UPDATE - Syria's foreign minister to make 1st official overseas visit to Saudi Arabia

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Ahmed Asmar

Syria's newly appointed foreign minister said Monday that his first official visit will be to Saudi Arabia.

Asaad al-Shaibani said he accepted an invitation from his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan to visit the kingdom.

“I am honored to represent my country on my first official visit (to Saudi Arabia),” he added in a statement on his X account.

“We look forward to building strategic relations with our brothers in the kingdom in all fields,” he added.

Later, during a press conference with his Kuwaiti counterpart Abdullah Al-Yahya, Al-Shaibani said his visit to Saudi Arabia will be in the “first week of the new year.”

He described the visit as a gesture of goodwill and a step toward restoring Syria’s role in the Arab world. He added that he plans to listen to Saudi Arabia's perspectives and accelerate efforts to rebuild his country.

Shaibani was appointed foreign minister on Dec. 21 by the interim Syrian government, becoming the country's first top diplomat since the downfall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.