UAE to reopen embassy in Syrian capital Damascus

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will officially reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Thursday, the Syrian Information Ministry has announced, a move that would mark a big diplomatic boost for President Bashar al-Assad from an Arab state that once supported his opponents.

The UAE, an Arab country like Syria, closed its embassy soon after the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, and Abu Dhabi was long considered a sponsor of the many militant groups that poured into Syria from across the region and beyond to fight to bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian information note to journalists invited them to cover the event at 1:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) at the embassy located in the capital’s Abu Rummaneh district.

The United Arab Emirates was one of several regional states that backed groups fighting Assad, though its role was less prominent than Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Turkey, rebel sources have said.

On December 16, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Damascus in the first such visit by an Arab leader since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

In November, Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta had reported that the UAE was negotiating the reopening of its embassy in Syria and return of its envoy to Damascus.

Nearly eight years since the conflict began, Assad has recovered control of the bulk of Syria with critical support from Russia, Iran, and Iran-backed groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The Arab Parliament earlier this month called for Syria to be reinstated, echoing calls made in Egyptian state-run media for several months. The secretary-general of the Arab League, veteran Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in April said the decision to suspend Syria had been “hasty”.

With the planned departure of the US — which is yet to take place — the Syrian province of Idlib remains the last main area not yet under government control. Damascus has itself bused pockets of armed militants from various locations in Syria under negotiated deals to Idlib to better contain them.