Beirut: A surprise visit by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad to the oil-rich United Arab Emirates opens the door to his isolated regime’s return to the embrace of the Arab world, analysts say.
The president’s trip also showed that a more assertive UAE is willing to upset its ally Washington with a rapprochement with Assad, whose Russia- and Iran-backed regime is accused of crimes against humanity.
The Syrian autocrat’s visit to the UAE capital Abu Dhabi last Friday was his first to an Arab state in more than a decade of brutal civil war that has killed close to half a million people.
Assad and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE’s de facto ruler, discussed the "fraternal relations" between the two countries, the official news agency WAM reported.
Washington was "profoundly disappointed and troubled by this apparent attempt to legitimise Bashar al-Assad," said US State Department spokesman Ned Price, who stressed that "we do not support efforts to rehabilitate Assad."
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