An informed source told the Russian agency Sputnik that Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan would visit the Syrian capital Damascus in the next few days.
This development came after experts confirmed indicators that Saudi Arabia is open to developing political steps towards Syria, with the imminent Arab summit in Riyadh at the end of March. The proposed visit would represent the beginning of the end of the Syrian crisis in the Arab world after the suspension of Syria’s membership in 2011 — a decision that was incompatible with the Arab League’s charter at the time.
In this regard, Saudi analyst Dr. Ali al-Anzi said in a television interview on Tuesday that “Saudi Arabia will not be an obstacle to Syria’s return to the Arab League; it seeks Arab reunification and seeks with all its efforts not to exclude any Arab country.”
On the other hand, the newspaper Al-Akhbar indicated: “It is not possible to talk about a real step from Riyadh towards Damascus at the present time, especially in light of keeping the Hajj file in the hands of the opposition “coalition.” This means that the first steps on which real normalization can be built between the two countries begin with this file. There are continuous Russian and Emirati moves to re-normalize Syrian-Saudi relations because of their great impact on the Syrian arena in particular, and in the region in general.”
Analysts confirmed that Saudi Arabia circumvented the US embargo by assigning organizations to collect donations and send aid to Syria. The director-general of Syrian civil aviation announced that he had received a request from the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority to send an aid plane to those affected by the earthquake that struck Syria, through the Saudi Red Crescent, from Riyadh to Damascus.
Last Tuesday, a Saudi plane landed at Aleppo International Airport for the first time since 2011. The plane was carrying 35 tons of food aid to bring relief to those affected by the earthquake.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
