No flights had taken off or landed since pro-Assad forces abandoned the airport in the Syrian capital on December 8 after the opposition fighters marched on the city following a lightning offensive that began on November 27.

“We announce we will start receiving international flights to and from Damascus International Airport” from Tuesday, state news agency SANA said on Saturday, quoting Ashhad al-Salibi, who heads the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport.

“We reassure Arab and international airlines that we have begun the phase of rehabilitating the Aleppo and Damascus airports with our partners’ help, so that they can welcome flights from all over the world,” he said.

The announcement has a “significant political and economic implication” for the war-torn nation. The new administration has been in touch with key regional players on the need to help them rehabilitate their airport in Damascus to be in line with international safety standards.

International aid planes and foreign diplomatic delegations have already been landing in Syria. Domestic flights resumed on December 18, when a flight from Damascus left for Aleppo, according to the AFP news agency.

Syrian Airlines will resume flights from Damascus to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, starting on Tuesday, an employee told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

On Thursday, Qatar Airways announced it would resume flights to the Syrian capital after nearly 13 years, starting with three weekly flights from Tuesday.

“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.

Shibani added that Qatar, which had previously refrained from normalising relations with former President Bashr al-Assad, will be a partner in Syria’s new phase.

This marked Sibani’s second regional trip less than a month after rebels ousted al-Assad. The Syrian delegation, which included Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and intelligence chief Anas Khattab, also held meetings with senior Qatari officials.

Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, told reporters that Shibani outlined a clear plan for Syria’s near future, detailing steps the new administration would take.

Shibani stated the roadmap aims to “rebuild our country, restore its Arab and foreign relations, enable the Syrian people to obtain their civil and basic rights, and present a government that the Syrian people feel represents them and all their components”.

The Syrian foreign minister will also visit the United Arab Emirates and Jordan later this week.

His first foreign trip was to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, where he met with Saudi officials to discuss ways to support Syria’s political transition.

The videos, verified by the fact-checking network Verify-sy, appear to show Shadi al-Waisi reading the execution sentences of two women charged with “corruption and prostitution” in 2015.

“The platform Verify-sy conducted a thorough verification process using specialised technical tools to match the features and tone of voice clearly heard in at least one of the videos, with the features and voice of [Justice] Minister Shadi al-Waisi, who had recently appeared in several filmed interviews,” the network said in a statement.

“The results showed a high degree of match, despite the poor quality of the circulated recordings,” it added.

Verify-sy also reached out to several parties in the new Syrian government, with an anonymous senior official confirming that the man in the videos is Waisi.

The source said Waisi was a judge at the time.

The Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)-led government has not commented on the footage.

“The content of the video presented to us documents the enforcement of the law at a specific time and place, where the procedures were carried out in accordance with the laws in effect at that time and as part of a procedural agreement,” the source added.

“However, we would like to point out that this process reflects a stage we have moved beyond in light of the current legal and procedural transformations, which makes it inappropriate to generalise it or use it to describe the current stage, given the differing circumstances and references.”

The resurfaced footage has been met with widespread criticism online from many Syrians who were previously critical of Bashar al-Assad and his government.

Some have questioned whether such punitive measures will be permitted under Syria’s new administration, while others have called for Waisi to be removed from office.

Shaibani is accompanied by Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and intelligence chief Anas Khattab during the visit, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Sunday’s visit marks the first official visit to Qatar by officials of Syria’s new administration since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government last month to explore opportunities of cooperation between the two countries, SANA added.

Following his first overseas visit to Saudi Arabia, Shaibani unveiled on Friday his intention to visit Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Jordan.

Qatar was one of the first countries to express support for Damascus after Assad’s ouster.

On Saturday, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al-Khulaifi discussed with Shaibani ways to enhance cooperation between Doha and Damascus during a phone call, according to Qatari authorities.

Khulaifi visited Damascus on Dec. 23, where he met with the leader of Syria’s new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to discuss ways to strengthen relations and support Syria’s future.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after armed groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8.