Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Walid al-Moalem, Syria's long-time foreign minister and former ambassador to the United States, died on Monday, according to state-run media. He was 79.
Moalem was deputy prime minister before becoming chief diplomat in 2006 and helped lead unsuccessful peace negotiations with Israel in the 1990s.
The state-run Syria Arab News Agency reported that Moalem died "at dawn" on Monday and his body was moved from al-Shami Hospital to his burial plot at al-Mezzeh cemetery.
The Syrian government didn't indicate a cause of death.
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Born in Damascus in 1941, Moalem graduated from Cairo University with a degree in economics in 1963. He became Syrian ambassador to Romania in 1975 and took a job in the foreign affairs ministry five years later.
Moalem served as ambassador to the United States from 1990 to 1999 and became Damascus' deputy foreign minister in 2000.
Moalem was part of a Syrian government that has established close relations with Russia, particularly in fighting opposition factions seeking Assad's overthrow.
"This is very sad news," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Monday "I have lost a close friend in the Arab world.
"He was a reliable partner, a very knowledgeable man, diplomat and political figure. I was very fond of him personally and I have a lot of respect for him, we had 40 years of active communication back when I was working in Damascus and when he served as ambassador to Washington."
During Syria's civil war, he blamed the United States and Western allies for supporting anti-Assad forces that he labeled as terrorists.
