Syria FM’s Algeria visit signals big shift

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem is in Algeria on the third day of an official visit in a major sign of political winds shifting in the Assad government’s direction.

Muallem’s visit at the invitation of his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra marks a major crack in the wall erected under the Saudi leadership to isolate Syria from the rest of the Arab world.

But what is striking is the media blackout which the West and the Arab world in general have kept throughout the visit, shying away from even mentioning it.

Algeria is the latest addition to the itinerary of the countries which see the Syrian government and nation as the foremost genuine front against the spread of Takfiri extremism.

Muallem summed up the prevailing view in the Algerian polity when he said upon arrival in the capital Algiers that “Algeria and Syria stand in the same trench against terrorism and foreign interference in the internal affairs of states.”

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal stressed his country’s “firm support” for Syria, hoping peace, security and stability would return to the region.

EA