DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan will land in Damascus on Tuesday, Syria’s information ministry told reporters in a written note, on his first visit to the country since conflict broke out in Syria in 2011.
The visit is the most significant step yet towards ending Syria’s decade-long regional isolation over its response to protests against President Bashar al-Assad.
Following the crackdown against demonstrators, Syria’s membership in the Arab League was suspended and several Gulf Arab states – including Saudi Arabia – began backing rebel groups fighting to oust Assad from power.
Assad, with the help of his main allies Iran and Russia, regained control over much of Syria, and Saudi Arabia has said in recent months that isolating him was not working.
The two sides agreed to resume diplomatic ties, and Reuters reported this month that bin Farhan would travel to Damascus to invite Assad to the Arab League’s next summit in Riyadh on May 19, two sources familiar with the plans said.
Saudi Arabia hosted Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad last week and then held a summit in Jeddah among the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq to discuss Syria’s possible return to the Arab fold.
(Reporting by Firas Makdesi, Writing by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Nick Macfie)
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