Bahrain FM says important to 'build bridges' during meeting with Syrian counterpart

Bahrain on Wednesday expressed its full support for "Syria’s sovereignty and stability" and the need to "build bridges with friends" as the foreign ministers of the two countries met on Wednesday.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told his Bahraini counterpart, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, that improving relations with other Arab countries is a priority for Syria, according to Syrian state-run news agency SANA.

Al Zayani told Mekdad that Bahrain fully supported Syria’s 'territorial integrity and the restoration of security and stability', according to the report.

The ministers met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

A new Bahraini envoy to Damascus was sworn in earlier this year as more countries in the region move to normalise ties with the Syrian regime following 11 years of conflict.

Manama announced plans to reopen its embassy in Damascus in 2018, following similar moves by the United Arab Emirates months earlier.

War in Syria has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced, with the cost of physical and economic damage believed to be in the hundreds of billions of US dollars.