Saudi Arabia appoints first ambassador to Syria since 2012

Saudi Arabia announced the appointment of its first ambassador to Syria since severing ties with Damascus in 12 years, marking an ongoing thawing in relations since the war-torn country was readmitted to the Arab League over a year ago.

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

The uprising turned-civil war in Syria, now in its 14th year has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. It has long remained largely frozen and so have been efforts to find a viable political solution to end it.

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

Via AP