Syrian leader lands in Saudi Arabia for first foreign visit since toppling Assad

Syria’s interim president has made his first trip abroad, travelling to Saudi Arabia in a move that is likely to be an attempt to signal Damascus’s shift away from Iran as its main regional ally.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, landed in Riyadh alongside his government’s foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani. The two men travelled on a Saudi jet, with a Saudi flag visible on the table behind them.

Saudi state television trumpeted the fact that the first trip by Sharaa, first known internationally by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, was to Riyadh.

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

Saudi Arabia was one of the Arab nations that poured money into insurgent groups that tried to topple the former president Bashar al-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 Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group was once affiliated with al-Qaida but has since denounced its former ties.

Sharaa and HTS have carefully managed their public image since, with the interim president favouring an olive-coloured military look similar to that of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Women have been appointed to roles and Sharaa has tried to maintain ties to Syria’s Christian and Shia Alawite populations.

That also includes keeping both Iran and Russia largely at arm’s length. 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” which included Assad’s Syria, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and other partners. Russia 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.

The moves appear aimed at reassuring the west and trying to get crippling sanctions on Syria lifted. Rebuilding the country after more than a decade of war is likely to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, without mentioning covering the needs of Syria’s people, millions of whom remain impoverished.

The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, visited Damascus in January and said Riyadh had been “actively engaging in dialogue” to lift sanctions against Syria. Saudi Arabia, unlike 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, citing civil defence officials.

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.