Syria to reopen embassy in Kuwait

Three Syrian diplomats have reportedly left the capital Damascus for Kuwait in a bid to reopen the country’s embassy in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

The Syrian delegation also included a chargé d’affaires, said an unidentified Syrian official on Monday.

Syrian diplomats had departed voluntarily from their embassy in Kuwait City back in March and were going back voluntarily to resume consular services for thousands of Syrian citizens residing in Kuwait, said Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry’s Undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said earlier this month.

The return of Syrian diplomats does not spell a normalization of ties between the two countries, Jarallah said, adding, Kuwaiti diplomats would not be returning to Damascus, where Kuwait’s embassy shut down in March 2011, when the foreign-backed armed militancy began.

The Syrian Embassy in Kuwait closed down about nine months ago, forcing nearly 130,000 Syrian citizens living in the Persian Gulf country to seek consular services from the Syrian embassy that still remains open in the neighboring United Arab Emirates.