For the first time in four years, the Syrian president played host to a high-level Saudi emissary, Bassel Oudat reports from Damascus Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Moqren bin Abdel-Aziz, who visited Damascus Saturday, conveyed a verbal message to the Syrian president from King Abdullah. No one expected such a move, despite the call for reconciliation made during an Arab summit in Kuwait last month. When Saudi King Abdullah, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa got together on the sidelines of the summit, most analysts missed the point. In hindsight, this may have been the turning point everyone has been waiting for. In Syria the visit of Prince Moqren was reported with restraint. The Saudi king was sending his greetings to President Al-Assad and the Syrian people, the press said. The Saudi chief conveyed a message "concerning the recent developments in the region and underlining the importance of achieving Arab solidarity to address the challenges facing the Arab people," a newspaper reported. The high-level Saudi visit aroused the interest of Syrian political analysts. Some noted that by sending the intelligence chief, rather than the foreign minister, the Saudis were intimating their desire to turn a new page. You may have noticed that the Saudi foreign minister, Saud Al-Faisal, was at the centre of the long-running row between Damascus and Riyadh. Not to offend him, the Saudis sent someone else, and just as senior. The visit is timely, for the rift between those Arab countries classified as moderate and those considered to be radical was becoming too much to bear. Syrian-Saudi relations deteriorated rapidly following the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri in February 2005. Al-Hariri was close to the Saudi authorities and had lived for many years in Saudi Arabia. Within weeks of Al-Hariri's assassination, King Abdullah told Al-Assad that Syria would have to withdraw its 30,000 troops from Lebanon, and within three months of the assassination the Syrians did just that. Still, Saudi-Syrian relations didn't recover. Damascus dismayed the Saudis by keeping close ties with Tehran and by encouraging radical Palestinian groups to challenge Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Syria's support for Hizbullah added to Saudi ire. During the 2006 Lebanon war, the Saudis maintained that Hizbullah's recklessness has put Lebanon and the region in danger. Al-Assad retaliated by accusing "certain Arab leaders" of being "unmanly". The Saudis, though unnamed, were furious. The Saudi king refused to attend the regular Arab summit that was held in Damascus in 2008. And Saudi officials accused Syria of undermining an inter-Palestinian reconciliation deal reached in Mecca. They also blamed Damascus for doing Iran's bidding in the region. A media war involving the two countries soon followed. With French help, Syria managed to end some of its international isolation. The French maintain that the Syrians are willing to talk, even perhaps tone down their relations with Tehran, but they will have to be persuaded, not pressured. And they must have said so to the Saudi foreign minister during his visit to Paris a few months ago. Initially, the Saudis were unhappy with the French intervention. And Saud Al-Faisal didn't make a secret of his distaste for Syrian policies. Syrian officials still blame Al-Faisal for much of the deterioration in bilateral relations. Syria's Vice-President Farouk Al-Sharaa spoke once about "the personal side" to the deterioration of relations with Saudi Arabia, forcing Al-Faisal to say that "no one in Saudi Arabia acted offensively" towards Damascus. Since the recent events in Gaza, Damascus has become more conciliatory. For one thing, the Americans and Europeans expect Damascus to pressure Hamas into accepting a calming-down deal. There is also the chance that Syria concluded that locking horns with Egypt and Saudi Arabia was not a good policy in the long run. Syria will need Arab support in its future talks with Israel, and it cannot keep looking like the region's naughty boy. There are signs that Syria and Saudi Arabia are beginning to think alike. Speaking on two different occasions, President Al-Assad and King Abdullah separately called for calling off the Arab initiative unless Israel shows active interest in it. The Saudis have their own reasons for reconciliation. Speaking at the recent summit in Kuwait, King Abdullah said, "allow me to say, on behalf of all those present, that we have transcended our differences and opened the doors of brotherhood to all Arabs without exception or reservation, and that we will face the future united." If Syrian-Saudi relations regain their former vigour, Lebanon will have an easier time sorting out its problems, the Palestinians will start talking again, and the Egyptians will have less trouble running the Palestinian dialogue. Everyone will be happier. And the Arabs as a whole will have a better chance of dealing with Israel and Iran.
