Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has donated $10 million from his personal funds to the Umayyad Mosque and the mausoleum of Sayyida Zaynab in Damascus—$5 million for each site. According to the prime minister’s press office, the decision was announced after he visited both shrines with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met him at Damascus airport. This is al-Zaidi’s first official visit to Syria since he took office in mid-May.
The visit follows high-level contacts: in September, al-Zaidi had already met al-Sharaa and al-Shaibani in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Before arriving in Damascus, he visited Jordan, where he discussed expanding economic, trade and investment cooperation, as well as joint projects, with King Abdullah II. His visit to Syria is therefore part of a series of regional diplomatic initiatives by the Iraqi prime minister.
Full story: الزيدي يتبرع بـ10 ملايين دولار للجامع الأموي ومرقد السيدة زينب بدمشق