Decision to appoint Mughees envoy to Syria

ISLAMABAD: At a time of great turmoil in Syria, and after the fall of Bashar al-Assad regime, Pakistan has decided to appoint Air Marshal (R) Muhammad Mughees Afzal as its new envoy to Syria, sources at the Foreign Office confirmed.

The new envoy-designate had visited the Foreign Office last week, added these sources. Mughees Afzal will move to Damascus at a time when Ahmed al-Sharra, the de facto leader of Syria, has announced a transitional government in Syria, with Mohammad al-Bashir as its Prime Minister and Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani as the Foreign Minister.

Mughees Afzal will replace the present Pakistan Ambassador, Air Marshal (R) Shahid Akhtar Alvi, who has completed two years of his tenure, after being appointed by the PTI government in 2022.

Normally, when such a sensitive appointment is being made, there is input from GHQ, Foreign Office and the Prime Minister’s Office on a name. The Foreign Office moves the summary to the Prime Minister’s Office after which the government sends the request to the host country.

After the host country sends back the Agrement to the Foreign Office, an official announcement is made by the ministry.

“There is a new government in Damascus which makes things a bit complicated so now too early to say when the Syrian Foreign Ministry will send back the Agrement. Only then will there be an announcement from our Foreign Office,” says one official.

When the Spokesperson at the Foreign Office was approached about the appointment of a new envoy to Damascus, he did not deny the news but commented, “We don’t comment on speculations about diplomatic appointments”.

Earlier, the Foreign Office, while commenting on its bilateral relations with the new interim government in Syria, said that Pakistan expressed full support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and also reiterated that peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved without complete Israeli withdrawal from Occupied Palestine and other occupied territories, including the Syrian Golan.

Commenting on Israel’s acquisition of Syrian territory by force, the Foreign Office had said, “Israel’s provocative actions are a dangerous development in an already volatile region. Israel has continued to blatantly defy international law and violate UN Security Council Resolutions. Pakistan rejects Israeli acquisition of territory by force. We reaffirm our support for the UN Security Council Resolution 497, which declares Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights null and void and without international legal effect.”