Syrian Foreign Ministry Reinstates 19 Defected Diplomats

The group includes ambassadors, consuls, and administrative officials, now restored to their prior positions within the Ministry.

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has issued a decree reinstating 19 diplomats who had previously defected from the former regime. The group includes ambassadors, consuls, and administrative officials, now restored to their prior positions within the Ministry.

The move followed a meeting earlier today, chaired by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, with the diplomats in attendance. According to an official statement, Minister al-Shibani signed the reinstatement order during the gathering, thereby reintegrating the individuals into the Ministry’s ranks.

The list of reinstated diplomats is as follows:

Basil Niyazi
Maher al-Jammaz
Khaled al-Ayubi
Khaled al-Saleh
Hussein Sabbagh
Danny Ba’aj
Hussam al-Hafiz
Ahmad al-Hariri
Ayham Adi
Mahmoud Obeid
Lamia al-Hariri
Yahya Diab
Ayham al-Ghazi
Fadel al-Rifai
Ahmad Shabib
Bashar al-Haj Ali
Rashid Yahya
Emad al-Ahmar
Lama al-Ahmad

In late August, the Ministry had previously recalled a number of diplomats from key Arab and Western capitals to its central offices in Damascus. That directive involved personnel stationed at Syrian embassies in Beirut, Riyadh, Berlin, and Dubai; the consulate in Istanbul; and the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.

Since April, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued formal appeals calling on defected diplomats to update their personal information. The initiative, the Ministry stated, is part of wider efforts to “revive their essential role in building a renewed Syria.”