Saudi Arabia agrees to re-establish ties with Syria: sources

BEIRUT/RIYADH: Syria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to reopen their embassies after cutting diplomatic ties more than a decade ago, a Britian-based news agency claimed. 

Contacts between Riyadh and Damascus had gathered momentum following a landmark agreement to re-establish ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad, a regional source aligned with Damascus said.

The re-establishment of ties between Riyadh and Damascus would mark the most significant development yet in moves by Arab states to normalize ties with Assad, who was shunned by many Western and Arab states after Syria’s civil war began in 2011.

The decision was the result of talks in Saudi Arabia with a senior Syrian intelligence official, according to one of the regional sources and a diplomat in the Gulf.

The Saudi government’s communication office, the kingdom’s foreign ministry and the Syrian government did not respond to requests for comment.

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Saudi state television later confirmed that talks were ongoing with the Syrian foreign ministry to resume consular services, citing a Saudi foreign ministry official.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

The apparently sudden breakthrough could indicate how the deal between Tehran and Riyadh may play into other crises in the region, where their rivalry has fuelled conflicts including the war in Syria.

The United States, an ally of Saudi Arabia, has opposed moves by regional countries to normalise ties with Assad, citing his government’s brutality during the conflict and the need to see progress towards a political solution.

When asked about the rapprochement, a State Department spokesperson said the U.S. “stance on normalisation remains unchanged” and that it would not encourage other countries to normalise ties with Assad.