War-torn country reaches out for much-needed investment, as Saudi Arabia also set to play a big role in reconstruction.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani has announced he will visit Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, having just made his first official foreign trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this week.
The top diplomat in Syria’s new government said in a social media post on Friday that he would be visiting the three countries this week to “support stability, security, economic recovery and build distinguished partnerships”.
The new government, made up of rebels who brought the brutal decades-long rule of the al-Assad family to an abrupt end last month, is eager for investment from wealthy Gulf states to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure and boost the economy, shattered by more than a decade of war.
Saudi Arabia already looks set to play a big role in the country’s revival. Earlier this week, al-Shaibani headed a high-ranking delegation to Riyadh that included the new defence minister and intelligence chief.
A Saudi delegation from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre headed to Damascus on Friday, meeting Syrian Health Minister Maher al-Sharaa to discuss humanitarian and medical cooperation, according to state news agency SANA.
The Saudi visit came as the new government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, tries to revive a devastated health system, in ruins after 13 years of war and blighted by nepotism and corruption.
On Friday, al-Sharaa and Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati agreed in a phone call to restore calm on the 375km (233-mile) border following clashes between Lebanese soldiers and Syrian gunmen that left five of the former injured.
Mikati’s office issued a statement quoting al-Sharaa as saying his administration had done “everything necessary to restore calm on the borders and to prevent a repetition of what happened”.
Al-Sharaa, who leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, also invited Mikati to visit Damascus and discuss common interests.
