Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan will arrive in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday, this will be the first such visit from the kingdom to Syria since 2011, an informed source told.
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“The plane with the Saudi guest will land at Damascus International Airport around 2:30 pm, after which he will go to the presidential palace to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,” the source said.
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According to the source, the Saudi minister will also meet with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mikdad.
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Miqdad visited Saudi Arabia last week. This is the first visit by a Syrian official to the kingdom since the beginning of the conflict in Syria. As a result of the visit, the parties agreed on the resumption of air traffic and the work of the consulates of both countries, as well as on the need for a political settlement in Syria and ensuring the safe return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.
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After that, the Foreign Ministers of a number of Arab countries gathered in Saudi Jeddah. The Arab consultations lasted 2.5 hours and ended early Saturday morning. Following the meeting, they called for the return of Syria to the “Arab bosom”, stated the need to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the country and called for the leading role of the Arab countries in ending the Syrian crisis.
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Syria’s membership in the Arab League (LAS) was frozen in November 2011 after the outbreak of armed conflict in the country. A number of Arab countries have recalled their ambassadors from Damascus. The Syrian leadership then stated that it did not accept the decision of the Arab ministers to suspend participation in the work of the pan-Arab organization, considering it illegal. At the same time, the Arab League did not actually take part in the negotiations on a settlement in Syria, despite the fact that we are talking about one of the key countries of the Arab world.
