Region | Syria
Saudi, Syria agree to strengthen ties
Abdullah and Al Assad agree to remove all barriers that impede progress
- Bloomberg
- Published: 00:00 October 9, 2009
- King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is welcomed by Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad at the presidential palace in Damascus on Wednesday.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Damascus: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad agreed to strengthen ties that have been strained in recent years and "remove all barriers that impede progress".
"Rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Syria is an important element to this new Middle East," said Josh Landis, director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
"Any successful policy to contain Iranian influence and power in the region will require Arab solidarity."
The two leaders agreed to work towards "lifting the inhumane siege imposed on the Palestinians, halting Israel's illegal colonies in occupied territories and an end to the practices of Israel against the rights of the Palestinian people and sacred Islamic sites in Occupied Jerusalem."
Lebanon government
The impasse over forming a new government in Lebanon, a country where both Saudi Arabia and Syria have exercised their influence, was among the most important issues Al Assad and Abdullah discussed.
DPA reported King Abdullah left Syria on Thursday.
"Both the Syrian and Saudi parties expressed their satisfaction with the talks," said Waddah Abed Rabbo, editor of the semi-official Syrian paper Al Watan.
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