Qatar says it would be 'wishful thinking' to have regional unity on Syria

Qatar on Friday cast doubt on prospects for regional unity on Syria after the United Arab Emirates sat down with the regime in Damascus, and maintained Doha would not follow suit.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said it would be "wishful thinking" to have unity on Syria, but said Doha hopes "countries will be discouraged from taking further steps with the Syrian regime in order not to undermine the misery of the Syrian people."

"Qatar’s position has been very clear. We see that normalizing with Assad regime is not a step that we are thinking of, or considering right now, and we believe that all the crimes he has committed against his own people, he needs to be held accountable," al-Thani told reporters at the State Department.

"Regarding other countries in the region trying to re-engage, and re-integrate Syria, it’s of course, they are making their decisions based on their own assessments, and their own concern, and this is their sovereign right. We cannot criticize," he added.

The comments come after Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed led an Emirati delegation of senior officials to Damascus on Tuesday where they were received by Bashar al-Assad in what marks the first such visit since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011.

Bin Zayed's visit comes more than three years after the UAE reopened its embassy in Syria.

In June 2020, former US President Donald Trump's administration warned Abu Dhabi of the repercussions of continued normalization, and the possibility of facing sanctions under the Caesar Act, which authorizes sweeping sanctions on Assad's regime.

Arab normalization efforts with the Syrian regime have accelerated since July, particularly among Jordan, the UAE and Egypt.

Speaking alongside al-Thani, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated US concerns over the normalization efforts, and the "signals that some of these visits and engagements are sending."

"We don’t support normalization, and again we would emphasize to our friends our partners, to consider the signals that they’re sending," he said.