Relations with Syria warming up

Saudi Arabia, Tunisia visits expected to bring country back into Arab fold

Saudi Arabia and Tunisia joined the latest moves of breaking Syria's 12-year isolation — with its possible return to the Arab fold, which analysts believe, is providing the necessary path to creating sustainable economic linkages and harnessing broader diversification efforts in the war-fatigued Middle East.

Syria was a member of the Arab League, a 22-member regional organization formed in Cairo in 1945, until its suspension in 2011 following demonstrations. But in recent years, a number of Arab states, like the United Arab Emirates, have changed their approach and begun to normalize ties with Damascus.

On April 18, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told visiting Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Damascus — a first for a senior Saudi official since the outbreak of the Syrian war — that the reconciliation between Syria and Saudi Arabia will have positive effects, not only on both countries, but also the wider Arab region, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.