UAE says it will invite Assad to annual COP28 summit, usually attended by Western leaders

The United Arab Emirates has invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to a United Nations climate summit in Dubai later this year, Syrian state media said.

Assad was invited to a global summit for the first time since the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011, when the Arab world warmed up to Damascus after a long diplomatic wilderness.

Abdul Hakim al-Nouaimi, the UAE’s chargé d’affaires in Syria, has extended an invitation to Assad from UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the official news agency SANA reported. Invite him to “attend the COP28 climate conference”.

The COP summit is usually attended by Western heads of state who have imposed sanctions on Syria due to the civil war and oppose normalization with Damascus. U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron both attended talks in Egypt last year.

The UAE re-established ties with Syria in 2018 and has been leading the recent move to reintegrate Damascus into Arab territory.

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