Asaad Al-Shaibani arrived in Riyadh on his first foreign trip since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
Syria's top diplomat says he hopes to open a “new, bright page” with Saudi Arabia when he arrives in the kingdom, the first foreign visit of Syria's new ruler.
The visit, which began on Wednesday, came less than a month after the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad chased by criminals on December 8.
“I have just arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, together with the Minister of Defense Murhaf Abu Qasra and the Head of General Intelligence Service Anas Khattab,” Asaad al-Shaibani wrote on X.
“Through this first visit in the history of Free Syria, we want to open a new, bright page in the Syrian-Saudi relationship that is in line with the long history shared between the two countries,” he said.
Al-Shaibani was appointed foreign minister on December 21 by Syria's interim government, becoming the country's first senior diplomat since the ouster of al-Assad.
Earlier on Wednesday, Syrian media reported that the delegation was visiting the kingdom “at the invitation of the Saudi foreign minister”.
The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Syria also stated that the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Waleed bin Abdulkarim El Khereiji received the delegation at the airport in Riyadh.
The Syrian delegation includes the Minister of Defense Murhaf Abu Qasra and General Intelligence Chief Anas Khattab, which shows the importance of the visit and in a technical sense.
In a special interview and Al Jazeera aired on Tuesday, al-Shaibani called for all Western sanctions to be lifted from Syria while detailing the country's future plans.
Adam Clements, a former US ambassador to the Pentagon, said that Saudi Arabia is working to establish stronger relations with Syria as Iran loses its influence in the country.
“I think this is very important,” he told Al Jazeera on Thursday. He added that from a “legal point of view”, Riyadh wants to establish strong relations with the new Syrian administration.
“Saudi Arabia would also have a big role … in the beginning of the construction and reconstruction. Syria is very dependent on Iran for oil and gas, so I think the Gulf countries can also support this,” he said.
In an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television on Sunday, the Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani he said that Riyadh “will have a big role in the future of Syria”, meaning “a big financial opportunity for all the neighboring countries”.
Al-Sharaa heads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) movement that led the uprising that ousted al-Assad.
Syria's economy and infrastructure have been devastated by more than 13 years of civil war that began with the crushing of pro-democracy protests in 2011.
Saudi Arabia severed ties with al-Assad's government in 2012 and supported Syrian rebels seeking to overthrow him early in the country's civil war. In 2023, the Arab League reinstated Syria after more than a decade of suspension.