Syrian President Assad is in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today on an official visit as Arab leaders continue to defy the directives issued by the US State Department. Momentum is building across the region to bring Assad back into the fold.
Assad and his wife, Asma, were personally greeted at the airport by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. As Assad's plane entered Emirati airspace, it was flanked by a precision group of Emirati fighter jets, and after landing the pair were honored by a canon salute and the Syrian national anthem.
"Our discussions also explored ways of enhancing cooperation to accelerate stability and progress in Syria and the region," Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed tweeted. Abu Dhabi restored diplomatic relations with Damascus in 2018.
The UAE had pledged over $100 million in assistance to quake-hit Syria, dispatched a search and rescue team and provided thousands of tons of humanitarian aid.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister, visited Syria last month as the first senior Gulf official to do so since the quake.
Arab states such as Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, and Tunisia have an interest in ending the isolation of Syria.
There was a time in the past, when Arab leaders obeyed Washington's demands and orders. Those days are over, as the region has developed their own diplomatic skills and are using them in their own interest.
When the US launched their attack on Syria in 2011 for regime change, they utilized their assets in the region. Orders were handed out to Qatar and Turkey, both US allies who host US military bases, to supply the armed fighters, cash, logistics and weapons to facilitate a war in Syria which would eventually result in an uprising, and finally in regime change. The US-NATO plan failed. The Arab world learned a hard lesson: following US orders blindly will lead you to failure. They could have first studied the US failed war in Iraq.
A big message was sent from the region to Washington in March 2022 when Assad visited the UAE.
Saudi Arabia, the most powerful country in the region, has recently reached an agreement with Iran to restore full diplomatic relations. After the February 6 earthquake which devastated Turkey and parts of Syria, and killed 5,900 Syrians, Saudi Arabia was among the first countries to land humanitarian aid in Syria.
Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia said that when it comes to Syria "the status quo is not workable," and that the world must "at some point" engage Damascus on issues like refugees and humanitarian aid.
The Arab world has argued that the US policy towards Syria has produced failure and destruction and the international community should set aside politics and remove sanctions to help Syrian earthquake victims who desperately need humanitarian assistance. US and EU sanctions continue to prevent the free flow of aid and monetary aid to families.
Despite the US objection, Abu Dhabi has rebuilt ties with Damascus several years ago and has delivered aid to Syria since the earthquake.
On February 7, Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi spoke with Assad by phone for the first time, and Jordan's foreign minister made his first trip to Damascus on February 15.
On February 20, Assad arrived in Muscat for a working visit to Oman. The sultanate was the only state in the six-member GCC to maintain diplomatic relations with Damascus throughout the Syrian conflict and Muscat has supported Syria's return to the Arab League.
Oman sent a new ambassador to Syria in 2020, and Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi visited Damascus in January 2022.
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