The Syrian and Saudi Foreign Ministers met in Jeddah yesterday, burying the hatchet on over a decade of confrontation. In the joint press statement of Syria’s Faisal Mekdad and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the two agreed to enhance security, to combat “terrorism in all its forms,” to stabilize the situation in the entirety of Syrian territory, to allow aid “to reach all areas of Syria,” and to “support the institutions of the Syrian state to extend its control over its territories to end the presence of armed militias and external interference in the Syrian internal affairs.” There was discussion on the steps forward to reach “a comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis,” returning Syria to the “Arab fold.”
Earlier, Faisal’s invitation to Dr. Mekdad was to have him come to Jeddah to discuss “efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves Syria’s unity, security, stability, Arab identity, and territorial integrity while also serving the interests of its brotherly people.” The last visit of a Syrian foreign minister to Saudi Arabia occurred twelve years ago.