Syrian Delegation Arrives in Saudi Arabia for First Official Visit

A top Syrian team arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. This is the first trip abroad for Syria's new leaders since they removed President Bashar al-Assad last month,.

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The group includes Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani, Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasr, and Anas Khattab, the head of Syria's intelligence service. The official news agency SANA said the visit is "the first official trip abroad, invited by the Saudi foreign minister."
Syria’s Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani said, “With this first visit, we hope to start a new and bright chapter in Syria-Saudi relations, one that honors the long history between our two countries.”

Last month, a Saudi team met Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Damascus, a government source said. Sharaa leads a group called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which helped remove Assad on December 8.

Sharaa also said Saudi Arabia "will play an important role in Syria's future" and mentioned "big chances for investment for all neighboring countries."
Syria has faced more than 13 years of war, which began when peaceful protests were met with violence in 2011. Saudi Arabia stopped supporting Assad in 2012 and backed the rebels trying to remove him. But last year, Saudi Arabia reconnected with Assad’s government and helped Syria join the Arab League again, ending Syria's isolation.

Saudi Arabia is also a big buyer of captagon, a strong drug that is in high demand in the Gulf. Captagon was Syria's most valuable export under Assad, making the country one of the world's top producers of the drug.