Syria’s Assad Hosts UAE Foreign Minister, in Yet Another Sign Regime Has Won Civil War
US decries efforts to normalize relations with ‘brutal dictator’
[Amman] UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed’s visit to Damascus on Tuesday appears to have opened the door for Syria to slowly inch back into the Arab fold.
Abdullah bin Zayed is the first Emirati official to visit Damascus and meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad since the 2011 popular uprising that turned into civil war and a regional conflict, leaving hundreds of thousands of people killed and wounded, and millions forced to leave their homes.
Arab countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt have recently taken various moves toward rapprochement with Damascus.
The Syrian and Emirati leaders discussed “exploring new horizons” to bolster bilateral ties and commercial partnerships, according to an official statement from the Syrian Presidency.
“Sheikh Abdullah stressed the UAE’s support for efforts for stability in Syria, expressing his confidence that Syria, under the leadership of President al-Assad, and the efforts of its people are able to overcome the challenges caused by the war,” the statement read.
Assad praised the UAE for its “correct and objective positions” toward Syria.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said “the discussions also tackled the situation in the Arab and regional areas. The two sides agreed to continue consultation and coordination about different issues and challenges that face the Arab region to achieve the aspirations of its people through their will, away from any external intervention.”
Ties between the two countries have slowly rekindled since the UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in late 2018. In March 2019, Abdullah bin Zayed said the Emirates intended “to ensure that Syria returns to the Arab region.” Abu Dhabi has also called for Syria to be readmitted to the Arab League.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II spoke with Assad by phone in September.
Everyone is rushing to repair relations and Jordan specifically has an important role in leading the efforts to bridge the gap between Damascus and the West
Kais Zayadin, a former Jordanian lawmaker and a member of the Royal Commission for the Modernization of the Political System in Jordan, told The Media Line that Syria is an important regional focal point and things are moving quickly on that front. It is important that all of Syria’s neighbors are able to be part of the new changes in the country, he added.
“Everyone is rushing to repair relations and Jordan specifically has an important role in leading the efforts to bridge the gap between Damascus and the West, as part of Jordan’s effort to lead the ‘New Levant’ approach, which we all must support,” Zayadin said, referring to the plan to promote cooperation among Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
Haytham Erefeij, a lawyer and reform activist, told The Media Line it is clear to all that the war in Syria is over, the regime has won the battle, the situation has stabilized and most countries including Syria and the UAE are looking for ways “to benefit from the post-war situation but in a gradual way.”
Erefeij noted that the reopening of the Syrian market will provide a boost to the economies of the region including that of Jordan. “A strong Syrian economy will be good for Jordan’s economy,” he said.
The Jordanian activist added that the improvement of the situation in Syria will have an effect on Syrian refugees in Jordan, allowing for their return and relieving the kingdom of the burden on the economy and on water sources, which have reached a dangerously low level.
It is also a clear indication that the return of Syria to the Arab fold and to the Arab League has become an irreversible fact, symbolizing the end of the campaign by various regional parties to destabilize Syria
Zaid O. Nabulsi, a Jordanian lawyer and reform activist, and a strong advocate of Syrian Arab identity and independence, told The Media Line that the UAE foreign minister’s visit to Damascus is a sign of the final capitulation of those who were sworn to bring about the downfall of Assad, although he said that the UAE was not a pivotal player in such efforts, spearheaded by certain Gulf countries.
“It is also a clear indication that the return of Syria to the Arab fold and to the Arab League has become an irreversible fact, symbolizing the end of the campaign by various regional parties to destabilize Syria,” Nabulsi continued. “It also symbolizes the end of the efforts by various regional parties that had been opposed to the territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.”
The US was quick to express its displeasure regarding the visit.
“We are concerned about reports of the meeting and the signal it sends,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. “This administration will not express any support for efforts to normalize or rehabilitate Bashar al-Assad, who is a brutal dictator. We urge states in the region to carefully consider the atrocities that this regime [and] Bashar Assad himself has perpetrated on the Syrian people over the past decade, as well as the regime’s ongoing efforts to deny much of the country access to humanitarian aid and security.”
Price said Secretary of State Antony Blinken registered Washington’s disapproval of the trip last week in a meeting with Sheikh Abdullah in Europe.
