Algerian FM to head to Damascus on Sunday: Source

Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra will visit Damascus on Sunday, marking the first such official visit in six years, a Syrian source told Sputnik.

"The Algerian foreign minister will arrive in Damascus on Sunday from Iraq at the head of a high-ranking delegation and meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad," the source said.

Lamamra will travel to Syria for the first time since becoming Algeria's foreign minister.

He will meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus to discuss the possibility of Syria participating in the League of Arab States (LAS) summit in Algeria, as per the source.

Lamamra announced in November 2021 that it was time to reinstate Syria's LAS membership, which had been suspended in 2011 after the beginning of the war on the country.

Following that, several member states recalled their ambassadors from Syria. Years later, some of them have begun to re-engage Damascus and reopen embassies.

Mekdad stated in January that restoring Syria's membership in the LAS was not a priority for Damascus, but that the Syrian leadership was working to establish and strengthen relations with Arab countries.

Algeria was among the first countries to call for Syria’s return to the Arab League in the next Arab summit, scheduled for March in Algeria, in which it is expected to discuss restoring Syria's membership.