A Qatari Air Force plane carrying 31 tonnes of food aid landed in the Syrian capital of Damascus, as part of the country's ongoin

Syria's new Islamist rulers said on Sunday that U.S. sanctions on Syria were an obstacle to the war-torn country's rapid recovery and urged Washington to lift them during a visit by Syrian officials to Qatar.

Syria’s new foreign minister has met with his Qatari counterpart and Qatar’s prime minister in Doha on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia and others are overlooking the new leadership’s jihadist past, hoping to gain an advantage on rivals in the strategically positioned country.

The country’s new leaders are pushing to restore a sense of normalcy. But Syria remains under a host of international sanctions imposed during the Assad regime.

Could the return of Qatar Airways to Damascus tempt other international airlines to put the Syrian capital back on the route map?

Qatar is weighing a plan to provide Syria's new rulers with funds to increase public sector salaries, a diplomatic source said Thursday, as the interim government in Damascus seeks to rebuild state institutions.

Syria’s new Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday, marking his first visit to the Gulf country. Shaibani is accompanied by Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and intelligence chief Anas Khattab during the visit,

Assad Shaibani called on the US to lift Assad-era sanctions on Syria, as the new Islamist rulers strive to restart the economy.Syria' s new foreign minister has continued with regional visits aimed at building bridges with neighbors,

The national airline of Qatar has announced that it will resume weekly flights to Syria 13 years after cancelling operations. Qatar Airways will offer three weekly flights between Qatar and Damascus, Syria, from Tuesday (7 January). In 2011, flights by the carrier to and from Damascus and Aleppo were cancelled amid Syria’s civil war.

"These sanctions constitute a barrier and an obstacle to the rapid recovery and development of the Syrian people who await services and partnerships from other countries," Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said after meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister.

Qatar has been a staunch supporter of Syria’s erstwhile Opposition long before the fall of the now ousted president Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December. When rebel forces from Hay’at