Syrian Foreign Ministry: Ambassador al-Dabbagh Was off Duty in Abu Dhabi since June 4th

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry stressed that Syria’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abdullatif al-Dabbagh, has been off duty in Abu Dhabi since June 4th and Lamia al-Hariri has never held the title of Ambassador to Cyprus.

The Ministry referred in a statement on Thursday to media reports over the past two days in relation to employees at the Ministry who chose to leave their posts at diplomatic missions and head to an Arab country which has undertaken funding and encouraging these types of employees to defect from their homeland in return for offers that have become known to all and been rejected before by many inside and outside the Ministry.

The statement clarified that Abdullatif al-Dabbagh is Syria’s Ambassador to the UAE who is currently under review in Damascus upon the Ministry’s request for consultation and has been off duty in Abu Dhabi since June 4th.

The statement added that Lamia al-Hariri has never held the title of Syria’s Ambassador as she is a diplomat working at the Syrian Embassy in Cyprus and assigned with managing the Embassy’s affairs until an ambassador or charge d’affaires is appointed.

The Ministry’s statement also clarified that Mohammad Tahsin al-Faqir does not hold any diplomatic title as he is an administrative employee at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry and works at the Syrian Embassy in Oman.

It added that al-Faqir’s mission at the Embassy was terminated by law no. 129 issued on May 21, 2012 and he is now waiting for retirement within a month, noting that al-Faqir does not hold any security status.

The Foreign Ministry said in its statement that it has taken the legal, behavioral and diplomatic measures towards the mentioned employees, stressing that all the embassies concerned are working uniformly and unremittingly to serve the Syrian nationals in the countries concerned.