Saudi Arabia denies reports about reopening embassy in Syria

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied on Monday media reports claiming that the Kingdom is planning to reopen its embassy in Damascus.

An official source at the ministry said that the reports are entirely untrue, the government’s SPA news agency reported. However, earlier reports quoted Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf as saying that the embassy in the Syrian capital will reopen on Thursday at 1:30 pm.

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The Syrian government welcomes the reopening of any Arab embassy in Damascus, most of which were closed at the start of the civil war in the country; the UAE and Bahrain recently reopened their embassies. Last month, Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir made a brief and surprise visit to meet Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, which was only announced after it had ended.