South Front
Click to see original-size image. Source: the Syrian Arab News Agency.
On May 27, a Saudi technical team arrived in Syria to discuss the reopening of the Kingdom’s embassy, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Syrian deputy foreign minister, Ayman Sousan, held a meeting with the team, which was headed by Ghazi bin Rafea al-Anzi, a ministry of foreign affairs’ official, at the headquarters of the foreign ministry in the capital, Damascus.
During the meeting, al-Anzi thanked Sousan for the warm welcome and for facilitating the arrival procedure. From his side, Sousan said the ministry was fully ready to offer all the support needed to facilitate the team’s task.
Saudi Arabia and Syria announced on May 9 that work would resume at their respective diplomatic missions in Riyadh and Damascus, officially ending the disagreement that began after the outbreak of the war in Syria in 2011. The surprise rapprochement facilitated Syria’s return to the Arab League.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was later invited to the Arab League summit that was held in the Saudi city of Jaddeh on May 19. At the summit, al-Assad received a warm welcome and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de-facto ruler of the kingdom.
The Saudi-Syrian rapprochement was a major blow to the efforts led by the United States, United Kingdom and European Union to isolate al-Assad.
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