Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani became the first head of state to visit Damascus since the ousting of Bashar Assad, arriving in the Syrian capital on Thursday.

Sheikh Tamim was welcomed on arrival at Damascus airport by Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a statement by Qatar’s Emiri Diwan said.

The Qatari broadcaster said the emir “left the airport in the Syrian capital Damascus” and was heading toward the presidential palace, showing footage of a convoy of vehicles.

The visit is the first by the Qatari emir to Syria in more than 14 years and the first by an Arab or foreign head of state since Dec. 8, 2024.

His trip, less than two months after an anti-regime alliance ousted Assad, comes a day after Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was appointed interim president, and follows a visit by Qatar’s prime minister earlier this month.

Unlike other Arab countries, Qatar did not restore diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad and was one of the first to back the anti-regime groups after his government crushed a peaceful uprising in 2011.

The Syrian embassy in Doha had told AFP that Al Thani would meet al-Sharaa “in a historic visit that will address cooperation and aid in several sectors.”

Qatar was the second country, after Türkiye, to reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital following Assad’s overthrow, and has urged the lifting of sanctions.

In a statement Wednesday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said Doha welcomed “the steps that aim to restructure” the Syrian state and “consolidate civil peace, security and stability,” after al-Sharaa was also tasked with forming a transitional legislature.

During his visit two weeks ago, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani pledged to support the rehabilitation of Syria’s infrastructure, devastated by nearly 14 years of civil war.

He said the agreement included providing Syria with 200 megawatts of power and gradually increasing production.

A diplomatic source has also said Qatar was weighing plans to assist Syria with public sector salaries.

Also this month, ministers from Syria’s transitional government including top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani met the Qatari premier on their first visit to the Gulf country since taking power.

On Dec. 23, Qatar’s minister of state at the foreign ministry, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, led the first high-level Qatari delegation to Damascus after a 13-year diplomatic rift.

Qatar’s ruler is the most senior of a string of foreign officials to visit Damascus since December.

A delegation from Russia, a close ally of former leader Assad, visited this week, while foreign ministers or senior officials from countries including France, Germany and Türkiye have also been to Damascus.

Syria’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that a high-level Turkish military delegation had also visited the country.

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