RABAT, May 18, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Morocco said Saturday it would reopen its embassy in Damascus, signalling renewed support for Syria after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, as Damascus announced a similar move.

The Moroccan decision was announced in a letter from King Mohammed VI to Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, read by the Moroccan foreign minister at an Arab League summit in Baghdad.

The letter said Morocco backed the Syrian people "in their quest for freedom, security, and stability".

A Syrian foreign ministry statement said top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani met with Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita on the sidelines of the Arab summit and that "the two sides agreed to establish bilateral diplomatic relations".

Syria will also "begin procedures to reopen its embassy in Rabat", the statement said.

Rabat severed diplomatic ties with Damascus in 2012 amid the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 after Assad's violent crackdown on anti-government protests.

Assad was toppled in December in a swift offensive by Islamist-led rebels. The 13-year civil war killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.