Attempts to Block Thaw in Relations Between Syria and Saudi Arabia

The pro-government newspaper Al-Watan accused the United States and Egypt of trying to hamper the improvement of relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia.



Relations between Riyadh and Damascus have been thawing lately after years of tension sparked by the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. Hariri had close links with Saudi Arabia. The crime was widely blamed on Syria, which denied any involvement.



The daily on July 6 quoted Arab diplomats as saying that Washington and Cairo were trying to block joint Saudi and Syrian efforts to find quick resolutions of many issues in the region, especially in Lebanon.



Officials from the US State Department as well as Egypt’s president Hosni Mubarak had told the Saudis that their rapprochement with the Syrians harmed negotiations with Damascus over regional issues because it boosted Syria’s position and made it emerge as a “political winner”, the diplomats said.



“The positions of Damascus are known and declared and pressure would not change them,” Syrian sources told the newspaper, adding that any delay in concluding reconciliation among Arab states did not serve the interest of Arab nations.



A day earlier, the daily quoted well-informed sources as denying that a Syrian-Saudi summit was scheduled.



In the past week, many Lebanese and Arabic newspapers reported that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was expected to visit Damascus to discuss the formation of a Lebanese government with Syrian officials.



The sources told the daily that Damascus did not meddle in Lebanese affairs.