KABUL (Pajhwok): Syria and Saudi Arabia have signed a defence cooperation agreement, while the Saudi Fund for Development has agreed to provide more than $403 million in loans to support Syria’s energy, housing, health and infrastructure sectors.
The agreements were signed on Wednesday in Riyadh during a meeting between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It was al-Sharaa’s second visit to the Saudi capital in less than a month, Al Jazeera reported.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry described the agreement between the two countries’ defence ministries as the most notable of the deals but did not disclose its terms.
The agreement came days after Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said his government was considering joining a mutual defence pact involving Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan.
“Discussions are currently under way to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca alliance,” al-Shaibani said on Saturday at the Manama Dialogue, a security conference in Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia has sought defensive and offensive military support from the United States and several European and Middle Eastern countries amid renewed fighting with the Houthis in Yemen.
The group has attacked Saudi airports and oil facilities while fighting forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government for control of the country.
In a statement on X, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said al-Sharaa and Prince Mohammed had discussed the current regional and international situation during their meeting.
Their discussions included the impact of military escalation on regional security, the safety of international shipping, the reliability of energy supplies and the stability of the global economy, the ministry said.
The two leaders called for de-escalation and the peaceful resolution of disputes. They also urged an immediate halt to all actions threatening maritime navigation in the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz.
Syrian political researcher Ahmed Qassem told Al Jazeera that al-Sharaa’s second visit to Saudi Arabia in such a short period reflected the scale of security challenges facing the region and Syria.
He argued that Syria should join the Mecca alliance because it needed a deterrent force to protect its sovereignty and counter increasing Israeli encroachment on its territory.
During al-Sharaa’s visit, the Saudi Fund for Development also agreed to provide $403 million in concessional loans under six agreements with Syria’s Ministry of Finance, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The agreements include $100 million to rebuild and equip damaged healthcare facilities, $60 million to repair damaged homes, $105 million to strengthen civil defence, $90 million to rehabilitate the Aleppo thermal power plant and $30 million to develop drinking water systems in Damascus and Idlib.
The five allocations amount to $385 million, leaving a difference of $18 million from the reported total of $403 million. The original report does not specify how the remaining amount will be allocated.
The two governments also signed a memorandum of understanding on industrial cooperation and two others covering agriculture and environmental protection, the report said.
Saudi Arabia has been a key supporter of Syria’s government since al-Sharaa came to power following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
The two leaders last met in Riyadh on October 6. According to the Syrian presidency, they discussed plans for Syria’s reconstruction, including rebuilding damaged infrastructure and essential facilities.
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