Syrian leader makes official visit to Oman

Syrian President Bashar Assad visited the Gulf nation of Oman on Monday on his first official visit since the deadly Feb. 6 earthquake, his office said.

Oman is one of a few Arab countries that kept normal relations with Damascus after Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 over its crackdown on Arab Spring protests.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on Feb. 6 has killed nearly 45,000 people in Turkey and Syria and has brought a further thawing in relations between Assad and other Arab states.

Assad’s office said that during the visit, he was received by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, Oman’s leader.

It quoted Assad as saying that Oman preserved “its balanced policies and credibility” adding that the region needs the role of Oman to strengthen relations between Arab countries based on “mutual respect and noninterference in other countries’ affairs.”