After 13 Years, Al-Assad Receives UAE’s 1st Envoy to Damascus

By Staff, Agencies

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has received the first ambassador to be sent by the United Arab Emirates to Damascus in 13 years.

Al-Assad accepted the credentials of Hassan Ahmed al-Shehhi as Abu Dhabi's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Syrian capital on Tuesday.

Syria's Al-Watan newspaper revealed al-Shehhi's arrival in the Syrian capital late last month.

Al-Shehhi had served as the Emirates' ambassador to Iraq since 2015, and before that, he was Abu Dhabi's envoy to Sudan.

Abu Dhabi withdrew its envoy from Damascus in 2011.

The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in December 2018, tasking Charge d'Affaires Abdul Hakim al-Nuaimi with handling the diplomatic affairs between the countries.

Last May, the Arab League, a 22-member intergovernmental organization of Arab states, agreed to welcome Syria back with immediate effect.