Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Sunday in his first foreign trip as Syrian leader, in a sign of the major shifts under way in regional alliances.
Sharaa assumed power as transitional president last week, after leading a rebel campaign that ousted longtime Iran-backed leader Bashar al-Assad, whose ties with the rest of the Arab world were strained throughout the nearly 14-year Syrian war.
Sharaa said in a written statement that he had discussed humanitarian and economic cooperation with the Crown Prince, as well as “extensive future plans in the fields of energy, technology, education and health”.
A statement by the Saudi state news agency said the pair had discussed improving bilateral ties and regional developments.
Sharaa, who was born in Saudi Arabia and spent part of his childhood there, was expected to remain in the kingdom on Monday to visit the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
