Ministers from Syria’s transitional government held talks in Saudi Arabia on Thursday on their first foreign visit since they toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.
“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,” interim Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani posted on social media after arriving in Riyadh late on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia severed ties with 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 Assad’s government and was instrumental in Syria’s return to the Arab League, ending its regional isolation.
Now Syria’s new leadership is eager for Saudi investment to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure, which has been shattered by more than a decade of war.
Shibani was accompanied by Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and General Intelligence Service chief Anas Khattab, and the three men held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Saudi state television reported.
Last month, 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.
Sharaa heads the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that led the rebel offensive that ousted Assad on December 8.
Last week, in an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, Sharaa said Saudi Arabia “will certainly have a large role in Syria’s future”, pointing to “a big investment opportunity for all neighbouring countries”.
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