CAIRO, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia and Syria signed a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ defense ministries on Wednesday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group continues its missile and drone attacks on the kingdom.
• The agreement was signed during a visit by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Riyadh, where he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It was their second meeting in Saudi Arabia in less than a month.
• No details were provided on what the agreement entails. Reuters reported last month that Syria was carefully weighing providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia amid the kingdom’s escalating war against the Houthis in Yemen.
• A Syrian diplomat said at the time that any request for military cooperation or exchange of expertise “would take place exclusively through official channels and within the framework of the bilateral agreements governing relations between our two brotherly countries.”
• Saudi Arabia has been requesting assistance far and wide, from the US to Europe and the Middle East, for both defensive and offensive support in a renewed war against the Houthis.
• The two countries also signed several other agreements during Sharaa’s visit to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has been providing financial assistance to Syria and played a key role in re-establishing Damascus’ ties with world powers after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
• The Saudi Fund for Development signed six agreements with Syria’s Finance Ministry on Wednesday for the provision of concessional development loans worth over $403 million to support development and service sectors in Syria, the Syrian ministry said.
(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Yomna Ehab in Cairo; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
