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05-01-2025
DAMASCUS/ DUBAI: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani has announced he will visit Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, having just made his first official foreign trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this week.
The top diplomat in Syria’s new government said in a social media post on Friday that he would be visiting the three countries this week to “support stability, security and economic recovery and build distinguished partnerships”.
The new government, made up of rebels who brought the brutal decades-long rule of the al-Assad family to an abrupt end last month, is eager for investment from wealthy Gulf States to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure and boost the economy, shattered by more than a decade of war.
Saudi Arabia already looks set to play a big role in the country’s revival.
Earlier this week, al-Shaibani headed a high-ranking delegation to Riyadh that included the new defence minister and intelligence chief.
A Saudi delegation from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre headed to Damascus on Friday, meeting Syrian Health Minister Maher al-Sharaa to discuss humanitarian and medical cooperation, according to state news agency SANA.
The Saudi visit came as the new government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, tries to revive a devastated health system, in ruins after 13 years of war and blighted by nepotism and corruption.
On Friday, al-Sharaa and Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati agreed in a phone call to restore calm on the 375km (233-mile) border following clashes between Lebanese soldiers and Syrian gunmen that left five of the former injured.
Mikati’s office issued a statement quoting al-Sharaa as saying his administration had done “everything necessary to restore calm on the borders and to prevent a repetition of what happened”.
Al-Sharaa, who leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, also invited Mikati to visit Damascus and discuss common interests.
Syria’s top diplomat says he hopes to open a “new, bright page” with Saudi Arabia upon arriving in the kingdom, the first foreign visit for Syria’s new rulers.
The visit, which began late on Wednesday, came less than a month after former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebel forces on December 8.
“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,” Asaad al-Shaibani posted on 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.
Al-Shaibani was appointed foreign minister on December 21 by Syria’s interim government, becoming the country’s first top diplomat since al-Assad’s overthrow.
A statement shared by Syria’s Foreign Ministry said Saudi Arabia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed bin Abdulkarim El Khereiji received the delegation at the international airport in Riyadh.
The Syrian delegation includes Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and General Intelligence Chief Anas Khattab, underscoring the visit’s diplomatic and strategic significance.
Later on Thursday, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said in a post on X that he had discussed in a meeting with al-Shibani how best to support its political transition. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
