Qatar, a key supporter of the new administration following the resignation of lifelong ruler Bashar al-Assad, was the country’s new president’s first official visit to Qatar on Tuesday, according to state media.
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met Syria’s time chairman Ahmed al-Sharaa on his arrival at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, according to the standard Qatar News Agency.
Syria’s foreign secretary previously stated on X that he was accompanying Sharaa on his” first presidential visit to the nation that has stood by Syria from day one and has not abandoned them.”
Sharaa and Shaibani’s journey to Qatar follows a Sunday visit to the United Arab Emirates, where they met Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who expressed his country’s aid for Syria’s restoration.
The rebel empire that ousted Assad from authority on December 8 was led by Sharaa’s Islamist party Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Support for his new leadership has come from a number of nations, including prominent supporters like Turkey and Qatar as well as from a number of Egyptian nations.
Qatar was one of the first Muslim nations to support the armed uprising that broke out after Assad’s government oversaw a quiet revolt in 2011. Doha did not, unlike other Muslim countries, rekindle diplomatic relations with Syria during Assad’s rule.
Since taking office, the new government have been conducting a burst of diplomatic missions, and Sharaa has visited Turkey and several Arab nations.
On his first trip to the Gulf nation since winning the election in January, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun left Beirut on Tuesday for Doha, according to his business.
A intergovernmental meeting between President Aoun and the Emir of Qatar may be part of the visit, according to Aoun’s political office, and it will include “extended discussions involving both the Qatari and Lebanese delegations,” according to Aoun’s political office.
In an effort to rekindle ties between the two neighbors, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Sharaa met a moment earlier in Damascus.
Since the overthrow of Assad, whose family kingdom has ruled Lebanon for years and has been accused of killing many officials who opposed its law, Beirut and Damascus have been working to bolster relationships.
Andreas Krieg, a Middle Eastern scientist, claimed that Qatar has come out as” the most significant opponent with the al-Sharaa state in the Muslim world, at least after Turkey.”
He claimed that the gas-rich Gulf emirate would be able to” link Syrians back to Lebanon, which is, for both nations, really important” and that it would be a “diplomatic power multiple for the al-Sharaa authorities in Syria.”
Sheikh Tamim made the initial state visit to Damascus since Assad’s resignation in January, becoming the first head of state there.
Doha has pledged to help with Syria’s network rehabilitation, and it signed a deal in January to supply the country with 200 megawatts of energy gradually increasing production.
After almost 14 years of war, Arab authorities are looking for guidance, including from rich Gulf states.
Qatar, which provides both economic and in-kind assistance to the Syrian troops, pledged aid for rebuilding in February following the recent conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
