Saudi Arabia appoints first ambassador to Syria since 2012

This handout image offered by the Saudi Press Company (SPA) on November 11, 2023, exhibits Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) talking with Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad throughout an emergency assembly of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in Riyadh. Arab leaders and Iran’s president are within the Saudi capital on November 11, for a summit assembly anticipated to underscore calls for that Israel’s warfare in Gaza finish earlier than the violence attracts in different nations. The emergency assembly of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) comes after Hamas militants’ bloody October 7 assaults that Israeli officers say left about 1,200 folks useless and 239 taken hostage. (Picture by SAUDI PRESS AGENCY / AFP)

BEIRUT — Saudi Arabia on Sunday introduced the appointment of its first ambassador to Syria since severing ties with Damascus in 12 years, marking an ongoing thawing in relations because the war-torn nation was readmitted to the Arab League over a yr in the past.

Faisal al-Mujfel’s appointment as the dominion’s first ambassador to Syria since 2012 was introduced by the state-run Saudi Press Company. It comes over a yr after Syria was readmitted to the 22-member Arab League. It remained suspended from the group for greater than a decade over President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters in 2011. Riyadh severed ties with Damascus in 2012.

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Syrian state media and authorities didn’t instantly touch upon the event.

The rebellion turned-civil warfare in Syria, now in its 14th yr has killed almost half one million folks and displaced half of the nation’s pre-war inhabitants of 23 million. It has lengthy remained largely frozen and so have been efforts to discover a viable political answer to finish it.

A devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in February 2023 that rocked Turkey and northern Syria was a catalyst for many Arab nations to reinstate ties with President Assad.

In March 2023, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties after talks in Beijing, marking a significant diplomatic breakthrough with an intention to cut back battle between the 2 nations.

Iran has been a key political and army ally for the Assad authorities in Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah group. In Yemen, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition in opposition to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since 2015 in an try to revive the internationally-recognized authorities. The battle has turned in recent times right into a proxy warfare between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman final week met with United States Nationwide Safety Adviser Jake Sullivan as they edge nearer to a wide-ranging safety settlement, which Saudi state media mentioned contains ending Israel’s warfare on Hamas within the Gaza Strip, delivering help to the battered territory, and a two-state answer that “meets the aspirations and bonafide rights of the Palestinian folks.”