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Bashar Al Assad arrives in Riyadh for summit talks

Syrian leader's landmark visit could improve ties with Saudi Arabia

  • By Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Correspondent
  • Published: 00:00 January 13, 2010
  • Gulf News

New chapter
  • Image Credit: Reuters
  • Syrian President Bashar Al Assad (right) welcomes Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri in Damascus yesterday.

Riyadh: Syrian President Bashar Al Assad will arrive here on Wednesday on a landmark official visit — a further sign of the thaw in relations between the two key Arab states.

The visit would follow Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal's visit to Damascus last week.

The Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement between the leading Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah, Iranian nuclear dossier and the situation in Lebanon would figure high in the talks.

"During the Saudi-Syrian summit talks, the leaders will discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields, in addition to the regional and international issues of mutual concern," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Framework

Syrian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mahdi Dakhlallah, said that Al Assad's visit comes in the framework of hectic political activities in the Arab world to revive the peace process as well as to work out a united Arab position toward the hostile Israeli acts.

The two leaders will review the latest situation on the Arab and regional arenas, especially the recent armed infiltration of Al Houthi rebels along the Kingdom's southern border with Yemen, and the Iranian nuclear programme that poses a threat to the Gulf and Arab region, he said.

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