CAIRO: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Syrian colleague Faisal Mekdad in Cairo on Saturday. It is for first time since Syria’s civil war began over a decade ago, according to Shoukry’s office.
The Damascus administration has been politically isolated in the region since the start of the Syria war and was ousted from the Cairo-based Arab League in 2011 for its brutal assault on pro-democracy protests.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said Mekdad’s journey to Cairo was a Syrian top diplomat’s “first in more than 10 years” and included a closed-door meeting between the two ministers and delegation talks.
As a February 6 earthquake killed tens of thousands in Syria and Turkey, several Arab nations aided the war-torn nation.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi contacted Bashar al-Assad in an unusual display of support since 2014.
After the earthquake, the top diplomats of both nations spoke by phone.
Shoukry met Assad in Damascus on February 27 for the first time in over a decade.
“Supporting the Syrian people to restore (the country’s) unity and sovereignty over its complete regions” was the topic of Saturday’s talks, the Egyptian ministry stated.
Shoukry urged for a “comprehensive political settlement to the Syrian issue” and reiterated Cairo’s support for the UN special envoy.
The statement claimed the two ministers agreed “on expanding avenues of contact” between their countries.
Cairo lowered its relations with Damascus following the conflict, unlike other Arab states.
Saudi Arabia sent supplies to Syria following the quake, and Riyadh and Damascus discussed resuming consular services.
The UAE has led Syria’s Arabization. Last month, President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan declared “the time has come” for Syria to rejoin the region.
