Syria, Lebanon leaders in Qatar for first official visits

AFP | Doha

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The presidents of Syria and Lebanon arrived in Qatar on separate visits yesterday, the first official trips by both leaders to the wealthy Gulf state since taking office.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al- Sharaa met with Emir  Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha, the Qatari leader’s office said in a statement.

Qatar has been a key backer of the new administration in Damascus after longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December.

The talks between the Qatari and Syrian leaders “covered the most prominent regional and international developments, and an exchange of views on ways to enhance security and stability”, Shiekh Tamim’s office said.

Earlier, Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani posted on X that he was accompanying Sharaa on his “first presidential visit to the country that has stood by Syrians from day one and has never abandoned them”.

Sharaa and Shaibani’s Qatar trip comes on the heels of a Sunday visit to the United Arab Emirates, where they met Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Sharaa led the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that spearheaded the offensive 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 multiple 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.

The new authorities have engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity since taking power, and Sharaa has visited several Arab countries as well as Turkey.