Syrian foreign minister to visit Tunisia on Monday

TUNIS, Tunisia

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad is scheduled to visit Tunisia on Monday, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said.

A ministry statement on Sunday said that Mekdad’s 3-day visit comes upon an invitation from Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar.

The visit “comes within the framework of keenness on returning bilateral relations to their normal path,” the statement said.

The visit will be the first by a Syrian official to Tunisia since the two countries severed their relations in 2011 over the Bashar al-Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

On Wednesday, Tunisia said the Assad regime will reopen the Syrian Embassy and name an ambassador to Tunisia. The move followed a decision by Tunisian President Kais Saied to name an ambassador to Damascus.

Last week, Mekdad visited Saudi Arabia for the first time in more than a decade during which the two countries agreed to resume consular services and flights.

The Syrian regime began to exchange official visits and contacts with several Arab countries in recent months amid reports about a possible resumption of Syria’s membership in the Cairo-based Arab League, which was frozen in 2011.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar