Syrian regime minister visits Saudi for 1st time in decade

ANKARA

Syrian regime's tourism minister has arrived in Saudi Arabia on the first such visit by a regime minister to the kingdom in a decade.

Muhammad Rami Martini is scheduled to attend the 47th meeting of the World Tourism Organization Committee for the Middle East in Riyadh on May 26-27, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.

The Syrian minister’s visit came upon an official invitation from the Saudi Tourism Ministry and the World Tourism Organization Committee for the Middle East to participate in the meeting, SANA said.

Saudi Arabia’s relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad deteriorated following the eruption of the Syrian revolution in 2011, with Riyadh recalling its ambassador from Damascus and freezing diplomatic relations with the Assad regime.

*Ahmed Asmar in Ankara contributed to this report