Syria’s foreign minister meets with Qatari counterpart ahead of visits to Jordan, UAE

Syria’s new foreign minister met with his Qatari counterpart and Qatar’s prime minister in Doha earlier today, as Syria’s new de facto authorities under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, establish diplomatic ties with regional and global governments.

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani posts on X that he’s also set to visit Jordan and the United Arabs Emirates to develop strategic partnerships, and support Syria’s security and economic recovery.

Al-Shibani met with his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh on Thursday, and he also welcomed the foreign ministers of Germany and France in Damascus on Friday.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted President Bashar al-Assad on December 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Qatar supported opposition groups that fought against Assad and his allies, and was one of a few Arab countries that opposed restoring ties with the ousted Assad and Syria’s return to the Arab League in 2023.

“We conveyed to Doha our concerns about the challenges related to the economic sanctions imposed on the Syrian people, and we renew our call on the United States to lift those sanctions,” Syrian radio station Sham FM quotes Al-Shibani as saying.