Faisal Mekdad Explained

Honorific-Prefix:His Excellency
Faisal Mekdad
Alongside:Najah al-Attar
Order:Vice President of Syria
President:Bashar al-Assad
Term Start:23 September 2024
Predecessor:Farouk al-Sharaa[1]
Office1:Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
Term Start1:22 November 2020
Term End1:23 September 2024
President1:Bashar al-Assad
Primeminister1:Hussein Arnous
Predecessor1:Walid Muallem
Successor1:Bassam al-Sabbagh
Office2:Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Term Start2:1 August 2006
Term End2:22 November 2020
President2:Bashar al-Assad
Predecessor2:Walid Muallem
Successor2:Bashar Jaafari
Office3:13th Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations
President3:Bashar al-Assad
Term Start3:18 September 2003
Term End3:31 July 2006
Predecessor3:Mikhail Wehbe
Successor3:Bashar Jaafari
Office4:Member of the Central Command of the Ba'ath Party
Term Start4:4 May 2024
Birth Date:5 February 1954
Birth Place:Ghasm, Daraa Governorate, Syria
Nationality:Syrian
Party:Ba'ath Party
Children:3
Residence:Damascus
Alma Mater:Damascus University (BA)
Charles University in Prague (PhD)
Profession:Politician, Diplomat
Native Name Lang:ar

Faisal Mekdad (ar|فيصل المقداد; born 5 February 1954)[2] is a Syrian diplomat and politician who has been Vice President of Syria since 2024. Between 2020 and 2024, he was also a Foreign Minister of Syria. He served as Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2003 until 2006.[3]

Life and education

Faisal Mekdad 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 was awarded a PhD in English Literature from Charles University in Prague in 1993.[4] While at Charles University, he was a part of the International Union of Students.[5] He was also a member of the executive office of Revolutionary Youth Union.

He was active in the Syrian student movement and student leadership at Damascus University, where he won first prize for his academic research on the history of the Asian student movement.[6]

Career

After graduating from Charles University, Mekdad joined the Syrian Foreign Ministry. In 1994, Dr. al-Mekdad moved to work in the diplomatic corps at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as First Secretary in the Department of International Organizations and Conferences. In 1995, he was transferred to the Permanent Delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations, where he worked in various UN committees.

In 1996, he was appointed Deputy to the Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, under Mikhail Wehbe.[4] In 2003, Mekdad became the Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, a position he held until 2006, when he was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister.[4] He was awarded the Order of Civil Merit by the Spanish King Juan Carlos I.

On 22 November 2020, following the death of Walid Muallem, Mekdad became the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[7] Between 2023 and 2024, he participated in talks on Syrian–Turkish normalization.[8] After 2023, he was also an integral part of the negotiations and meetings during the Syrian-Arab normalization and the restoration of Syria's full membership in the Arab League.[9] [10]

He was appointed as vice president for foreign and information policies on 23 September 2024.[11] On 10 October 2024, Dr. Faisal Al-Miqdad was sworn in before President Bashar Al-Assad as new Vice President of the Republic.[12]

Syrian civil war

Mekdad denied accusations of an alleged crackdown on protesters after the start of the Syrian civil war. In interviews with Western and Arab Media outlets about the uprising, he spoke in support of Bashar al-Assad.[5]

He backed the government claim that his government was fighting armed terrorist insurgents. In 2013, when asked by a BBC reporter whether the government was winning the war, he responded: "We shall win it, we are winning it, yes."[13] Mekdad was part of the delegation representing the Syrian government at the Geneva II Conference on Syria. [14]

In January 2021, the European Union added Mekdad to its sanction list due to his role during the civil war.[15] The United Kingdom followed two months later, saying he "shares responsibility for the Syrian regime’s violent repression against the civilian population".[16]

Personal life

Faisal Mekdad is married and has one son and two daughters.[4] Mekdad's father was kidnapped by gunmen on 18 May 2013 in his village of Ghasm.[17]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Syria's Assad reappoints woman VP but mum on Sharaa . 20 July 2014 . 26 September 2022 . 27 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210227092038/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2014/07/20/Syria-s-Assad-reappoints-woman-VP-but-mum-on-Sharaa . live .
  2. http://mofaex.gov.sy/ar/pages14/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%83%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86 السيرة الذاتية للدكتور فيصل المقداد وزير الخارجية والمغتربين
  3. News: Syrians pressed on Hariri inquiry. BBC. 10 December 2010. 26 August 2005.
  4. Web site: صحيفة الثورة. thawra.alwehda.gov.sy.
  5. Web site: Faisal al-Mekdad . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140407064158/http://middle-east.we-magazine.net/ionadmin/site/showTopic/6a9c5e81-247f-43f7-874e-8fe646887674 . 2014-04-07 .
  6. http://thawra.alwehda.gov.sy/_print_veiw.asp?FileName=70761992220060211152804 نبذة عن السيرة الذاتية للدكتور فيصل مقداد نائب وزير الخارجية
  7. News: Syria Appoints Veteran Diplomat Faisal Mekdad as Foreign Minister. Reuters. Voice of America. 22 November 2020. 23 November 2020.
  8. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2023/5/10/russia-syria-turkey-and-iran-hold-high-level-talks-in-moscow Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iran hold high-level talks in Moscow
  9. News: 12 April 2023 . Saudi Arabia, Syria welcome thaw in ties, agree to fight drug trafficking . 24 September 2024 . Reuters.
  10. Web site: Arab foreign ministers agree to readmit Syria to the Arab League. Al Arabiya. 7 May 2023.
  11. Web site: Syria has a new foreign minister as prime minister names his Cabinet . Associated Press . 23 September 2024.
  12. News: أمام الرئيس الأسد… المقداد يؤدي اليمين الدستورية نائباً لرئيس الجمهورية. Syrian Arab News Agency. 2 October 2024. 4 October 2024.
  13. Web site: Syria minister Faisal Mekdad says 'we are winning the war'. 24 April 2013 . BBC.
  14. Web site: وفد النظام السوري إلى "جنيف 2" برئاسة وليد المعلم. 2014-04-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20140407070813/http://arabic.yenisafak.com/arap-dunyasi-haber/21.1.2014%20-15636. 2014-04-07. dead.
  15. Web site: SYRIA: New minister of Foreign Affairs added to the sanction list . European External Action Service . 16 January 2021 .
  16. Web site: New UK sanctions targeting Assad regime for repressing the Syrian people . GOV.UK . 2021-03-15 . 2022-09-14.
  17. Web site: Father of Assad spokesman kidnapped. 18 May 2013. BBC.