Syrian Foreign Minister hopes first foreign visit to Saudi opens ‘new, bright page’

DAMASCUS - Syria’s top diplomat said he hoped to open a “new, bright page” with Saudi Arabia upon arriving in the kingdom on Jan 1, the first foreign visit for Syria’s new rulers, who seized power in December.

“I have just arrived in the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, accompanied by the Minister of Defence Murhaf Abu Qasra and the Head of the General Intelligence Service Anas Khattab,” Syria’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said in a statement on social media platform X.

“Through this first visit in the history of Free Syria, we aspire to open a new, bright page in Syrian-Saudi relations that befits the long shared history between the two countries,” he added.

Earlier on Jan 1, Syrian state media said the top delegation had come to the Kingdom “at the invitation of the Saudi foreign minister”, quoting a Foreign Ministry source.

A statement shared by Syria’s Foreign Ministry said Saudi Arabia’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed bin Abdulkarim El-Khereiji had received the delegation at the international airport in Riyadh.

The statement was accompanied by photos of him and Mr Shibani shaking hands and other pictures of Saudi officials sitting down with the delegation.

In December, a Saudi delegation met Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, a source close to the Saudi government told AFP at the time.

Mr Sharaa heads the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that led the rebel offensive that ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Dec 8.

Last week, in an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, Mr Sharaa said Saudi Arabia “will certainly have a large role in Syria’s future”, pointing to “a big investment opportunity for all neighbouring countries”.

Syria’s economy and infrastructure has been devastated by more than 13 years of civil war that began with a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011.

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Mr Assad’s government in 2012 and backed Syrian rebels seeking to overthrow him early in the country’s civil war.

But last year, Riyadh restored ties with Mr Assad’s government and was instrumental in Syria’s return to the Arab League, ending its regional isolation.

Saudi Arabia has become a major market for captagon, an addictive drug for which there is huge demand in the oil-rich Gulf.

The amphetamine-like narcotic was Syria’s most valuable export under Mr Assad, turning the country into one of the world’s leading narco states. AFP