Walid al Muallem, known for his relentlessly passionate patriotism, passed away at dawn, Monday 16 November, at the age of 79, and after a lifetime of true service to his country.
Born in Damascus in 1941, Mr. Muallem was educated in public schools before receiving a Bachelor Degree in Economics at Cairo University, in 1963. The following year he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving in Syria’s Missions to Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Spain and England. In 1975 through 1980, Mr. Muallem functioned as Syria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Romania, after which his service was as Director of the Documentation and Translation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Muallem served as Syria’s Ambassador to the United States from 1990 through 1999, after which he became an Assistant Foreign Minister in early 2000. He was later appointed the Deputy Foreign Minister, and has functioned as Syria’s Foreign Minister since 2006. In 2012, he also filled the positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and Expatriates Minister.
Walid al Muallem’s tenacious patriotism was not moved one centimeter, ever, not by his 2014 coronary artery bypass surgery, nor by the attempt of Qatar — the tiny Gulfies penisula that is two-thirds US military bases and one-third jails for poets and uncleaned gas station toilets — to bribe him with 75 million USD, a mansion, and lifetime benefits upon the launching of the NATO Spring against Syria, in 2011.
Minister al Muallem last addressed UNGA in September 2018.
Mr. Muallem is the author of four books: Palestine and Armed Peace, Syria in the Mandate Period from 1917-1948, Syria from Independence to Unity, and The World and the Middle East from the American Perspective.
Survived by his wife and three children, at this writing, Minister al Moallem is being “escorted from the al Shami Hospital to his final resting place in al Mezzeh cemetery.
Syria News extends our deepest condolences to his family, to his friends, and to his fellow countrymen.
May the memory of Walid al Muallem be for a blessing.
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