Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani visits Damascus on Thursday, Qatar's Al Jazeera reported, as Syria's new interim government begins a political transition after the opposition factions ousted the Assad regime last year.

 

Qatar's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

 

In January, a US official and a senior diplomat said Qatar planned to help finance a sharp increase in public sector wages pledged by Syria's new government.

 

Qatar had been lobbying Washington to issue a sanctions exemption for Syria allowing it to provide funding through official channels, the US official and diplomat said.