The Syrian government is celebrating the appointment of a new Bahraini ambassador to Syria. Damascus is trying to amplify any step from Arab countries toward the Syrian government.
Waheed Mubarak Sayyar was appointed as Bahrain’s ambassador to Syria more than six months ago, but reportedly just took up his post more than a week ago when he was received in Damascus by the Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad, who also attended Sunday’s ceremony.
Soon after, President Bashar Assad accepted the credentials of Bahrain’s new ambassador to Damascus. Assad “exchanged discussions with him on a number of topics and issues of concern to the two brotherly countries, wishing him success in his mission,” according to the state news agency SANA.
Syrian Prime Minister, Hussein Arnous, met on Thursday, with Ambassador Sayyar and “expressed the Syrian government’s desire to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and push them forwards in the economic, trade, health, scientific, cultural, tourism and transport fields,” still according to SANA.
He highlighted the importance of cooperation between Arab countries to face the current challenges in light of the developments and current events in the international arena.
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Arnous referred to the work undertaken by the Syrian state to rebuild and reconstruct what has been destroyed by terrorism despite the difficult circumstances and the unjust economic siege imposed on it.
In turn, the Bahraini ambassador affirmed his country’s support for Syria’s unity and independence, and its rejection to interfere in its internal affairs.
Sayyar stressed that his mission would “play a key role in promoting joint cooperation in various fields, based on the deep-rooted relations between the two brotherly countries and peoples.”
Trade and investment
The Minister of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection Amr Salem also festivated the arrival of Sayyar. He met him on Wednesday and assured him that his ministry would “provide full support to all businessmen and investors who come to Syria to carry out investment projects that benefit everyone and simplify the procedures for them.”
For his part, Ambassador Sayyar shed light on the depth of the historic relations binding the two brotherly countries.
He expressed great confidence that the Syrian people and their leadership will rebuild their country after the global war to which it has been exposed, wishing that peace and stability would prevail in Syria. (SANA did not use brackets when reporting the ambassador’s statement, editor’s note).
Bahrain cut ties with Syria in 2011 at the start of the country’s long-running civil war.
However, Manama announced that it would reopen its embassy in 2018 but Sunday’s credentials ceremony marks its first full diplomatic mission in Damascus in more than a decade.
This announcement came months after the United Arab Emirates also would reopen its embassy, the beginning of the normalization of ties with Syria among the members of the Arab League.
While Damascus is in dire need of money to survive and reconstruct, it more often than not celebrates any diplomatic move that indicates the legitimacy of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
