Waqas 48 Posted January 6, 2010 DAMASCUS: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Damascus Tuesday, in a further sign of thawing relations between the two countries. The Saudi minister had arrived in Damascus from Egypt, where he met with Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, in the latest stage in a whirlwind tour of the region. ''Now more than ever, it is necessary to increase contacts among Arabs,'' he told reporters in Egypt when asked about his trip to Damascus, saying his trip to Syria served this purpose only. Diplomats in Damascus, however, said efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process would be ''near the top of the agenda'' in the talks between al-Assad and Prince Saud al-Faisal. The two would also discuss conflicts in Yemen and Iraq, and particularly Iran''s roll in those conflicts, diplomats said. Damascus, a close ally of Iran, hosts exiled leaders of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and which also has close relations with Iran. Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supporting Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, whom Saudi Arabia has fought along the ill-defined Saudi- Yemeni border, resulting in the deaths of at least 73 Saudis and an unknown number of rebel and civilian casualties. Relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia soured after the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who had close financial and political ties with the Saudis. Detlev Mehlis, the German judge commissioned by the United Nations to investigate the bombing, implicated ''senior Lebanese and Syrian officials'' in that killing. But relations between the Saudis and Syria have thawed in recent months, particularly following Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz''s landmark visit to Damascus in October. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
