JEDDAH — Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Dr. Faisal Mekdad made an inspection tour of the headquarters of his country's embassy in Riyadh. The foreign minister's visit to the embassy premises, the first of its kind in over 11 years, was to personally review the ongoing preparations for the reopening of the embassy. Mekdad and his accompanying delegation arrived in Riyadh on Monday in response to an invitation from his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan to attend the second joint ministerial meeting of the Arab countries and the Pacific Islands Group. The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Mekdad visited the headquarters of the Syrian embassy to see the readiness of the building and the ongoing preparations for the reopening of the embassy, especially in terms of resuming the provision of consular services to the Syrian community in Saudi Arabia in the near future. The inspection was part of the ongoing preparations by the two countries to reopen their diplomatic missions in both countries at the earliest possible. The Saudi technical delegation made an inspection tour of the Saudi embassy premises in the Syrian capital at the end of last month. Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, well-informed sources revealed that the Syrian Foreign Ministry will give final shape to its embassy staff in Riyadh, and that the Syrian ambassador likely to arrive in Riyadh after the Eid al-Adha holidays. According to the sources, Damascus is yet to appoint it's ambassador-designate to Riyadh, though it was taken the decision to send new ambassador to Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the Saudi technical delegation has completed the procedures for the return of the Saudi ambassador to Syria. The Syrian Ambassador Mahdi Dakhlallah left Riyadh in February 2012 following Saudi Arabia's severing of diplomatic relations with Syria. It is noteworthy that Dr. Mekdad paid an official visit to Riyadh in April this year after a hiatus of 12 years. The minister's visit was in response to an invitation extended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal Bin Farhan. During the visit, the foreign ministers held wide range of talks focusing mainly on the efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis in a way preserving Syria's unity, security and stability. Issues such as the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland and ensuring the access of humanitarian aid to the affected areas in Syria were also figured high in their talks.
