Syrian President Bashar Al Assad arrived in Muscat for a working visit to Oman on Monday.
He was greeted by Sultan Haitham, and the leaders travelled to Al Baraka Palace for talks. It is a rare official trip to a Gulf nation in more than a decade of civil war at home.
Sultan Haitham “renewed his condolences and sincere sympathy” for the victims of the February 6 earthquake, which killed almost 45,000 people in Syria and Turkey, Oman's state news agency reported.
Mr Al Assad thanked Oman for its efforts to help with the earthquake recovery.
His office quoted Mr Assad as saying that Oman preserved “its balanced policies and credibility” adding that the region needs the role of Oman to strengthen relations between Arab countries based on “mutual respect and noninterference in other countries' affairs.”
Syria is still reeling from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that reduced hundreds of buildings in the north-west of the country to rubble. The most affected regions, however, lie outside the Syrian regime's control.
Aid has taken days to get to those in need from Damascus and from across the border in Turkey.
Oman has maintained ties with Syria throughout the twelve years of civil conflict sparked by a 2011 uprising, despite the Arab League suspending Syria from its membership.
The Sultanate sent a new ambassador to Syria in 2020- the first since 2012 to represent the country from inside Syria- and Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi visited Damascus in January 2022.
Oman's Royal Air Force has conducted aid flights to Syria since the earthquake.
Oman experienced its own earthquake last week. On Sunday a 4.1-magnitude earthquake was detected near Duqm, but no injuries were reported.
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
