Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister on Friday made his first visit to Syria since the fall of former president Bashar Al Assad and held talks with the country's new leader, Ahmad Al Shara.Prince Faisal bin Farhan's visit to Damascus comes as the Syrian transitional government seeks investments to help rebuild the country after 14 years of civil war.Prince Faisal called for lifting sanctions on Damascus after talks on Syria with top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe earlier this month.Mr Al Shara said Riyadh “will certainly have a large role in Syria's future”, pointing to “a big investment opportunity for all neighbouring countries”.Prince Faisal arrived in Damascus after meetings with Lebanon's leaders in Beirut on Thursday.Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister was last in Syria in April 2023, when he met Mr Al Assad on a landmark visit that ended more than a decade of strained relations between the two countries.Saudi Arabia and other countries severed ties with Syria in 2012 over Mr Al Assad's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests that sparked civil war.The Assad family's five decades of rule over Syria ended in dramatic fashion last month as rebel factions led by Mr Al Shara's group, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, seized Damascus in a lightning offensive.The rebel victory came after Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, Mr Al Assad's main backers, were significantly weakened by Israeli attacks.Riyadh significantly reduced its footprint in Lebanon amid the growing strength of Hezbollah.

Hamas has announced the names of the next four hostages it will release this weekend as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel that has halted fighting in Gaza for at least six weeks.

Intelligence officials in Syria’s new de facto government say they have thwarted a plan by the Islamic State group to set off a bomb at a Shiite shrine in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab.

The fall of the Assad regime will have a substantial impact on Lebanese politics, highlighting border tensions, refugee challenges, and Hezbollah’s influence. Normalization with Damascus depends on Lebanon’s domestic politics,

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived in Damascus Saturday in the first such visit since before civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, an AFP journalist reported.

Syria's new ruler and Lebanon's prime minister pledged on Saturday to build lasting ties during the first visit by a Lebanese head of government to Damascus since the civil war started in 2011.Prime Minister Najib Mikati's trip came after Islamist-led rebels seized Damascus last month,

NEWS ANALYSIS. Between relief and apprehension, Lebanon is concerned about local repercussions of Syria's change of leadership.

The visit by Prime Minister Najib Mikati was the first official trip by the Lebanese leader to meet with the new government of Syria.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa met Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Damascus on Saturday in a bid to improve long-fraught ties, with the pair focusing on strengthening their shared border.

Lebanon and Syria will work together to secure their land borders, as well as to delineate both land and sea borders, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said during a visit to Damascus on Saturday.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called Thursday for cooperation between Syria's new authorities, host countries and donors to secure the return of 6.2 million Syrian refugees to their country.