Syria’s New Foreign Minister Visits Saudi Arabia in First Official Outing
A high-ranking Syrian delegation, led by the newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday for its first official foreign visit, according to a report by the Syrian state news agency SANA, citing a source from the Foreign Ministry.
In a post on the X platform, Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani announced that he had received an invitation to visit Saudi Arabia from his counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, marking his first official foreign visit.
Last week, Syrian authorities appointed Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, a co-founder of Al-Qaida in Syria, as the new acting Foreign Minister.
Upon arrival in Riyadh, the Syrian delegation, which included the Defense Minister and the Head of the Intelligence, was received by the Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister, Walid al-Khuraiji, according to a report by Al Arabiya’s correspondent.
Recent appointments in Syria have seen the former Al-Qaida commander and co-founder of the Nusra Front, Anas Hassan Khattab, take the helm of the country’s intelligence agency, and Murhaf Abu Qasra, a HTS leader known as “Abu Hassan 600” appointed as Defense Minister.
The majority of the new ministers, appointed by the Western-backed Syrian “Transition Government” have a background in Al-Qaida. The visit took place less than a month after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad by Islamist groups on December 8, 2024.