Bashar Al Assad's UAE Visit is The First to an Arab State Since 2011

ALBAWABA - The visit of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to the United Arab Emirates is trending in the social media. 

He was met, Friday, by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Qasr Al-Shati'  Palace according to WAM, the Emirati News Agency. 

Aside from Russia and Iran, this is the first ever visit by Al Assad to an Arab country since the start of the Syrian war in 2011, seen as marking a watershed between the UAE and Damascus.

On the agenda discussed was bilateral relations between the two countries and keenness to continue consultation and coordination on various issues of interest "and emphasised on preserving the territorial integrity of Syria and the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country, in addition to providing political and humanitarian support for Syria and its people to reach a peaceful solution to all the besetting challenges," according to WAM. 

Al Assad, who was accompanied by Dr. Faisal Mekdad, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Mansour Azzam, Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr. Bashar al-Jafri, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, and a number of other officials, also met the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, at the Al Marmoom Rest House, in the city.

The meetings signal the close relations that is developing between the UAE and Syria and emphasized by the earlier visit of the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed to Demascus in November, 2021. 

The social media has been rife in covering the news of the visit although few commented on the continuing civil war that resulted in 500,000 deaths and around 14 million displaced according to one tweet.