Syrian leader lands in Saudi Arabia for first foreign visit since toppling Assad
Syrian leader meets Saudi crown prince for first official foreign visit
(about 7 hours later)
Interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives in Riyadh on trip that appears to signal shift away from Iran alliance
Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on trip that highlights reset of regional alliances after end of Iran-backed Assad regime
Syria’s interim president has made his first trip abroad, travelling to Saudi Arabia in a move that is likely to be an attempt to signal Damascus’s shift away from Iran as its main regional ally.
Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, met the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh on Sunday in his first foreign trip as Syrian leader, in a sign of the major shifts under way in regional alliances.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, landed in Riyadh alongside his government’s foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani. The two men travelled on a Saudi jet, with a Saudi flag visible on the table behind them.
Sharaa assumed power as transitional president last week, after leading a rebel campaign that ousted the longtime Iran-backed leader Bashar al-Assad, whose ties with the rest of the Arab world were strained throughout the nearly 14-year Syrian war.
Saudi state television trumpeted the fact that the first trip by Sharaa, first known internationally by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, was to Riyadh.
Sharaa said in a written statement that he had discussed humanitarian and economic cooperation with the crown prince, as well as “extensive future plans in the fields of energy, technology, education and health”.
Syria’s new three-star, tricolour flag flew next to Saudi Arabia’s at the airport as Sharaa, in a suit and tie, walked off the plane. He was scheduled to meet the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, on the trip.
A statement by the Saudi state news agency said the pair had discussed improving bilateral ties and regional developments.
Saudi Arabia was one of the Arab nations that poured money into insurgent groups that tried to topple the former president Bashar al-Assad after Syria’s 2011 Arab spring protests turned into a bloody crackdown. However, its groups found themselves beaten back as Assad, supported by Iran and Russia, fought the war into a stalemate in Syria.
Sharaa, who was born in Saudi Arabia and spent part of his childhood there, was expected to remain in the kingdom on Monday to visit the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
That changed with the December lightning offensive led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group was once affiliated with al-Qaida but has since denounced its former ties.
Sharaa and other new Syrian officials have sought to strengthen ties with Arab and western leaders since Assad’s fall. Saudi Arabia has played a leading role in that effort, hosting Syria’s new foreign and defence ministers in early January and a meeting of Syrian, Arab and western officials later that month.
Sharaa and HTS have carefully managed their public image since, with the interim president favouring an olive-coloured military look similar to that of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Women have been appointed to roles and Sharaa has tried to maintain ties to Syria’s Christian and Shia Alawite populations.
Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, was the first head of state to visit the Syrian capital after Assad was ousted in December.
That also includes keeping Iran and Russia largely at arm’s length. Iran has yet to reopen its embassy in Damascus, which had been a key node in running operations through its self-described “axis of resistance” that included Assad’s Syria, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and other partners. Russia would like to maintain access to air and sea bases it has in Syria, but took in Assad when he fled Syria during the advance.
The warming ties with Arab leaders represent a major shift away from the situation under Assad, whose brutal crackdown on protests against him in 2011 led to the Arab League suspending Syria’s membership for more than a decade.
The moves appear aimed at reassuring the west and trying to get crippling sanctions on Syria lifted. Rebuilding the country after more than a decade of war is likely to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, without mentioning covering the needs of Syria’s people, millions of whom remain impoverished.
Saudi Arabia tried to end Assad’s isolation by welcoming him back into the Arab League in 2023, hoping his reintegration would encourage him to address their concerns, chiefly the need to curb the trade in Captagon, an amphetamine-like drug used in the Gulf by partygoers and labourers alike.
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, visited Damascus in January and said Riyadh had been “actively engaging in dialogue” to lift sanctions against Syria. Saudi Arabia, unlike Sharaa’s key allies in Turkey and Qatar, restored ties with Assad in 2023 alongside most of the Arab world. Getting sanctions lifted could go a long way in cementing their relationship.
Syria had become the region’s main producer of the drug, according to regional security sources, but Assad always denied his government played a role in its production and sale and Arab countries saw little progress to address the issue under him.
Meanwhile, Syria’s interim government still faces challenges from the Islamic State group and other militants in the country. On Saturday, a car bomb exploded in Manbij, a city in Syria’s Aleppo governorate, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Sana reported, citing civil defence officials.
Syria’s new administration has repeatedly promised to clamp down on the production and trade of the drug.
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels had seized Manbij in December, part of a push by Ankara to secure Syrian territory close to its border for a buffer zone.
