Tunisia says plans to reopen Syria consulate, invites Damascus envoy back

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia said on Thursday it plans to reopen a consulate in Syria and offered to invite the Syrian ambassador back to Tunisia three years after severing diplomatic relations with Damascus.

"We will not have an ambassador there, but Tunisia will open a consulate or put in place a charge d'affaires, and a Syria ambassador is welcome to Tunisia, if Syria wishes so," Foreign Minister Taieb Bakouch told reporters without giving a date for the measure.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Alison Williams)