Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa landed in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for his first foreign trip since taking power amid warming ties between his administration and the oil-rich kingdom.
Later Sunday, he met in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Footage on the Saudi state television al-Ekhbariya showed Prince Mohammed receiving al-Sharaa and an companying delegation before going into a meeting.
There were no immediate details about the talks.
Al-Sharaa was expected during his official visit to seek support from the kingdom for reconstruction of war-shattered Syria.
Al-Sharaa commanded an Islamist-led rebel alliance that toppled Syria’s long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad in December, ending a bloody civil war that broke out following pro-democracy protests in 2011.
Earlier this week, al-Sharaa was declared president for a transitional period in Syria.
Since al-Assad’s overthrow, there have been signs of rapprochement between Saudi Arabia, a regional heavyweight, and Syria’s new rulers.
In a recent interview with the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV, al-Sharaa described Saudi Arabia as an “important regional country” that Syria is interested in cooperating with.
Saudi Arabia was the destination for the first foreign visit by a high-level delegation from Syria’s transitional government.
In late January, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan visited Damascus and met with al-Sharaa.
Saudi Arabia had initially supported an armed rebellion that followed the 2011 uprising against al-Assad’s rule and cut ties with Syria in 2012.
But in 2023, Syria was readmitted to the Arab League and relations with Riyadh were normalized.
Syria has been deeply divided in the wake of the anti-government protests and the ensuing civil war, though many are hopeful for a new beginning after the fall of the al-Assad family, who ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 50 years.
Syria’s new leadership has since been trying to re-establish security in the country and woo the outside world for support.
