President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was to begin a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to review developments in Middle East peace efforts, Arab diplomatic sources said.
Assad would meet King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the sources said. Bilateral relations would also be on the agenda.
The visit coincides with the Sharm El-Sheikh summit in Egypt to try to halt the violence between Israel and the Palestinians and comes ahead of an Arab summit set for Cairo on October 21-22.
It will be the Syrian leader's second foreign trip since taking over from his father in July, following a visit to Egypt at the beginning of this month.
Syria's official newspaper Ath-Thawra Tuesday proposed in an editorial that a tripartite summit be held grouping Syria, Saudia Arabia be held to take a "firm stance" ahead of the Arab summit.
Syria's official press has been strongly critical of the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, seeing it as ruse to pre-empt the Arab summit and of advantage only to Israel -- RIYADH (AFP)
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