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Ministers from Jordan and Qatar were among the first high-ranking Arab diplomats to meet with the leader of the rebel coalition that toppled the Syrian regime, as the Arab world seeks to bring Syria back into the fold.
By Aryn Baker and Euan Ward
Euan Ward reported from Beirut, Lebanon.
Dec. 23, 2024Updated 12:12 p.m. ET
Top Arab diplomats visited the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Monday, the latest in a string of diplomatic overtures by the international community as Syria emerges from years of isolation under President Bashar al-Assad.
The visits by ministers from Jordan and Qatar, just two weeks after Mr. al-Assad’s fall, suggest that Arab nations are eager for better relations with a country that had been a pariah and a source of instability in the region.
Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Shara, held “extensive talks” with Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, in Damascus on Monday, according to a statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry. Hours later, Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, arrived in Syria and met with its new leadership, according to the Qatari foreign ministry.
They were among the first high-ranking Arab diplomats to visit Syria since Mr. al-Assad was toppled two weeks ago by the rebel coalition led by Mr. al-Shara. Top Arab diplomats vowed at a meeting in Jordan this month to “support a peaceful transition process” in Syria.
Most Arab nations cut ties with Mr. al-Assad’s government because of his ruthless crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 during the Arab Spring, which ignited a civil war. But after years of financing anti-Assad militias, several of Mr. al-Assad’s detractors had reversed their stance in recent years, hoping that increased engagement might bring more stability to the region.
Last year, the Saudi government in Riyadh invited Mr. al-Assad to the Arab League summit, more than a decade after the league suspended Syria’s membership. But the strategy didn’t pay off, said Julien Barnes-Dacey, Middle East and North Africa program director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. And Mr. al-Assad continued with his heavy-handed tactics. Now, Arab nations are jumping at the chance to start again with new leadership in Syria.
