UAE reopens Damascus embassy after seven years

The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus yesterday after breaking its ties with Syria in February 2012. Nearly seven years later, the Emirati flag was raised again during a ceremony attended by diplomats and journalists. 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”. Rumours of the Emirati embassy reopening had circulated in recent days as renovation work was spotted getting under way at the building. The UAE is one of six Gulf Cooperation Council nations that took a tough stance on Damascus in 2012 and eventually recognised an opposition umbrella group as the representative of Syria.

US President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that Saudi Arabia had agreed to finance Syria’s huge reconstruction needs. “Saudi Arabia has now agreed to spend the necessary money needed to help rebuild Syria, instead of the United States,” Trump said on social media.