UAE Reopens Embassy in Damascus

The UAE reopens its embassy in Damascus. (Reuters)
The UAE reopens its embassy in Damascus. (Reuters)
TT

UAE Reopens Embassy in Damascus

The UAE reopens its embassy in Damascus. (Reuters)
The UAE reopens its embassy in Damascus. (Reuters)

The United Arab Emirates reopened on Thursday its embassy in Damascus, six years after closing it with the eruption of the country’s conflict.

The UAE broke ties with Syria in February 2012, as the repression of nationwide protests demanding regime change was escalating into a devastating war.

An acting charge d'affaires has already started working, an Emirati statement said, stressing that the UAE was "keen to put relations back on their normal track".

It said that the resumption of ties aimed to "support the sovereignty and independence of Syria" and face "the dangers of regional interferences".

The past few days have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity that looks set to continue until the next summit of the Arab League, due in Tunis in March.

“Recent discussions on this issue have not yielded a consensus," Hossam Zaki, the League's deputy secretary general, told reporters in Cairo on Monday.

"This does not rule out a possible change of the Arab position in the future," he added.

UAE State Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash stated later that Syria’s return to the Arab League “need Arab consensus.”

Moreover, he stressed that “opening channels of contact with Damascus will not leave it exposed to Iranian meddling.”

“All parties are convinced of the need for a political solution to the Syrian crisis,” he added.



Iraq to Resume Flights to Lebanon on Monday, Transport Minister Says

A view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows an Iraqi Airways airplane docked after resuming flights to Lebanon, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2024. (Reuters)
A view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows an Iraqi Airways airplane docked after resuming flights to Lebanon, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iraq to Resume Flights to Lebanon on Monday, Transport Minister Says

A view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows an Iraqi Airways airplane docked after resuming flights to Lebanon, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2024. (Reuters)
A view from the window of a Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) airplane shows an Iraqi Airways airplane docked after resuming flights to Lebanon, after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, at Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2024. (Reuters)

Iraq will allow the national carrier to resume flights to Lebanon on Monday following their suspension earlier this month, the transport minister was quoted as saying by state media on Saturday.

Iraqi Airways halted flights to Lebanon on Dec. 8 due to security concerns about the situation in neighboring Syria.

Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.