Faisal Mekdad

Faisal Mekdad (Arabic: فيصل المقداد‎‎) is the Syrian Deputy-Foreign Minister and former Permanent Envoy to the United Nations.^[1]

Life and Education

Faisal Mekdad was born in the village of Ghasm in Daraa Governorate in 1954. He graduated in 1978 from Damascus University with a degree in English. He later got his PhD in English Literature from Charles University in Prague in 1993.^[2] While at Charles University, he was a part of the International Union of Students.^[3]

Work

After graduating from Charles University, Mekdad became a diplomat in the Syrian Foreign Ministry. In 1995, he became a member of the Permanent Syrian Delegation to the United Nations where he represented Syria in numerous conferences. He was appointed as the Deputy to the Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, under Mikhail Wehbe.^[2]

In 2003, Mekdad became the Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, a position he held until 2006, when he was appointed as Deputy-Foreign Minister.^[2]

Syrian Revolution

Mekdad has denied accusations of his government's alleged crackdown on protesters after the start of the Syrian Civil War. He has held interviews with Western and Arab Media outlets about the uprising, where he has spoken in support of Bashar al-Assad.^[3] He has promoted the government's claim that his government is fighting armed terrorist insurgents, and when asked by a BBC reporter whether he believes his government is winning the war, he responded saying "We shall win it, we are winning it, yes." ^[4] Mekdad was a part of the delegation representing the Syrian government during the Geneva II Conference on Syria. The other members with him were Bashar Jaafari, Omran al-Zoubi, Bouthaina Shaaban, Walid Muallem, and Luna Shabal.^[5] During the Geneva Conference, Mekdad held press conferences where he denied accusations by the Syrian National Coalition that his government was holding children in their prisons.^[6] Also during the Geneva conference, Mekdad was infuriated by questions by an Orient TV reporter, he told the reporter, "you are the ones who represent imprudence and decadence," and physically pushed the reporter away with his hand.^[7] Not knowing that the microphones could hear them, in one press conference during the Geneava talks, Mekdad whispered to Mohamed al-Mohamed, a Syrian diplomat for the Syrian embassy in Geneva, saying "We are giving a bad image, we are not giving the other side a chance".^[8]

Family

Faisal Mekdad is married with one son and two daughters.^[2] Mekdad's father was kidnapped by gunmen on 18 May 2013 in his village of Ghasm.^[9]

References