The Emirates bring Syria (and Assad) back to the heart of regional diplomacy
In an editorial Gulf News calls the visit of the Damascus leader to Dubai and Abu Dhabi at the weekend "historic". Relations with the country are "fundamental" to restoring regional order, coupled with the "urgent need" for an "Arab" presence in Syria. US disappointment. Assad "uses" Christians to attack Israel.
Damascus (AsiaNews) - Relations with Syria are "fundamental" for restoring regional order while the country, torn apart by more than a decade of fighting, is in "urgent need" of a strengthened role and presence of the Arab world. This is what is stated in an editorial published today by Gulf News, an English-language daily from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the scene of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's recent trip, where he met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. The visit has been described by the popular daily as "historic" and of "great significance" in a phase defined as "critical" for the Arab world.
Last weekend's visit was the first time the Damascus leader had been to an Arab - and Gulf - nation since the war began in March 2011. For a long time, the Emirates themselves had supported militia groups, rebels and jihadists in the Syrian conflict from an anti-Assad perspective who, today, appears to have been fully rehabilitated by regional diplomacy and the Gulf monarchies. In the past, the Emirates themselves were among the first countries in the region - and in the Arab world - to re-establish relations with the Syrian leadership, with the reopening of their embassy in December 2018.
The meetings between Assad, Vice President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan shows the Emirati leadership's willingness to "improve" regional cooperation. The aim, explains Gulf News, is to achieve the "much-needed stability" in a region subject to "volatility and conflict" over the past decade. Bin Zayed himself said during the summit that Syria is "a key pillar of the Arab security system" and that is why it is necessary to "strengthen cooperation". Assad had already hosted a delegation of senior Emirati officials in Damascus in November last year, including Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
After more than a decade of civil conflict in Syria, the UAE believes there is an urgent and crucial need," Gulf News explained, "to strengthen the Arab role in that country, a role based on open dialogue and constructive engagement to resolve the ongoing conflict. Boycotting Syria, a founding member of the Arab League, will not help achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis. A strong Arab role is also the key to preserving unity and territorial integrity". A "solution" in Syria would ultimately help "realise" the aspiration of the people, "preserve" unity and "save" the economy by taking as a reference "the UN and the Geneva process" to bring dialogue between the government and the opposition and ensure a new political and institutional face for the nation.
Since the beginning of the war in 2011, which killed more than 350,000 people, Assad has made a few international trips, but has always visited friendly or allied nations, such as Vladimir Putin's Russia and Iran. His visit to the Emirates in recent days has drawn criticism from the United States, which says it is "deeply disappointed and disturbed" by Abu Dhabi's political rehabilitation of the Syrian president.
Over the weekend, the Alawite leader also returned to the Christian issue, saying that "the displacement of Christians is the main objective" of Israel, under the pretext of defending its survival. We must defend", Assad added, "the regional fabric and its different identities" by fighting against those who "want a nation of one colour". The accusation was contained in a message sent to participants at the three-day meeting promoted by the Syrian Church in recent days, attended by leading Vatican, Syrian and Middle Eastern figures including the Chaldean Patriarch and his Maronite counterpart. The Christians," Assad concluded in a statement relayed by the Sana news agency and state television, "are not guests in Syria, not even temporary citizens, but partners, and the requirements for this collaboration are work and production.
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