Syrian Foreign Minister to Begin an Official Visit to Algeria
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad will begin an official visit to Algeria, as part of a tour that includes Tunisia next week, where Damascus will start opening its embassy there, in preparation for the upcoming Arab events, especially the Arab summit, with mounting indications of Syria’s return to the Arab League.
Syrian newspaper Al-Watan quoted Arab diplomatic sources as saying that Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad will start an Arab tour next week, starting in Algeria first, where he will hold talks on strengthening bilateral cooperation in various fields, in addition to political developments in the Arab region.
Syrian FM’s visit to Algeria comes as it is currently chairing the Arab summit, and an affirmation of the depth of the ties that unite the two countries, especially since it never severed its relations with Damascus and did not close its embassy and was proactive in breaking the siege imposed on Syria hours after the catastrophe of the recent earthquake.
The same sources stated that the Syrian minister will then visit Tunisia, whose government recently raised to “Ambassador” the level of its diplomatic representation in Damascus. It is expected that the reopening of the embassy of Syria in Tunisia will be officially announced during the visit.
Al-Mayadeen TV channel also quoted an Algerian diplomatic source as saying that Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Mekdad will visit Algeria after Tunisia during his Maghreb tour, and “will hold bilateral talks with his counterpart Ahmed Attaf,” noting that they “will discuss re-establishing the Higher Committee for bilateral cooperation between the two countries in various fields”.
Al-Mekdad’s visit to Algeria comes within the context of Arab-Arab and Arab-Syrian contacts, to normalize relations with Damascus, and to enable Syria to regain its seat in the Arab League, a path that knows concrete and accelerated steps.
Saudi Arabia hosted, on Friday, a meeting to exchange views on the return of Damascus to the Arab incubator, more than a decade after the isolation of Syria following the outbreak of the conflict there, in a step that comes amid major regional diplomatic moves, with which the political landscape in the region has changed since Riyadh and Tehran agreed to resume their relations last month.
Several Arab countries cut off diplomatic relations with Damascus, and the League of Arab States suspended Syria’s membership in the wake of the unrest in Syria in 2011, accusing the regime of suppressing protesters.
