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.

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

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

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,

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

"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.

Ministers from Syria's transitional government urged the United States to lift its sanctions on Damascus during their first visit to Qatar since overthrowing president Bashar al-Assad.The interim foreign minister called the measures a "barrier and an obstacle to the rapid recovery" telling local media that his government "renewed our demand for the United States of America to lift these sanctions".

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.

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.

The call, combined with various promises of economic and constitutional support to the Islamist regime led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaida affiliate, demonstrates how the imperialist powers intend to use Syria’s regime change to step up their war on Russia and prepare an all-out conflict with Iran.