Syria’s interim president in Saudi Arabia on first trip abroad

Syria’s interim president is making his first trip abroad, visiting Saudi Arabia in a move likely trying to signal Damascus’s shift away from Iran as its main regional ally.

Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, landed in Riyadh alongside his government’s foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani.

A photo published by the state-run Sana news agency showed the two men on a jet, likely provided by the kingdom, with a Saudi flag visible on the table behind them.

Syria’s new three-star, tricolour flag flew next to Saudi Arabia’s own at the airport as Mr al-Sharaa, in a suit and tie, walked off the plane. He is scheduled to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, on the trip.

Saudi state television had trumpeted the fact Mr al-Sharaa, first known internationally by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, would make Riyadh his first destination.

Saudi Arabia had been among the Arab nations that poured money into insurgent groups that tried to topple former president Bashar Assad after Syria’s 2011 Arab Spring protests turned into a bloody crackdown.

However, its groups found themselves beaten back as Assad, supported by Iran and Russia, fought the war into a stalemate in Syria.

That changed with the December lightning offensive led by Mr al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group was once affiliated with al-Qaeda but has since denounced its former ties.

Mr al-Sharaa and HTS have carefully managed their public image in the time since, with the interim president favouring an olive-coloured military look similar to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, appointing women to roles and trying to maintain ties to Syria’s Christian and Shiite Alawite populations.

That also includes keeping both Iran and Russia largely at arm’s length as well. Iran has yet to reopen its embassy in Damascus, which had been a key node in running operations through its self-described “Axis of Resistance”, including Assad’s Syria, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and other partners.

Russia meanwhile would like to maintain access to air and sea bases it has in Syria, but took in Assad when he fled Syria during the advance.

Those moves appear aimed at reassuring the West and trying to get crippling sanctions on Syria lifting. Rebuilding the country after more than a decade of war will likely cost hundreds of billions, not to mention covering the needs of Syria’s people, millions of whom remain impoverished.

Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Damascus in January and said Riyadh has been “actively engaging in dialogue” to lift sanctions on Syria.

Saudi Arabia, unlike Mr al-Sharaa’s key allies in Turkey and Qatar, restored ties with Assad in 2023 alongside most of the Arab world. Getting sanctions lifted could go a long way in cementing their relationship.

Meanwhile, Syria’s interim government still faces challenges from the Islamic State group and other militants in the country. On Saturday, a car bomb exploded in Manbij, a city in Syria’s Aleppo governorate, killing four civilians and wounding nine, Sana reported.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels had seized Manbij in December, part of a push by Ankara to secure Syrian territory close to its border for a buffer zone.