Syrian official denies partnership with Qatar to rebuild Syria

A Syrian official has denied a recent report from The Independent that claimed Syria was improving its with Qatar.

“Any government which has supported terrorism, played a role in destroying Syria and adopted hostile positions against the Syrian government will not play any role in the country’s reconstruction,” Deputy Head of the Syrian Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, Ammar al-Assad, said on Saturday.

“It is not rational to give a share of the country’s reconstruction to Qatar that welcomes hostile actions and attacks on the Syrian government,” he added.

His remarks came after Robert Fisk wrote in The Independent, Thursday, that Qatar resumed ties with Syria and would be given a share in the country’s reconstruction.

“For some days ago, Bashar al-Assad held a private meeting of Syrian journalists in Damascus and informed them that relations had resumed – at a very low and humble level – between Qatar and Syria. They were not under any circumstances to quote him as saying this, nor to give any presidential credence to the story. But they could mention it in passing, stressing that this was not a resumption of relations, merely two nations maintaining contact. But it makes an intriguing story,” Fisk claimed.

While the Syrian official denies any political relations with Qatar, rumors have surfaced over the last two months about the two countries reconciling through Iranian mediation.