Damascus is its capital (5)
I believe the answer is:
syria
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">damascus is its capital</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this before)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for syria that I've seen before include "Ray is in the war-torn country, oddly" , "Country E. of Lebanon" , "Country bordering Lebanon" , "Country bordering Iraq" , "Near eastern country" .)