Damascus: A delegation of senior Arab parliamentarians met with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in Damascus on Sunday, another sign of thawing ties.
They met with Syrian parliamentarians and with Assad, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.
“We cannot do without Syria and Syria cannot do without its Arab environment, which we hope it can return to,” said Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed Halbousi.
Assad has benefited from an outpouring of support from Arab states following the devastating earthquake on Feb. 6, which killed more than 5,900 people across his country, according to a tally of UN and Syrian government figures.
Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah Al Sisi spoke with Assad by phone for the first time on Feb. 7 and Jordan’s foreign minister made his first trip to Damascus on Feb. 15.
Assad then travelled to Oman on Feb. 20 - the first time he left Syria since the quake.
He had rarely left Syria during the war, travelling only to close allies Russia and Iran whose military support helped him turn the tide of the conflict.
