Damascus (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's top diplomat is expected in Damascus on Tuesday, Syria said, ending more than a decade of diplomatic deep-freeze between the two countries just weeks after a landmark Saudi-Iranian rapprochement.
Recent months have seen increasing Arab engagement with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been politically isolated in the region since the start of the civil war in 2011.
A flurry of diplomatic activity has been underway in the past week as regional relations shift following a decision by Saudi Arabia and Damascus ally Iran to resume ties.
"Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is arriving at Damascus international airport today on an official visit to Syria," the information ministry said in a statement.
It said the Saudi minister was due to arrive in the afternoon.
The trip comes less than a week after Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad visited Saudi Arabia, also on the first such visit since the start of the Syrian war.
In a meeting, Mekdad and his Saudi counterpart discussed "the necessary steps" to end Damascus's isolation, according to a Saudi statement.
Also last week, diplomats from nine Arab countries met in the Saudi city of Jeddah to discuss ending Syria's long spell in the diplomatic wilderness and its possible return to the 22-member Arab League after Damascus was suspended in 2011.
The diplomats stressed the "importance of having an Arab leadership role in efforts to end the crisis" in Syria, according to a statement by the Saudi foreign ministry.
Saudi Arabia severed ties with Assad's government in 2012 and Riyadh had long openly championed Assad's ouster, backing Syrian rebels in earlier stages of the war.
Several other Arab countries also cut ties with Syria as some powers bet on Assad's demise.
But regional capitals have gradually been warming to Assad as he has clawed back most of the territory lost to rivals, with crucial backing from Russia and Iran.
The United Arab Emirates, which re-established ties in late 2018, has been leading the charge to reintegrate Damascus into the Arab fold.
Arab outreach
A February 6 earthquake that wreaked devastation in Turkey and Syria sparked Arab outreach to Assad's government, and the surprise rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran was announced the following month.
Assad himself has visited both Oman and the United Arab Emirates since the quake.
Syria's foreign minister visited this month Algeria and Tunisia on the heels of trips to Saudi Arabia and Egypt in a diplomatic push.
Syria is to reopen its diplomatic mission in Tunisia and appoint an ambassador there, following a similar move announced by Tunis.
Prince Faisal had said in February that a consensus was building in the Arab world that a new approach to Syria requiring negotiations with Damascus would be needed to address humanitarian crises.
Riyadh sent aid to both rebel-held and government-controlled parts of Syria, but the effort did not involve direct contact with Assad's government.
In March, Saudi state media had said that Riyadh and Damascus were in talks on resuming consular services.
Regional rivals Shiite Muslim Iran and Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia have supported opposing sides in several regional conflict zones including Yemen, and also vie for influence in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
During a trip to Moscow last month, Assad told broadcaster Russia Today that "Syria is no longer a scene of Saudi-Iran conflict".
Syria's war has killed more than half a million people, while around half of the country's pre-war population has been forced from their homes.
