UAE to Resume Relations with Syria

Local Editor

The deputy head of United Arab Emirates’ Supreme National Security Council, Ali Mohammed bin Hammad al-Shamsi, visited Damascus early last July and met with a senior Syrian officer who is likely to be the head of the General Intelligence Directorate in Syria, Major General Deeb Zeitoun.

The Supreme National Security Council is the highest security authority in the UAE and is headed by the Head of the State.

According to Al-Akhbar Lebanese daily, Al-Shamsi discussed with his Syrian host security issue in addition to ways to resume relations between the two countries, which the UAE side has frozen since the beginning of the Syrian war in response to Saudi pressure.

“The Emirati side is showing enthusiasm for the resumption of diplomatic representation between the two countries, but there is concern in Abu Dhabi not to anger Riyadh,” the daily added.

In this context, the UAE raised the possibility of an "indirect resumption" of relations through the appointment of the Emirati Ambassador to Beirut, Hammad Saeed al-Shamsi, to manage the embassy's affairs department in Damascus from its headquarters in Beirut.

No information was available on the Syrian response with regard to this "offer" and whether the Emirati envoy landed at Damascus International Airport directly or arrived in the Syrian capital via Beirut.

The consular section of the Syrian Embassy in Abu Dhabi continued to provide services to the Syrian community in the UAE. In recent months, the UAE sent more than one "maintenance team" to inspect its embassy in Damascus in an indication that “certain activity” could resume. He also announced last May the resumption of the aerial route between the Syrian province of Latakia and the emirate of Sharjah after a years-long halt.

As the battle of Idlib – the last major battle on Syrian soil – nears, Damascus has witnessed in the past few months an onslaught of Western and Arab contacts that are weighing on the prospects of participating in the expected reconstruction process, as well as rearranging relations with Syria.

Source: Al-Akhbar, Translated by website team