Economic and political factors drive Arab opening to Syria's leader
Beirut — While Bashar al-Assad is still shunned by the West who blame him for a decade of brutal war in Syria, a shift is under way in the Middle East where Arab allies of the US are bringing him in from the cold by reviving economic and diplomatic ties.
Turkey and its support for Sunni Islamists across the region — including a swathe of northern Syria that remains outside Assad’s grasp — is of particular concern to Arab rulers who can make common cause with Damascus against Islamist groups. After being warned against dealing with Damascus by the Trump administration, Arab states are pressing the issue again.
Anti-Assad rebels still have a foothold in the north, with support from Turkey, while the east and northeast is controlled by Kurdish-led forces backed by the US. “When Jordan breaks these barriers and establishes ties and it's at this pace, there will be countries that will follow suit,” Samih al-Maaytah, a former Jordanian minister and political analyst, told Al Mamlaka, a state-owned broadcaster.
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