A high-level Syrian delegation visited several Gulf states over the past few days, including the foreign and defence ministers of the interim government along with the intelligence chief.

Days after visiting Riyadh and meeting with Saudi senior officials, the delegation toured another three countries this week beginning in the Qatari capital Doha before heading to the UAE and finally Jordan.

Almost the entire Gulf is engaging with the new Syrian transitional government led by the previously Al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group. Public statements by HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa (previously Al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammed Al-Golani) offer a pragmatic approach aiming to dilute the concerns of regional and international parties.

The delegation’s starting its Gulf tour with Qatar is consistent with the fact that Doha was the only Gulf capital that kept up its support for the armed Islamist groups in Syria when the rest tried to rehabilitate the defunct Al-Assad regime.

Along with Turkey, Qatar sustained its opposition to the fallen regime and support for the militant groups fighting it. Last month, Al-Sharaa said that “Qatar has a special priority in Syria because of its honourable stance toward the Syrian people.”

After the HTS took over the country last month, a Gulf delegation led by the Kuwaiti foreign minister and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General visited Damascus, marking the Gulf’s acceptance of the political change in Syria.

During the visit, Syria interim Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani told reporters that “we want to reintegrate Syria into its Arab environment… We look forward to strengthening our relationships with our Gulf brothers.”

Some observers note that the new Syrian government is seeking financial support from the oil-rich Gulf countries. “It’s mainly about money. The new leaders in Syria can’t run the country without foreign financial support. Turkey is not into providing money, and Qatar will not shoulder the heavy burden alone. So, Saudi and Emirati financial support is essential,” a veteran Western commentator in Dubai told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Some international bodies estimate the cost of reconstruction in Syria at around half a trillion dollars. Turkey, the main ally of the HTS and the other armed groups now ruling Syria, is looking forward to benefiting from the reconstruction.

Media reports have quoted Turkish cement producers and infrastructure contractors as expecting huge opportunities in Syria.

However, apart from Qatar, the rest of the Gulf as well as Jordan and Egypt are wary of the previous connections the new rulers in Damascus had with terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS).

At a conference in mid-December shortly after the rebel takeover in Syria, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the Emirati President, said that the nature of the rebel factions and their past affiliations were a cause for concern.

“I think these are all indicators that are quite worrying… The region has seen episodes like this before, so we need to be on our guard,” he said.

Those optimistic about the future of Syria and the HTS and its allied groups argue for helping the new government. “Syria needs Gulf capital and is seeking to attract it. It can only do so by appeasing the Gulf. By extending financial help to Syria, the Gulf might hope to contain any potential militancy that Syria might nurture,” Turkish political analyst Feyza Gumusuoglu told the Weekly.

“Al-Sharaa seems to be a very pragmatic person, and this is good news,” she said.

Though Saudi Arabia seems to be engaging with the new Syrian interim government, the UAE is more cautious.

Senior Gulf analyst for the international think tank the International Crisis Group Anna Jacobs told the New York Times recently that “the UAE has a long history of being particularly hostile to Islamist-affiliated political parties and governments… But at least up until now it has sent some very clear signals that it’s willing to work with the interim government for the sake of preserving stability in Syria and in the wider region.”

Jordan might be more concerned about developments in Syria than other countries in the region, not only because of its border with the country but also because some of the leaders of the militant groups in Syria are originally from Jordan.

 “It is not just the UAE, but it is the whole world that is concerned that Syria might succumb to religious militancy and extremism. As far as we can see, Al-Sharaa and his team are well aware of the situation they are in and are working hard to alleviate the concerns the international community shares,” Gumusuoglu said.

Whether the Syrian delegation’s visits to Abu Dhabi and Amman will ease these concerns has yet to be seen. The risk is that developments in Syria might not go in the direction of the official rhetoric. US strategic intelligence consultancy Stratfor concluded its analysis of Syria by saying that the “Gulf states’ competing interests could disrupt Syria’s political transition.”

The Stratfor analysis suggested that “the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will approach Syria’s post-war political transition with caution and pragmatism, but over time Abu Dhabi will likely more aggressively seek to offset Turkish and Qatari influence, fuelling Syrian factionalism and possibly presaging a new round of violence and intra-Gulf Arab tensions.”

* A version of this article appears in print in the 9 January, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly