Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited UAE, where he met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Friday.
The Emirates News Agency said that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi received the Syrian President, and discussed with him "brotherly relations, cooperation and joint coordination."
The agency added that the UAE Prime Minister affirmed his country's keenness to "discover new paths for constructive cooperation with Syria, and to monitor opportunities through which various aspects of cooperation can be pushed forward."
The agency indicated that Assad left the UAE after meeting with senior officials.
The UAE has been at the fore in the efforts of some Arab countries to normalize relations with Syria in recent times.
Al-Assad received in Damascus the UAE Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed, last November, and this was the first visit of a high-ranking Gulf official since several Gulf countries cut diplomatic relations with the Syrian government following the outbreak of violence in Syria in 2011. The United States expressed its dissatisfaction with the visit.
Other Gulf States, especially, Qatar, is holding back normalization with the Syrian government given their initial support of the armed groups that wanted to overthrow the Syrian government. In 2012, Qatar hosted the Arab League Summit, its leader, Hamad, offered Syria's seat to an opposition figure, which they recognized as the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Saudi Arabia, too, held the position that "Assad must go--peacefully or violently."
It is not clear if UAE will try to mend relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia, though it is unlikely that it will advocate for the warming of relations between Qatar and Syria goven that UAE still has frosty relations with its neighbor.
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