Assad makes 1st trip to Arab nation since onset of war

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian President Bashar Assad visited the United Arab Emirates on Friday, his office said, marking his first trip to an Arab country since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011.

In a statement posted on its social media pages, the office said that Assad met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid alMaktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United arab Emirates and the ruler of Dubai. The two discussed expanding bilateral relations between their countries, it said.

The visit sends the clearest signal yet that the Arab world is willing to re-engage with Syria’s once widely shunned president. It comes against the backdrop of the raging war in Ukraine where Assad’s main ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, is pressing on with a military offensive and raining lethal fire on Ukrainian cities. Syria has supported Russia’s invasion, blaming the West for having provoked it.

Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League and boycotted by its neighbors after the conflict broke out 11 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the war, which displaced half of Syria’s population. Large parts of Syria have been destroyed, and reconstruction would cost tens of billions of dollars.

Arab and Western countries generally blamed Assad for the deadly crackdown on the 2011 protests that evolved into civil war, and supported the opposition in the early days of the conflict. When asked about Assad’s visit to the United Arab Amirates, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Washington was “profoundly disappointed and troubled by this apparent attempt to legitimize Bashar Al-Assad, who remains responsible and accountable for the death and suffering of countless Syrians.”

Assad has very rarely traveled outside the country during Syria’s civil war, only visiting Russia and Iran. Tehran has given the Syrian government billions of dollars in aid and sent Iran-backed fighters to battle alongside his forces — assistance that, along with Russian air power, has helped turn the tide in Assad’s favor.

With the war having fallen into a stalemate and Assad recovering control over most of the country thanks to military assistance from his two allies, Arab countries have inched closer toward restoring ties with the Syrian leader in recent years.