Assad signals Arab states ready to end years of hostility

President Bashar Assad has told a little-known Kuwaiti newspaper that Syria has reached a “major understanding” with other Arab states after years of hostility over the country’s civil war.

The interview in the Al-Shahed newspaper, published today, is Assad’s first with a Gulf newspaper since the war began in 2011.

He does not name the Arab countries, but says Arab and Western delegations have begun visiting Syria to prepare for the reopening of diplomatic and other missions.

A Syrian child walks past the rubble of destroyed buildings in an opposition-held neighbourhood of the southern city of Daraa on October 2, 2018. (AFP/ Mohamad ABAZEED)

Syria’s membership in the 22-member Arab League was suspended in the early days of the war, and Arab countries later imposed economic sanctions.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have supported opposition groups fighting to overthrow Assad.

— AP

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