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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Source: the Syrian Presidency Office.
On May 19, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the city of Jeddah.
Al-Assad arrived in the kingdom a day earlier to attend his first Arab League summit since the war in Syria broke out more than a decade ago.
During their later meeting, the two leaders discussed ways to enhance relations between their countries, in addition to “a number of issues of common concern” and efforts that need to be exerted to address them, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The Syrian Presidency said in a statement that al-Assad appreciated Saudi Arabia’s efforts in creating a political atmosphere that helps joint work among Arab countries.
Saudi Arabia led the efforts to readmit Syria into the Arab League. The kingdom, which backed rebels seeking to overthrow al-Assad for years, restored relations with Damascus earlier this month. The rapprochement came after a Chinese-brokered agreement that saw both Riyadh and Tehran, a key ally of the Syrian president, restore ties.
Al-Assad received a warm welcome at the Arab League summit. Before the meeting, he held talks with Tunisian President Kais Saied and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates.
He was later seen receiving a hug from the Saudi Crown Prince and having a friendly chat with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The official Syrian Arab News Agency said that even Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani shook hands with Assad, though there was no immediate confirmation of that in Qatari media.
Al-Assad participation in the Arab League summit was met with criticism from the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, who clearly failed to isolate the Syrian president. His visit to Saudi Arabia marks Syria’s official return to the Arab fold.
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