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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Veteran diplomat takes over as Syrian FM
2006-02-13
DAMASCUS - SyriaÂ’s new Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who has taken over from long-serving Faruq Al Shara, is a skilled career diplomat and expert in international politics regarded as a relative moderate.

Muallem, 65, was deputy foreign minister from January 2005 up to his appointment on Saturday, replacing the man who for more than two decades held the foreign portfolio before being named Syrian vice president. After six years of heading the foreign ministry bureau in Damascus to 1990, Muallem was appointed ambassador to the United States where he further honed his diplomatic skills in the decade from 1990 to 2000, serving as part of DamascusÂ’s diplomatic frontline with the West.

This experience led to him later taking part in a series of informal meetings in 2002 and 2003 between Syrian and US experts. These aimed to promote dialogue between Washington and Damascus, which the US was threatening with sanctions.

Viewed in diplomatic circles as a moderate for a bloodthirsty, fascist regime, Muallem was entrusted by Syrian President Bashar Al Assad with several delicate missions, including a number of trips between late 2004 and early 2005 to Beirut. His task was to improve the deteriorating relations between Syria and Lebanon which was echoing increasing calls for Damascus to pull its troops out after nearly three decades of military presence in its tiny neighbour.

The new foreign minister joined the diplomatic corps in 1964, holding posts in missions in Riyadh, Madrid and London before becoming ambassador to Romania in 1975, a position he held until 1980. A graduate of Cairo University, with a degree in economics and political science, Muallem is also the author of several works on modern history.
Posted by:Steve White

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