Oman Reopens Embassy in Damascus After 8-Year Hiatus

Turki bin Mahmood al-Busaidy arrived in Syria to take up the position of ambassador, which had been unfilled for eight years. This makes Oman the first Gulf nation to reinstate its official highest-level diplomatic representative since the beginning of Syria’s civil war. Al-Busaidy said he looks forward to “expanding the paths of cooperation and shared interests between the two brotherly countries,” Oman’s state news agency reported. Despite the civil war, Oman kept its Damascus embassy open throughout the years of conflict, while other Gulf states shuttered theirs. Only in 2018 did the United Arab Emirates open a lower-ranking chargé d’affaires office in Damascus. In 2011, the 22-member Arab League expelled Syria from its ranks, and many of its member states put sanctions on the Syrian government. Oman’s diplomatic move signals that Syria’s government is succeeding in its efforts to renew ties with its fellow Arab nations.