Manama: The Syrian embassy in Kuwait will be reopened in January, but no final date has been announced.
A diplomatic team consisting of the charge d’affaires and two aides has arrived in Kuwait City to run the embassy and has started getting it ready, a source told local daily Al Nahar.
“However, the teams needs some time to have everything in order. The date of the re-opening will be announced through the media when the embassy is ready. Syrian citizens should not contact their embassy until it is operational,” the source added.
Syria shut down its embassy in Kuwait in March 2012, alongside its diplomatic mission in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
MP Faisal Al Duwaisan said that the re-opening of the Syrian embassy in Kuwait proved that the Kuwaiti foreign policy has distanced itself from siding with axes and now supports finding solutions to any disputes between Arab or foreign states.
The lawmaker, a staunch supporter of the Syrian regime, expressed hope other Arab countries would also allow the re-opening of the Syrian embassies in their capitals.
Around 130,000 Syrians are believed to live in Kuwait. A major problem they have been facing is the renewal of their passports in order to be able to extend their residency visas in Kuwait and avoid turning into illegal residents.
Kuwait foreign ministry officials said that Kuwait would not reciprocate the diplomats’ return move and would not send diplomats to the Syrian capital Damascus.
Kuwait recalled all diplomats and other staffers at the diplomatic mission in Damascus in March 2012.
A foreign ministry official at the time said that the decision was in line with the stances of the other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) towards the deteriorating security situation in Syria.
