Aoun, Berri Mourn Muallem as President Dispatches Minister

President Michel Aoun on Monday sent a cable of condolences to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the death of Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem.

Lauding the role that Muallem played inside and outside Syria, Aoun hoped “peace will return to Syria so that the brotherly Syrian people can once again enjoy the prosperity they deserve.”

Dispatched by Aoun, caretaker Social Affairs and Tourism Minister Ramzi Msharrafiyeh meanwhile left for Syria to represent the president at Muallem’s funeral.

Speaker Nabih Berri also sent a cable of condolences to Assad and another to Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous.

In the cable sent to Assad, Berri hailed Muallem as a prominent Arab politician who “did not bargain over principles” and who defended “Arabs and Arabism until the last breath.”