Syrian president making first official visit to Qatar

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s new president was traveling to Qatar today for his first official visit to the Gulf state, a key backer of the new administration after longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad’s ouster, a minister says.

“Today we are accompanying President Ahmed al-Sharaa on his first presidential visit to the country that has stood by Syrians from day one and has never abandoned them,” Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani says in a statement on social network X. He accompanies the post with a photo of the Syrian and Qatari flags.

Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham led the rebel alliance that ousted Assad from power on December 8. His new administration has received support from several countries including key backers Turkey and Qatar, as well as several Arab states.

Qatar was one of the first Arab countries to back the armed rebellion that erupted after Assad’s government crushed a peaceful uprising in 2011. Unlike other Arab nations, Doha did not restore diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad.

نرافق اليوم فخامة الرئيس أحمد الشرع في الزيارة الرئاسية الأولى إلى الدولة التي وقفت إلى جانب السوريين منذ اليوم الأول ولم تتخل عنهم pic.twitter.com/fSA70NqgHM

— أسعد حسن الشيباني (@AssadAlshaibani) April 15, 2025