Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem received on Sunday a copy of the credentials of Turki Mahmood al-Busaidi, the extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of Oman to Syria, to become the first Gulf ambassador who returns to Damascus since the war erupted in the country in 2011.
During a meeting between the two men, talks touched on bilateral relations and means to boost and develop cooperation between both countries in various domains to benefit their brotherly people, a Syrian FM statement said.
Moallem also stated that Syria is proud of the Sultanate’s foreign policy and expressed his wishes for success to the ambassador in his duties and for closer bilateral relations between the two countries.
Oman’s decision to send an ambassador to Syria is considered the first Gulf diplomatic move towards the Syrian regime after the UAE and Bahrain announced in 2018 resuming work at their embassy in Syria, reflecting a new push by Gulf Arab states to improve relations with President Bashar Assad as the war winds down.
However, both countries did not appoint ambassadors to Damascus.
Bahrain and the UAE’s pronouncements came seven years after the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States decided to withdraw all their ambassadors from Syria and also demanded that all Syria’s ambassadors leave GCC countries immediately.
The six-member council includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
During the years of conflict in Syria, Oman was keen to reflect neutrality in the region and played a role of mediator between the warring parties.
Muscat is one of the few Arab capitals to have maintained ties with Damascus over the past years of war that has left more than half a million people dead.
Despite a decision to suspend Syria’s membership from the Arab League in 2011, Oman’s Foreign Minister Yousef bin Alawi visited Damascus in 2015 as the first Arab minister to arrive in Syria following the start of the conflict. The minister met with both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Moallem for a second time in 2019.
Oman had even strengthened its relations with Syria through an economic agreement in the fields of gas and oil signed in 2017.
