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Syria and Saudi Arabia move towards restoring relations

SYRIA and Saudi Arabia are moving towards reopening their respective embassies and resuming flights between the two countries for the first time in more than a decade, they said today in a joint statement.

Damascus was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 and Riyadh cut off diplomatic relations a year later after civil war broke out in Syria.

Efforts to improve relations have picked up pace since a massive earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on February 6 and China brokered the re-establishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, regional rivals that had backed opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.

A delegation headed by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks on bilateral relations, the two countries’ state media reported.

The meeting focused on the steps needed to reach a “comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis that would … achieve national reconciliation and contribute to the return of Syria to its Arab fold,” the countries said in a joint statement.

Saudi Arabia will hos the next Arab League summit next month, at which the restoration of Syria’s membership is widely expected to be endorsed.

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