Saudi king in return Syrian trip

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King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is visiting Syria for the first time since suspicion and tension soured relations.

The visit is being seen as part of a burgeoning rapprochement that could help resolve internal Arab conflicts in Lebanon and the West Bank and Gaza.

Saudi-Syrian relations cooled after the killing in 2005 of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria was accused of a role in the death of Mr Hariri, a key Saudi friend and ally, but has always denied it.

Close ties between Damascus and Iran, a key regional rival of Saudi Arabia, have caused rifts between Syria and the Saudis.

Syria also supports Hezbollah, the mainly Shia political and militant organisation in Lebanon, and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Saudi Arabia meanwhile backs opponents of those groups: the 14 March movement in Lebanon and the Palestinian group Fatah in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

New times

Kng Abdullah's visit is his first to Damascus since becoming monarch in 2005.

President Bashar al-Assad met him at the airport and took him straight to the presidential palace in the Syrian capital.

Mr Assad has visited Saudi Arabia more than once this year after the atmosphere began improving. Most recently, in September, he attended the inauguration of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

Relations hit a low point after the 2006 Lebanon war when Mr Assad called Gulf leaders "half-men" for their refusal to support Hezbollah's stand against the Israelis.

Correspondents say Damascus is now keen to build bridges with the US, an ally of Saudi Arabia, after years in which Syria was shunned by the Bush administration.