Morocco plans to reopen its embassy in Damascus, which has been closed since November 2011. The announcement was made by a spokesman for the new Syrian authorities in an interview with the Qatari channel Al Jazeera. «Morocco is in the process of communicating with the new Syrian leadership to reopen its diplomatic representation. Other Arab countries could take the same decision», he revealed. In November 2011, the Moroccan government recalled the Kingdom's ambassador to Damascus for consultations in response to an attack «by Syrian demonstrators». The Moroccan authorities then expelled the ambassador of Bashar Al-Assad's regime accredited to Rabat in July 2012. Since then, the Kingdom has pursued a policy resolutely in favor of the Syrian people's demands. In December 2012, Marrakech hosted the 4th session of the «Group of Friends of Syria», launched by the UN and the United States. The Moroccan delegation was led by former Foreign Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani. In 2023, Rabat expressed its reservations about Syria's reintegration into the Arab League. This decision was taken at the Arab summit held on May 19, 2023, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Syrian dossier was on the agenda of a phone call on Sunday, December 15, between the Emirati Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Ben Zayed, and his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, reports the official Emirati press agency.
