Faisal Mekdad
 Faisal Mekdad    | ||||||||||
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| Born | 1954 | |||||||||
| Alma mater | Damascus University, Charles University | |||||||||
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Faisal Mekdad is the Syrian Foreign Minister and former Permanent Envoy to the United Nations.[1]
On 7 February 2023, following the devastating earthquakes that hit South Central Turkey and North Western Syria, Foreign Minister Faysal Mikdad refuted attempts by US officials to mislead the world public opinion on the economic sanctions imposed on the Syrian people, claiming that there is nothing that prevents the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria:
- “The US Government’s officials, among them the Regional Spokesperson of the US State Department, Samuel Werberg, and the US permanent missions in New York and Geneva, continue their attempts to mislead the world public opinion and the American people that there is nothing in the Caesar Act or the US sanctions to hinder the delivery of humanitarian urgent aid to the Syrian people."[2]
Background
Faisal Mekdad (alternative spelling Faysal Mikdad) was born in the village of Ghasm in Daraa Governorate in 1954. He graduated in 1978 from Damascus University with a degree in English. He later got his PhD in English Literature from Charles University in Prague in 1993.
Diplomat
In 1993, Faysal Mikdad became a diplomat in the Syrian Foreign Ministry. In 1995, he became a member of the Permanent Syrian Delegation to the United Nations where he represented Syria in numerous conferences. He was appointed Deputy to the Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, under Mikhail Wehbe.
In 2003, Mikdad became the Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, a position he held until 2006, when he was appointed as Deputy Foreign Minister.
On 22 November 2020, Mikdad became the Minister of Foreign Affairs, following the death of Walid Muallem.[3]
Golan Heights
In Damascus, on 26 January 2023, Faysal Mikdad met Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, to discuss continued cooperation with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Syrian Arab Golan and to enable UNDOF to carry out its mandate:
- Foreign Minister Mikdad noted that the presence of the peacekeeping forces is not a substitute for finding a final solution to the problem of the Israeli occupation of Syrian lands, stressing Syria’s inalienable right to restore the occupied Syrian Golan entirely.
- He stressed Syria’s condemnation of the armed terrorist groups that worked to impede the work of the peacekeeping forces in the disengagement zone and along the ceasefire line.
- Mikdad added that the reports issued by the UNDOF, as well as the briefings of the representatives of the General Secretariat at the UN Security Council, should shed light on the repeated Israeli violations and acts of aggression against Syria.
- He called on the United Nations to intervene to stop the Israeli practices against Syrian civilians in the occupied Golan.
- Lacroix, for his part, affirmed that the visit comes with the aim of inspecting the work of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and visiting its sites, in addition to holding meetings with Syrian officials.
- The UN Under-Secretary-General added that the efforts of the international organisation will focus on implementing UN Security Council resolutions related to the crucial situation in the Middle East.
References
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