Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa received by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, at Hamad International Airport in Doha on April 15, 2025. (Credit: Syrian Presidency Photo/AFP)
Qatar once appeared poised to secure a leading role in shaping a new Syria. As an early supporter of the opposition to Bashar al-Assad, the gas-rich emirate quickly emerged as a key backer of the protest movement. Just a year after the uprising began in 2011, Doha hosted the founding of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the main opposition platform, while also supplying weapons to rebels on the ground.“Qatar aimed to help establish a new regional order of states with political Islam as the central organizing principle,” said Neil Quilliam, a researcher with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program. That same vision helped it cultivate ties with figures who played central roles in Assad’s ousting last fall. Reports from Syria From Aleppo, Ahmad al-Sharaa tries to rally a still unstable Syria “The groups that were...
Qatar once appeared poised to secure a leading role in shaping a new Syria. As an early supporter of the opposition to Bashar al-Assad, the gas-rich emirate quickly emerged as a key backer of the protest movement. Just a year after the uprising began in 2011, Doha hosted the founding of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the main opposition platform, while also supplying weapons to rebels on the ground.“Qatar aimed to help establish a new regional order of states with political Islam as the central organizing principle,” said Neil Quilliam, a researcher with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program. That same vision helped it cultivate ties with figures who played central roles in Assad’s ousting last fall. Reports from Syria From Aleppo, Ahmad al-Sharaa tries to rally a still unstable Syria “The groups that...