Faisal Meqdad

Faisal Mekdad (; born 5 February 1954) is a Syrian diplomat and politician who served as the vice president of Syria from September to December 2024. He is the last person to serve in this position under president Bashar al-Assad and of the Ba'ath Party-led Syrian Arab Republic. 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.

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. While at Charles University, he was a part of the International Union of Students. 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.

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. 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. 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. Between 2023 and 2024, he participated in talks on Syrian–Turkish normalization. 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.

He was appointed as vice president for foreign and information policies on 23 September 2024. On 10 October 2024, Dr. Faisal Al-Miqdad was sworn in before President Bashar Al-Assad as new Vice President of the Republic. His positions in the cabinet ended after the fall of the Assad regime.

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.

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." Mekdad was part of the delegation representing the Syrian government at the Geneva II Conference on Syria.

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

Personal life

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mekdad, Faisal
1954 births
Living people
People from Daraa District
Syrian Muslims
Permanent representatives of Syria to the United Nations
Damascus University alumni
Charles University alumni
Foreign ministers of Syria
Syrian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions