Bassam al-Sabbagh (; born 1 January 1969) is a Syrian diplomat and politician who served as the Foreign and Expatriates Minister of Syria from 22 September 2024 to 8 December 2024. He is the last person to serve in this position under president Bashar al-Assad and of the Syrian Arab Republic. He also served as Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations in New York City between 2020 and 2023.
Sabbagh is former Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Vienna the United Nations Office at Vienna, its former permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and its former permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Biography He was born on 1 January 1969 in Aleppo, Syria. In 1993, graduated from the University of Aleppo as a specialist in international relations, and has a bachelor's degree in political science from the Higher Institute of Political Science in Damascus.
He also served as Syrian Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2020 to 2023. He addressed the General debate of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2023. He was appointed as Foreign and Expatriates Minister on 23 September 2024.
According to Sabbagh, he attempted to persuade Bashar al-Assad to enter into a political process to avert his overthrow, to no avail. Sabbagh was in Damascus when the government fell in December 2024, and expressed surprise that Assad fled.
Career 1994–1995 – Attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Syria 1995–2000 – Second, then First Secretary of the Syrian Embassy in Washington 2000–2001 – Alternate Director in the Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs 2001–2006 – Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Syria to the UN (New York) 2006–2010 – Head of Administration at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2010–2013 – Permanent Representative of Syria to the UN Office (Vienna) 2010–2020 – Ambassador to Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Italy. 2010–2020 – Resident Representative to the IAEA, UNIDO, UNODC (Vienna) 2013–2020 – Permanent Representative of Syria to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (The Hague). 2020–2023 – Head of the Syrian Mission at the UN Headquarters in New York 2023–2024 – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates 2024-2024 – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
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