During Syria’s civil war, Mr. Assad has only travelled outside the nation on a few occasions, visiting Russia and Iran.
Iran has provided the Syrian government with billions of dollars in aid and dispatched Iran-backed fighters to fight alongside his forces, aid that has helped turn the tide in Mr. Assad’s favour, along with Russian airpower.
With the war at a standstill and Mr. Assad regaining control of the majority of Syria thanks to military help from his two partners, Arab countries have moved closer in recent years to repairing ties with the Syrian leader.
In late 2018, the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Syria, making the most major Arab gesture to the Assad regime, albeit ties remained tense.
The Emirati foreign minister travelled to Damascus last October for a meeting with Mr. Assad, the country’s top diplomat’s first visit since 2011.
At the time, the United States, a strong Emirati ally, slammed the visit, warning it would oppose any normalisation with Mr. Assad’s regime.
One of the main motivations for Sunni Muslim countries in the Persian Gulf to make overtures is to limit the role of their Shiite-led adversary, Iran, which has seen its influence grow rapidly in the chaos of Syria’s war.
The reconciliation, on the other hand, could benefit both parties.
Syria’s economy is being choked by crushing Western sanctions, and it faces the job of post-war rehabilitation. It urgently needs to improve relations with oil-rich countries.
Thousands of Syrians live in the United Arab Emirates, where they work and send money to their families back home.
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was greeted at Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s palace in Abu Dhabi, according to the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency.
Sheikh Mohammed stated his hope that “this visit will be the beginning of peace and stability for Syria and the entire region” during the meeting. Mr. Assad updated Sheikh Mohammed on recent developments in Syria, according to the source, and the two leaders addressed mutual interests in the Arab world. Mr. Assad was said to have left the UAE from Abu Dhabi later on Friday.
Sheikh Mohammed told Mr. Assad that Syria is still a “vital pillar of Arab security” and that the UAE aspires to help it flourish.
According to the article, the leaders also emphasised the significance of “preserving Syria’s territorial integrity and withdrawing foreign soldiers.”
Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai underlined the UAE’s willingness to “find new channels of constructive cooperation” with Syria in a similarly vague statement that made no mention of the war.