TUNIS — Tunisia’s foreign minister said the diplomatic relations with Syria will be restored at a consular level, following a long hiatus that began during the beginning of the Syrian uprising.

Taieb Baccouche told journalists Thursday that Syria had responded positively to the suggestion to restore relations, which were cut in February 2012.

“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,” Baccouche told reporters, without giving a date for the moves.

The minister said a consular presence in Syria would help Tunisia glean information on the 3,000 Tunisians who have left to fight for Islamist extremists in Iraq and Syria and who officials fear will return to carry out attacks at home.

Tunisia’s then president, rights defender Moncef Marzouki, took a strong stance against the government of Bashar Assad and cut relations in reaction to Syria’s suppression of dissent.