DAMASCUS, Jan 30: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said discussions with a Qatari delegation in Damascus Thursday included reconstruction in the war-torn country, during the first visit by a head of state since Bashar al-Assad's ouster.
The trip by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, less than two months after Islamist-led rebels ousted Assad, comes a day after Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was appointed interim president for an unspecified transitional period. It also follows a visit by Qatar's prime minister earlier this month.
"We discussed a comprehensive framework for bilateral cooperation concerning reconstruction" in the country devastated by nearly 14 years of civil war, Shaibani said during a press conference with Qatari Minister of State at the foreign ministry, Mohammed al-Khulaifi.
He said their talks covered "vital sectors including infrastructure... investment and banking services, paving the way for economic recovery, health and education".
Khulaifi welcomed Wednesday's announcement by Syria's authorities "on the end of the revolutionary phase and the transition to the phase of establishing the state". �AFP
