Acting Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Hamáček (Social Democrats) arrived in Damascus on Thursday to take over and return home two people working for a German humanitarian organisation who had been held by the Syrian government. They had been arrested months ago near the Iraqi border for allegedly crossing the border illegally.

The Czech Republic is currently the only EU country with an ambassador in the war-torn country and carried out the negotiations with the consent of authorities in Brussels.

During a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, Mr Hamáček strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons and stressed perpetrators must be brought to justice. He also said the withdrawal of Iranian forces from the Israel-Syria border area would contribute to stability in the region.