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Kuwait denies reports FM will visit Syria

April 19, 2023 at 2:16 pm

Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kuwait. [Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied media reports claiming Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah will visit the Syrian capital, Damascus, tomorrow.

The ministry described the reports as “incorrect”. It urged the media to ensure accuracy in news coverage, shun rumours and false information, and to seek news from official and reliable sources.

Al Sabah has called on the Syrian regime to take steps to build confidence, in order to help reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and return Damascus to the Arab League, Kuwait’s KUNA news agency reported on Saturday.

He also stressed his country’s firm position calling for the unity of Syria and its territorial integrity, and rejecting external interference in its affairs.

The meeting of the foreign ministers of the GCC, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq held in Jeddah last Friday stressed the need to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that guarantees the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the voluntary return of refugees.

The meeting came at the invitation of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, who is leading efforts to restore Syria’s seat in the Arab League. Bin Farhan arrived in Syria’s capital today, in the first such official visit to the country since the outbreak of the ongoing conflict in 2011.

The Wall Street Journal reported that five Arab countries; Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco and Yemen, oppose Bashar Al-Assad’s return to the Arab League at the present time, given that the reasons for suspending Syria’s membership still exist.

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