Will the UAE kiss and make up with Syria?

… from Southfront

[ Editor’s Note: This news of the UAE wanting to rebuild relations with Syria came as a surprise, despite its coming from a Lebanese semi-tabloid paper. But it rings true as these types of meetings often leak out after a few weeks.

If true the Saudis would be very unhappy to hear about this, and the US, too, after having worked so long with the UAE to overthrow Assad, and then also join in with the Yemen War, which will be another intervention stain on the US bloody cape.

We have recently learned that Obama went into Yemen because the US wanted the Saudis to pay $4 billion toward the Syria war, so he made a trade off there. The other source we have is the Qatari former, FM and PM saying on the Charlie Rose show that the US coalition spent $130 billion trying to Balkanize Syria.

The timing of these secret talks was strange, happening during the buildup for the battle for Idlib. But the shifting sands of the Mideast have seen parties change sides throughout its long history of conflict.

The diplomatic situation is turning into a zoo now as Trump at the helm appointed untrained family members to key positions to be his personal representative to Gulf State leaders, and of course Israel.

I always predicted that Trump would turn the presidency into a reality TV show, including the “you’re fired” part, which he enjoys so much. He is in way over his head, but will be the last to learn it.

The UAE has to want something from Syria to make this overture, and of course Syria is going to need a lot of rebuilding money. We will try to find out what the UAE wants to buy in return, perhaps a port facility to compete with the one the Chinese are putting into Haifa, Israel… Jim W. Dean ]

Jim's Editor’s Notes are solely crowdfunded via PayPal Jim's work includes research, field trips, Heritage TV Legacy archiving & more. Thanks for helping. Click to donate >>

Senior UAE security official visited Damascus last month – Report

– First published … September 15, 2018 –

Mohammed bin Hamad al-Shamsi, a deputy director of the UAE’s Supreme Council for National Security, visited Damascus last August and met with General Mohammed Dib Zaitoun, head of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, the al-Akhbar newspaper reported on September 15.

The Lebanese newspaper said that al-Shamsi informed the Syrian side during the meeting that the UAE is “excited” to restore its diplomatic relations with the Damascus government. However, this may happen indirectly through the UAE’s embassy in Lebanon at the beginning.

The two sides also discussed the “security issue,” according to al-Akhbar, which pointed out that the sides would only cooperate on such issues if the diplomatic relations are restored.

In Augusts, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) deployed hundreds of former Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, who, according to reprots, were formerly backed by the UAE, on the front line against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies in the northern governorate of Idlib.

Furthermore, Syrian opposition activists leaked an audio message of Firas Tlass, a UAE-based Syrian businessman and an opposition figure, in which he threatens the remaining militants in northwestern Syria with an “invasion” if they don’t join the reconciliation process.

These development suggests that the Syrian-Emirati relations will witness a significant improvement in the foreseeable future, especially that both countries view al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood party as their main enemies.

Jim W. Dean

Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus.  He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022.  He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews.  He now writes and posts periodically for VT.

Read Full Complete Bio >>>
Jim W. Dean Archives 2009-2015