LONDON: Asaad Al-Shaibani, the Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, has reinstated 21 diplomats who had defected from the former Bashar Assad regime in protest at its brutal crackdown on civilians during the civil war.
Al-Shaibani met the diplomats this week at the ministry’s headquarters in Damascus and signed an agreement to reinstate them to the ministry’s staff.
He acknowledged the efforts of the diplomats in exposing the crimes of the Assad regime and praised their commitment to supporting the people of the Syrian Arab Republic and their just cause, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
He added that the decision to reinstate the 21 diplomats was a significant move toward restoring national competencies.
Yasser Al-Jundi, the director of the Diplomatic Institute at the ministry, told SANA that the diplomats possessed “extensive experience in diplomatic work both before and after the revolution,” which would benefit new staff.
Diplomat Hussein Al-Sabbagh said that “the dissident diplomats have been waiting for this day since liberation (and the fall of Assad) to support diplomatic work in accordance with Syria’s new foreign policy.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates issued a statement in May requesting that dissenting diplomats contact the ministry to update their information in preparation for a return to the ministry’s staff.
