Damascus announced on Tuesday the swearing in of Tunisia’s Ambassador to Syria Muhammad Muhammad before President Bashar al-Assad.
The move is the latest signal of Damascus’ rapprochement with Tunis as the Arab ministerial liaison committee tasked with normalizing ties with Syria continues to be confronted with the regime’s intransigence.
Syria and Tunisia had announced in April that they were reopening their embassies, nearly a decade after Tunis severed ties with Damascus. The Syrian foreign minister had also visited Tunis that month at a time when Damascus was witnessing Arab openness towards it in wake of the destructive earthquake the struck Syria and Türkiye in February.
Informed sources in Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat that Tunisia was the first Arab country to appoint a consular representative in the Syrian capital in 2015. It viewed the severing of relations with Damascus as “not right” because it was in Tunisia’s interest to enjoy consular representation in Syria.
They added that coordination between Tunis and Damascus had only ceased during the term of Tunisian President Moncef al-Marzouki, who had backed the anti-regime protests in Syria. In fact, Tunisia was among the first Arab countries to cut ties with Damascus shortly after the regime launched its violent crackdown on the peaceful protesters.
The sources said Tunisia and Syria share several interests, most notably in security files and their opposition to extremism religious groups. Tunisians make up the majority of extremist fighters in Syria’s conflict. It is estimated that over 3,000 Tunisians had fought alongside the ISIS terrorist group in Syria. Moreover, Tunisian extremists are held in Syrian jails and their extradition is a major challenge to Tunis and demands close security coordination with Damascus.
Damascus’ shift towards Tunis coincides with reports that the Arab liaison committee has suspended its work because Syria has failed to implement any of its commitments that were conditions to normalizing relations with it.
The committee and Damascus had agreed that Syria must crack down on the drug industry and smuggling networks that are a threat to its neighbors. It was demanded to address the refugee file and kick off dialogue with the opposition to reach a solution to the conflict.
Damascus, however, countered, listing its own conditions, primarily the withdrawal of American and Turkish troops from Syria, an end to support to armed opposition factions, lifting economic sanctions and providing aid that would launch the reconstruction process.
Meanwhile, neighboring countries have complained that in the three months since Arab rapprochement with Damascus, drug smuggling has increased rather than decreased. Damascus has also adopted a more unyielding approach with the opposition and shirked its responsibilities in tackling the refugee file, as seen with the continued flow of illegal migrants into Lebanon.
On Monday, Damascus ally, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah called on Lebanese authorities to facilitate the travel of refugees by sea to European countries in order to pressure them to turn to Beirut and meet its demands.
He blamed the refugee crisis on Syria’s crumbling economy, which was left in tatters by American sanctions in Damascus.
