UAE president says wants to support Syria reconstruction

The president of the United Arab Emirates said his country wants to support Syria's reconstruction as he met Sunday with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan "affirmed the UAE's keenness to support... Syria to confront the challenges of the transitional phase and rebuild Syria" during the meeting, the official Emirati news agency WAM reported.

Sharaa has sought Gulf financial support for war-devastated Syria since he led a lightning offensive that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

But nearly a week after rebels toppled Assad, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said his government found the Islamist affiliation of Syria's new rulers "quite worrying".

In mid-January Sharaa spoke by phone with the UAE president about ways to reinforce ties and "ensure the stability and development of the region", Syria's state news agency SANA said at the time.

"Syria's stability and enhanced security are in the interest of the entire region," the UAE president was quoted as saying on Sunday.

He added that the Gulf country would "spare no effort in providing all possible support to Syria and its brotherly people in the coming period".

On its Telegram channel, SANA on Sunday said Sharaa was travelling with Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani to the UAE to hold talks on "numerous common issues".

Analysts have said the UAE is deeply suspicious of Syria's new leaders, reflecting its distrust of political Islam and fear of outsized Turkish influence in the war-scarred country.

Shaibani visited Abu Dhabi in January.

After more than 13 years of conflict, Syria's new rulers are seeking international support for reconstruction and reviving the sanctions-hit economy.