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UAE Crown Prince Chats With Syrian President in Apparent Bid to Improve Ties

Edward Yeranian

   CAIRO - UnitedArabEmiratesCrown Prince Mohammed Ben Zayed spoke with
   Syrian President Bashar al-Assadby phoneover the weekend to express
   solidarity over the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Some analysts said the
   call may also signify support from the UAE for reintegrating Damascus
   into the Arab League, from which it was expelled in 2011.

   The UAE's Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Zayed took a fresh step over the
   weekend to improve ties with Damascus, in a phone call to discuss
   possible humanitarian aid for the Syrian government in the face of the
   increasinglydirecoronavirus crisis.

   The crown prince wrote in a tweet that he had "assured (President
   Bashar al-Assad) of the support of the UAE and its willingness to help
   the Syrian people."

   "Humanitarian solidarity during trying times," he added, "supersedes
   all matters,and Syria and her people will not stand alone."

   Call purely humanitarian

   The UAE's Minister of State Zaki AnwarNossibatold Arab media that the
   call was purely humanitarian in nature. He says that Sheikh Mohammed is
   looking beyond narrow political considerationsinlight ofthis
   exceptional crisis in order to help humanity as a whole'¦since we are
   all one family and must cooperate with each other.

   A Syrian opposition TV station, however, claimed that the call was
   politically based, "given the UAE's interest in playing a role in
   rebuilding Syria and its concern over Turkey's growing role in the
   country."

   Former Iranian PresidentAbolhassanBani Sadr toldVOA he thinksthe UAE
   has been trying to distance itself from Saudi Arabia in recent months,
   as well, changing its policy in Iran, Yemen and Syria.

   He saidthat the UAE has been quietly changing policy in the region,
   making overtures to both Iran and Syria, in addition to distancing
   itself from the Saudi-led war effort in Yemen. The UAE, he added, does
   not have the same interests as Saudi Arabia, and is revamping its
   strategies.

   Arab League?

   The UAE reopened its embassy in Syria in 2018, but the weekend call by
   Zayed to al-Assad was the first of its kind since ties were originally
   cut in 2011. Some Arab analysts saidAbu Dhabi is also supporting a
   quiet effort by Iraq and Lebanon to allow Syria to retake its seat at
   the next Arab League summit, due to be held in Algeria.

   TheodoreKarasik, a Washington-based Gulf analyst, toldVOA that "the UAE
   has been working on how to best bring Assad and Syria back into the
   (Arab fold), especially when it comes to reconstruction."

   He saidthat "the big problems in Syria are refugees and health
   maintenance," and Damascus is now apparently "receptive in terms of
   humanitarian aid and medical monitoring," given the coronavirus crisis.

   Paul Sullivan, who is a professor at the U.S.National Defense
   University, told VOA that "the UAE has been a huge contributor of aid
   to Arab and other countries for decades." He saidthat "their leadership
   has a difficult relationship with Assad, but they see that the COVID-19
   situation could be a complete catastrophe in Syria," and that it could
   "affect the entire region and beyond."

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