Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has issued three presidential decrees appointing three deputies to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani.
Decrees Nos. 205, 206 and 207 assign the new deputies responsibility for consular affairs, international cooperation and executive affairs, respectively, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Saturday, November 7.
Muhammad Yaqoub al-Omar for Consular Affairs
Decree No. 205 of 2026 appointed Muhammad Yaqoub al-Omar deputy minister of foreign affairs and expatriates for consular affairs.
Born in Idlib (northwestern Syria) in 1993, al-Omar holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Idlib, a bachelor’s degree in political science from al-Shamal University, and a degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Idlib.
Before his appointment, he served as director of the Consular Affairs Department and director of the Executive Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates. He also served as information minister in both the Syrian Salvation Government and the caretaker government.
Al-Omar previously headed the Syrian Salvation Government’s General Directorate of Media and served as general director of the media production company Creative Inception.
Qutaiba Kadish for International Cooperation
Decree No. 206 of 2026 appointed Qutaiba Ali Kadish deputy minister of foreign affairs and expatriates for international cooperation.
Born in Damascus in 1988, Kadish holds a law degree from Damascus University.
He served as director of the International Cooperation Department and director of the Protocol Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates. He also served as deputy minister of development and humanitarian affairs in the Syrian Salvation Government and headed its Directorate of Humanitarian and Development Projects.
Obada Khaled Diab for Executive Affairs
Decree No. 207 of 2026 appointed Obada Khaled Diab deputy minister of foreign affairs and expatriates for executive affairs.
Born in Damascus in 1996, Diab holds an executive master’s degree in development policies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service, majoring in international economics, from Georgetown University.
Diab served as head of the foreign minister’s office and director of the ministry’s Strategic Planning Office. He also worked as an information management and labor market research expert at Qatar’s Ministry of Labor.
He previously worked as a data manager at the Centre for Humanitarian Data, part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Muzna al-Atrash as Peace Affairs Adviser
Earlier, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani appointed Syrian media personality Muzna al-Atrash as the ministry’s adviser for peace affairs, according to SANA.
Al-Atrash’s appointment on November 2 came amid a series of measures and appointments aimed at restructuring the ministry’s diplomatic and administrative work. The nature of her responsibilities remains unclear.
Previous Foreign Ministry Appointments
The changes follow several appointments at the Foreign Ministry, which announced new department directors and advisers on June 21.
Those appointments included Saad Baroud as director of American affairs,
Sally Shobut as director of European affairs, Dr. Nada Aswad as director of Afro-Asian and Oceania affairs, Qutaiba Kadish as director of international cooperation, and Nahla Othman as director of expatriates and refugees.
Obaida Arnaout took charge of diplomatic representation, Dima Moussa of international agreements and treaties, Dr. Mohammed Abdul Salam of protocol, Dr. Hassan Junaidi of administrative development, and Abdul Nasser Kashou of cybersecurity. Riyad al-Khader was appointed to the Security and Protection Department.
The ministry also appointed advisers with various responsibilities, including Dr. Mohammed al-Ahmad for Arab affairs, Ambassador Jihad Makdissi for American affairs, Dr. Hamza al-Mustafa for European affairs, Mohammed al-Jaffal for Afro-Asian affairs, Talal Kanaan for energy and environmental affairs, and Dr. Mohammed Ghadban for academic development and diplomatic training.
On October 20, Qutaiba Idlbi, the former director of American affairs at the Syrian Foreign Ministry, announced his resignation from his duties at the ministry and the foreign minister’s private office in a post on his official Facebook page.