ALGIERS, Algeria

Algeria said Monday that President Abdelmajid Tebboune received a phone call from the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad.

The call came one day after Arab foreign ministers agreed to reinstate Syria’s membership in the Arab League after 12 years of suspension.

Al-Assad thanked Tebboune “for Algeria’s efforts for Syria’s return to the Arab League,” the Algerian Presidency said in a statement.

Talks between the two sides dwelt on bilateral relations and means of bolstering them, the statement said.

The two leaders also agreed to exchange visits and to set an intensified mutual work program that covers all sectors between the two countries, according to the statement.

Algeria has maintained relations with Syria following the outbreak of the country’s civil war in 2011.

Algeria is the current chair of the Arab summit.

The decision to reinstate Syria's membership came ahead of the annual Arab summit in Saudi Arabia on May 19.

The Syrian regime has recently begun to exchange official visits and contacts with several Arab countries in recent months.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar