Qatar’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, has arrived in Damascus aboard a Qatar Airways flight, marking the airline’s first landing in the Syrian capital since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government. This was confirmed by Majid bin Mohammed Al-Ansari, advisor to the Qatari Prime Minister and official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“His Excellency Al-Khulaifi, heading a high-level Qatari delegation, recently arrived in Damascus aboard the inaugural Qatar Airways flight to the Syrian capital,” Al-Ansari shared on social media platform X. The Qatari delegation is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with Syrian officials, he added.
On December 21, Qatar reopened its embassy in Damascus after a 13-year hiatus, raising its flag over the building. The ceremony was attended by Khalifa Abdullah Al-Mahmoud Al-Sharif, Qatar’s acting chargé d'affaires in Syria.
Responding to a TASS inquiry earlier this month, Al-Ansari described the reopening of the embassy as a “technical decision.” He highlighted Qatar's unique position as the only country that had hosted a Syrian opposition embassy during the conflict and noted that Doha was the first capital to reestablish formal diplomatic ties with the new Syrian authorities following the regime change.
The developments follow a significant shift in Syria’s political landscape. In late November, armed opposition forces launched a large-scale offensive against Syrian army positions. By December 8, they had entered Damascus, prompting Bashar al-Assad to resign as president and leave the country. On December 10, Mohammed Al-Bashir, former head of the “Salvation Government” in Idlib, announced his appointment as leader of Syria’s interim government, which will remain in place until March 1, 2025.
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Based on materials from TASS