Assad: ‘Major understanding’ reached by Syria, Arab states
BEIRUT — President Bashar Assad told a littleknown Kuwaiti newspaper that Syria has reached a “major understanding” with Arab states after years of hostility over the country’s civil war.
The interview in the Al- Shahed newspaper, published Wednesday, was Assad’s first with a Gulf newspaper since the war began in 2011.
Assad doesn’t name the Arab countries but says Arab and Western delegations have begun visiting Syria to prepare for the reopening of diplomatic and other missions. Soon the civil war will be over, Assad told the paper’s publisher, allowing Syria to resume its pivotal role in the region.
Syria’s membership in t he 22- member Arab League was suspended in the early days of the war and Arab countries later imposed economic sanctions after they failed to mediate an end to the war.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council have openly supported opposition groups fighting to overthrow Assad since then. Kuwait hosted a number of donors’ confer- ences for aid to Syrians, but it also condemned violence blamed on Assad’s regime.
The interview comes on the heels of a surprisingly warm meeting between the Syrian foreign minister and his Bahraini counterpart on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday. The meeting turned heads because it featured hugs between the two ministers.
Assad, embattled for years, is emerging largely victorious after strong military support from Russia and Iran. He now controls more than 60 percent of Syria’s territory.