Syrian embassy in Tripoli reopens after decade

Syria's embassy in Tripoli has reopened after being closed for more than a decade, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Sunday during a visit to the Libyan capital.

Shaibani was welcomed by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who leads the UN-recognised administration in Tripoli, and held talks with Libya's acting foreign minister, Taher al-Baour.

"Today, this embassy returns to reaffirm the importance and value of the Syrian-Libyan relationship," Shaibani said.

A delegation from Damascus symbolically reopened the embassy last year after it was shut in 2012, but it did not immediately resume consular services.

Shaibani said the embassy would handle administrative follow-up for Syrians who took refuge in Libya during Syria's war, after Tripoli had broken off relations with the former Syrian government.

Syria's state news agency SANA estimated the Syrian community in Libya at around 200,000 people.

Shaibani said the two countries also agreed to strengthen security coordination to combat illegal immigration, drugs and terrorist organisations.

Relations between Syria and Libya had been upended by Syria's civil war and the chaos that followed the fall of longtime Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Syria's new authorities took power in December 2024 when they ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad after nearly 14 years of war.