The SANA agency reported via its social media account on Wednesday that the raising of the Syrian flag over the Syrian embassy in Libya marks the beginning of practical procedures to reopen the embassy and resume its official operations. The head of the Syrian delegation to Libya, Mohammad Al-Jaffal, stated in a televised comment that he raised his country’s flag on the building of the Damascus embassy in Tripoli, in preparation for its opening after a closure that lasted 13 years.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry had announced earlier in August the dispatch of a technical delegation to Libya “to settle the legal status of Syrian citizens.” Al-Jaffal said, “We are pleased that the delegation has been entrusted with the task of raising the flag at the embassy headquarters in Tripoli after an absence of more than 13 years.”
He added, “We will continue to provide services to the community, and after the completion of maintenance work, the embassy will open its doors. Regarding the Libyan decision to exempt Syrians from taxes, it will be issued very soon according to the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Al-Jaffal pointed out that “there are a number of files awaiting the Syrian mission in Tripoli, foremost among them the issue of illegal immigration, which is a very sensitive issue, and a number of problems that require lengthy legal follow-up due to the long absence of Syria’s official representation in Libya.”
It is noted that the Syrian embassy closed its doors in Tripoli in 2012 when the Libyan Transitional Council recognized the ‘Syrian revolution.’ Since then, relations with Damascus were severed during the era of the former president Bashar al-Assad. Last April, the head of the Libyan National Unity Government agreed with the Syrian transitional president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, during a meeting on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum in Turkey, to activate the joint high committee to enhance cooperation between the two countries.
