Syria, Saudi Arabia and Damascus

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal in Damascus to meet Syria’s new leaders
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister on Friday made his first visit to Syria since the fall of former president Bashar Al Assad and held talks with the country's new leader, Ahmad Al Shara.Prince Faisal bin Farhan's visit to Damascus comes as the Syrian transitional government seeks investments to help rebuild the country after 14 years of civil war.Prince Faisal called for lifting sanctions on Damascus after talks on Syria with top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe earlier this month.Mr Al Shara said Riyadh “will certainly have a large role in Syria's future”, pointing to “a big investment opportunity for all neighbouring countries”.Prince Faisal arrived in Damascus after meetings with Lebanon's leaders in Beirut on Thursday.Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister was last in Syria in April 2023, when he met Mr Al Assad on a landmark visit that ended more than a decade of strained relations between the two countries.Saudi Arabia and other countries severed ties with Syria in 2012 over Mr Al Assad's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests that sparked civil war.The Assad family's five decades of rule over Syria ended in dramatic fashion last month as rebel factions led by Mr Al Shara's group, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, seized Damascus in a lightning offensive.The rebel victory came after Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, Mr Al Assad's main backers, were significantly weakened by Israeli attacks.Riyadh significantly reduced its footprint in Lebanon amid the growing strength of Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia sent a new aid plane to Syria on Saturday as part of the kingdom’s relief bridge to the country following the ...
A senior Syrian delegation led by foreign minister Asaad al ... Saudi relations, befitting the long shared history between the two countries,” Shaibani said on X. Saudi Arabia had welcomed ...
With the sudden overthrow of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, his close ally Iran has ... The two leading Gulf powers, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are taking a cautious ...
RIYADH, Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia urged top European diplomats at a gathering Sunday to lift sanctions against Syria to boost rebuilding the country and its economy after last month’s ...
Since ousting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Dec 8 ... Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate until it broke off ties in 2016. Saudi Arabia backed the rebels who fought Mr Assad at the onset of the ...
Saudi Arabia called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria on Sunday, in a major diplomatic boost for the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham government in Damascus.Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a ...