Cairo: On Saturday, during the first official visit by a Syrian foreign minister to Cairo in over ten years, Egypt and Syria decided to deepen their cooperation. This is the most recent indication that Arab countries are mending their relations with President Bashar al-Assad.
In his first official visit since before the uprising and conflict that started in Syria in 2011, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad was welcomed by his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry at Egypt's foreign ministry.
Due to the war in Syria, which tore the nation apart and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, President Assad was shunned by many Western and Arab nations.
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According to a statement from Egypt's foreign ministry, "the ministers agreed to intensify channels of communication between the two countries at different levels during the coming phase." Additionally, Egypt reaffirmed its support for a "complete political settlement to the Syrian crisis as soon as possible."
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Under the condition of anonymity, a security source in Egypt claimed that the purpose of the visit was to lay the groundwork for Egyptian and Saudi Arabian mediation to bring Syria back into the Arab League. In 2011, the Arab League in Cairo suspended Syria's membership, and many Arab nations withdrew their envoys from Damascus.
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Due to the brutality of Assad's government during the conflict and the need to see progress toward a political solution in Syria, some nations, including the United States and Qatar, have opposed the restoration of relations with Assad.
However, important regional players like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have recently shown signs of opening up more to Damascus. Following the devastating earthquakes in those two countries in February, Egypt's Shoukry visited them and returned on Saturday to reiterate his commitment to aiding the victims.
Pictures of Shoukry formally welcoming Mekdad to the foreign ministry on the banks of the Nile, engaging him in private conversations, and guiding a larger discussion were released by the Egyptian foreign ministry.