The Bahraini embassy in Damascus is open again, the Gulf nation announced on Friday, a day after a similar move by the UAE. It seems Saudi Arabia and its allies are ready to acknowledge Syria’s victory in the war.

Early in the multifaceted Syrian conflict, which involved hostilities between various domestic forces and a strong influx of foreign fighters, several Gulf Arab states shut down their diplomatic missions in Syria. The country was also expelled from the Arab League in 2011, as Riyadh and Doha backed anti-government Sunni forces trying to topple the Alawite-dominated government in Damascus. Now the diplomatic ties are being restored.

On Friday, Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry released a statement, which stressed the importance of continued relations with Syria and the “the Arab role” in preserving Syria’s independence.

“Syria is a major Arab country in the region, we did not cut ties and it did not do so ... We stand with it in protecting its sovereignty and its territory from any violation,” tweeted later Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

Bahrain is a small island nation that hosts US Fifth Fleet, which had to call in Saudi troops in 2011 to quash Shiite mass protests, which started as part of the so-called “Arab Spring”.

Earlier on Thursday, the UAE’s embassy in Damascus was reopened in a flag-raising ceremony almost eight years after its closure. This seems to be a continuation of a normalization trend started earlier in December by a visit of the Sudanese President Omar Bashir to Damascus. There are also numerous if unconfirmed speculations that the Arab League is about to readmit Syria.

Also on rt.com Arab states are making nice with Assad’s Syria. Will the West follow suit?

Considering Bahrain’s close relations to Riyadh, it appears Saudi Arabia and its allies, who were once bent on seeing the government in Damascus toppled, are not expecting this to come anytime soon. Re-engaging it diplomatically is a logical step for mending the ties damaged during earlier.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!</s>Syria says UAE will reopen Damascus embassy closed in 2011

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria says the United Arab Emirates will reopen its embassy in Damascus for the first time in seven years.

The Information Ministry gave no further details other than inviting journalists to cover the event at the embassy in central Damascus later Thursday.

The UAE recalled its ambassador from Syria in 2011 after the start of the popular uprising against President Bashar Assad. The Syrian Embassy in the UAE remained open.

The reopening of the embassy comes after the Dec. 16 visit to Damascus by Sudan's President Omar Bashir, who became the first Arab head of state to visit Syria since the civil war began.

Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League in 2011. Arab countries have sanctioned Damascus and condemned its use of military force against the opposition.</s>A statement by Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday announced that the tiny Persian Gulf country had decided to restore its diplomatic mission to Syria, only hours after the UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus.

The Arab countries’ restoring ties with government of Bashar Al-Assad takes place at a time when the Syrian government is finalizing its victory against terrorism and restoring peace and stability to the war-torn country.

UAE and Bahrain severed their diplomatic relations with the Syrian government soon after foreign-backed terrorist groups poured into Syria and sought to topple the legitimate Assad government in early 2012.

Prior to that, Syria had also been suspended from the Arab League in 2011.

Diplomatic sources told Russian Sputnik news agency yesterday that Bahrain will reopen its embassy in Damascus as soon as next week.

Meanwhile, the UAE-based English language 'the National' has said that the move also suggests that Persian Gulf states are seeking to offset growing Iranian and Turkish influence in Syria by reinstating diplomatic ties.</s>The embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will reopen in Damascus on Thursday afterafter closing as a result of the war, a source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik. "The UAE embassy in Damascus will reopen in the second half of the day," the source said.The final preparations for the opening of the diplomatic mission are underway, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene. The embassy building was renovated earlier this week.The UAE is the first Arab country to restore the work of its embassy in Syria. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad said earlier that Damascus welcomed the resumption of work of Arab countries' embassies in Syria.</s>The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria says the United Arab Emirates will reopen its embassy in Damascus for the first time in seven years.

The Information Ministry gave no further details other than inviting journalists to cover the event at the embassy in central Damascus later Thursday.

The UAE recalled its ambassador from Syria in 2011 after the start of the popular uprising against President Bashar Assad. The Syrian Embassy in the UAE remained open.

The reopening of the embassy comes after the Dec. 16 visit to Damascus by Sudan’s President Omar Bashir, who became the first Arab head of state to visit Syria since the civil war began.

Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League in 2011. Arab countries have sanctioned Damascus and condemned its use of military force against the opposition.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.</s>Bahrain to resume work at embassy in Syria after UAE move

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain says it will resume operations at its embassy in Syria some seven years after it shuttered its embassy in Damascus in the early days of the civil war.

The move, announced one day after the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus, reflects an effort by Gulf Arab states to improve relations with Syrian President Bashar Assad as his forces win a series of military victories with the help of Russia and Iran. Early in the civil war, Gulf Arab states supported Sunni fighters seeking to oust Assad.

In a Foreign Ministry statement Friday, Bahrain said it affirms the importance of continued relations with Syria, emphasizing "the Arab role" in preserving Syria's independence and preventing dangerous regional intervention in its affairs — an apparent reference to Iran's strengthened foothold.</s>DAMASCUS: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will reopen its embassy in Damascus Thursday, an official said, seven years after it severed ties with Syria over the violent repression that triggered the war.

An official at the information ministry invited journalists “to cover the reopening of the Emirati embassy in Damascus today”.

The move is seen as another step in efforts to bring the regime of President Bashar al-Assad back into the Arab fold after years of diplomatic isolation.

A visit to Damascus by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir earlier this month had been interpreted by some observers as a sign of that trend.

Rumours of the Emirati embassy reopening have circulated in recent days as renovation work was spotted getting underway at the building.

The UAE broke ties with Syria in February 2012, as the repression of nationwide protests demanding regime change was escalating into a war which has now killed more than 360,000 people.</s>The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to reopen its embassy in Damascus on Thursday, the Assad regime's information ministry said, a move that would mark a big diplomatic boost for Bashar al-Assad from an Arab state that once supported his opponents.

The embassy has been shut since the early months of the Syrian conflict, which erupted in 2011 after brutal repression of protests against the regime. The Syrian Embassy in the UAE remained open.

There was no immediate comment from officials in the UAE. A Syrian information note to journalists invited them to cover the event at 1:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) at the embassy located in the capital's Abu Rummaneh district.

The United Arab Emirates was one of several regional states that backed opposition groups fighting Assad, though its role was less prominent than Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Turkey, rebel sources have said.

Nearly eight years since the conflict began, Assad has recovered control of the bulk of Syria with critical support from Russia, Iran, and Iran-backed groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah.

On Dec. 16, 2018, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir became the first Arab head of state to visit Damascus since the start of the Syrian conflict.

Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League in 2011. Arab countries have sanctioned Damascus and condemned its use of military force against the opposition.

The Arab Parliament earlier this month called for Syria to be reinstated, echoing calls made in Egyptian state-run media for several months. The secretary-general of the Arab League, veteran Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in April said the decision to suspend Syria had been "hasty."</s>Bahrain says it will resume operations at its embassy in Syria some seven years after it shuttered its embassy in Damascus in the early days of the civil war.

The move, announced one day after the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus, reflects an effort by Gulf Arab states to improve relations with Bashar Assad as his forces win a series of military victories with the help of Russia and Iran. Early in the civil war, Gulf Arab states supported the opposition seeking to oust Assad.

In a Foreign Ministry statement Friday, Bahrain said it affirms the importance of continued relations with Syria, emphasizing "the Arab role" in preserving Syria's independence and preventing dangerous regional intervention in its affairs — an apparent reference to Iran's strengthened foothold.

The decision comes on after a surprisingly warm meeting between the Syrian foreign minister and his Bahraini counterpart on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September. The meeting turned heads because it featured hugs between the two ministers.</s>The embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Syrian capital of Damascus has reopened with the UAE flag being raised again, for the first time in more than seven years.

The reopening of the embassy marks the first state of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to resume diplomatic work in Syria.

Abdul-Hakim al-Nuami, the UAE charge d’affaires, was cited by the pro-government Sham FM radio as saying that the return of the UAE embassy is a prelude to the return of other Arab embassies to Syria.

The Iraqi and Sudanese ambassadors as well as diplomats from the Tunisian and Algerian embassies showed up at the UAE embassy where an opening ceremony took place inside.

All Gulf states had closed their embassies in Damascus after the Syrian crisis erupted in 2011.
Bahrain announces it will reopen its embassy in Damascus, Syria, a day after the UAE made the same decision.