Syria’s outcast dictator returns to the Arab world

BASHAR AL-ASSADUAEUAE has few occasions to fish out his passport. The Syrian tyrant has been largely confined to his own country since 2011, when he set out to crush a string of peaceful protests calling for reform. As civic unrest turned into civil war, he became a pariah. His few foreign forays have been to Russia and Iran, wartime allies to whom he owes his survival.On March 18th Mr Assad emerged from isolation. He landed in the United Arab Emirates () for the sort of visit afforded to any head of state. There was an honour guard and a series of meetings with bigwigs. State media in the published photos of Mr Assad with Muhammad bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi (pictured above), the country’s de facto ruler, and grinning with the leader of Dubai, the flashiest Emirate.