Top Arab diplomats visited the Syrian capital on Monday, the newest in a string of diplomatic overtures by the worldwide neighborhood as Syria emerges from years of isolation underneath President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria’s new chief, Ahmed al-Shara, held “intensive talks” with Jordan’s overseas minister, Ayman Safadi, in Damascus on Monday, based on a press release from the Jordanian overseas ministry. Hours later, Qatar’s minister of state for overseas affairs, Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, additionally arrived in Syria for talks with its new management, based on the Qatari overseas ministry.
They are among the many first high-ranking Arab diplomats to go to Syria since Mr. al-Assad was toppled two weeks in the past by the insurgent coalition led by Mr. al-Shara. Top Arab diplomats had vowed at a gathering in Jordan this month to “help a peaceable transition course of” in Syria.
In latest years, numerous Arab nations had begun to pursue higher relations with the Assad regime. Last yr, Mr. al-Assad made his first go to to the Arab League summit, greater than a decade after Syria’s membership was suspended amid its civil battle. These efforts, nonetheless, largely failed to make sure the regional stability that Arab nations had hoped for.
Pictured strolling alongside the Jordanian overseas minister on Monday, Mr. Al-Shara donned a swimsuit and tie reasonably than his typical army fatigues, a part of the brand new chief’s effort to shine his picture and mend ties between Syria and the worldwide neighborhood.
The visits by the Qatari and Jordanian delegations got here a day after Mr. Al-Shara met with the Turkish overseas minister, Hakan Fidan, together with a distinguished Lebanese Druze chief, Walid Jumblatt.
Ismaeel Naar contributed reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
