Syria’s Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shibani met with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud in Saudi Arabia [Photo by Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images]
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister is expected in Damascus on Friday to meet top officials from the new yrian transitional government, in what marks the first visit since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud’s visit to Syria will be the first since April 2023 when Saudi Arabia rekindled relations with the now-ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The visit comes as Syria’s new government attempts to reintegrate the country into the international community following over a decade of isolation brought about by civil war.
On Thursday, a delegation from Belarus, headed by Foreign Minister Maxim Vladimirovich Ryzhenkov, arrived in Damascus to meet Syria’s transitional government and its de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported.
Belarus is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strongest allies, and the meeting is viewed as indirect talks with Moscow.
Likewise, fresh meetings were held between the new Syrian ministry of defence and their Lebanese counterparts to discuss border controls between the two countries.
Syria’s Chief of Staff Major General Ali-al-Naasan met with the Director of the Cooperation and the Coordination Office for the Lebanese Army Brigadier General Michel Boutros on Thursday to discuss the issue.Â
The meeting follows attempts by Syria’s new authorities to clamp down on border smuggling, with shipments being stopped on the Syrian side earlier in the month.
Alongside border controls, Syria’s central bank has ordered the country’s commercial banks to freeze the accounts of individuals and companies tied to the Assad regime.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Al-Sharaa commented on negotiations with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over extending his administration’s authority over northeast northeast.
Al-Sharaa said that the SDF was the only armed faction not to integrate into the new state and was using the issue of the Islamic State group to advance their own interests, according to The New Arab’s affiliate Syria TVÂ quoting Turkish media.
The SDF wants to retain its own civilian and armed institutions if it integrates, with reports that its military wing wants to be a distinct block within the ministry, something Damascus is apprehensive about.
“We are trying to negotiate with the SDF, but at the same time, we have the right to use all means to restore Syria’s territorial integrity,” al-Sharaa was quoted as saying by Syria TV.
His comments come after SDF-linked Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (AANES), the civilian authority in the northeast, decided to allow the voluntary return of Syrians residing in the al-Hol displaced persons camp to their homes.
According to the AANES, the decision had been made on 5 October 2020 but camp residents refused because of Assad regime rule over their home territories.
Around 27,000 people live in al-Hol, according to recent US estimates, with certain wings of the camp dedicated to family members of IS fighters and other civilians, some of whom are not Syrian nationals.
The AANES has long tried to get foreign nationals to be repatriated by their respective countries.
