Omani foreign minister visits Syria for talks

ISTANBUL (AA) – Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks with Syrian regime officials.

The chief Omani diplomat was welcomed by his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad upon arrival at Damascus International Airport, the state news agency SANA reported.

“Relations between our two brotherly countries have not been interrupted. The Sultanate of Oman has stood by Syria in its war against terrorism,” SANA quoted Mekdad as saying.

Al-Busaidi, for his part, said he will hold talks with Syrian officials “to further consolidate bilateral relations and Arab cooperation."

No further details were provided about the Omani minister’s visit.

In 2012, Oman and Bahrain lowered their diplomatic representation in Syria in response to the Bashar al-Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests that erupted in 2011, while countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait cut ties with the regime.

Oman, however, returned its ambassador to Damascus on Oct. 5, 2020.

In 2021, normalization steps with the Syrian regime have accelerated by several Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and Bahrain.

Writing by Ahmed Asmar