Assad Thanks UAE For Earthquake Relief Efforts As Foreign Minister Visits Syria

In a first high-level visit by an Arab official to Syria since the earthquake, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Sunday to offer assistance to the ravaged nation.

His visit comes six days after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed at least 33,000, and injured thousands of others in both Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6.

Al-Assad expressed his gratitude to the UAE for facilitating the rescue efforts in Syria, saying Sheikh Abdullah's visit was the first by a senior government official in the Gulf since the earthquake struck the country, Ahram Online reported.

"The UAE was among the first countries that stood with Syria and sent huge relief and humanitarian aid and search and rescue teams," he said, during his meeting with the Emirati leader in Damascus on Sunday.

The UAE has extended tens of millions worth of assistance to Syria in the wake of the disaster. The Gulf nation pledged $50 million assistance to the country on top of the $13.6 million that it had initially pledged immediately after the deadly quake. The UAE has also been providing emergency aid and sending planes to Turkey and Syria to supply food and medical supplies to rescue teams and families of the victims.

In a statement, Syria's Transport Ministry official Suleiman Khalil revealed that the UAE has been able to dispatch 16 planes since the earthquake struck.

"Sixteen Emirati planes have arrived in Syria since the earthquake hit," he said. "Around the clock, Emirati planes have been providing an air bridge for those affected by the earthquake," he added.

The country also set up a base camp in the coastal city of Jableh in Syria on Friday to aid their search and rescue team. Since last week, volunteers from the UAE have been facilitating Syrian rescuers' efforts in retrieving bodies and searching for survivors from the wreckage left by the disaster.

Syria and the UAE's relationship extends far before the Syrian civil war. More than 10 years ago, Abu Dhabi had cut ties with Syria over the bloodshed that the country had instigated and ousted it from the 22-member Arab League. However, the UAE started to reconnect with Syria in December 2018 when it reopened its embassy in Damascus.