Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that a scheduled visit by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem to the kingdom for apparent rapprochement talks has been canceled. The visit would have been the first by a Syrian official to Saudi Arabia since outbreak of a public row between the two countries in mid-August.Muallem was expected to hold talks Tuesday with King Abdullah in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to deliver a message from Syrian President Bashar Assad. Observers believe that using the word canceled reflects extent of the deterioration in Saudi-Syrian relations. An Arab diplomat familiar with Saudi thinking told Naharnet: "The Saudi official could have said the visit has been postponed, or even indefinitely postponed." But by Saying it has been canceled the Saudi official "slammed the door in the face of Syrian rapprochement efforts. It is a way of expressing the kingdom's dismay," the diplomat said.
Tension between Riyadh and Damascus erupted into a public row in mid-August, when Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa claimed that the oil-rich kingdom's regional role has been paralyzed. Riyadh responded by accusing Damascus of trying to stoke disorder in the region.
Relations between the two had already chilled after the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 which was widely blamed on Syria. Damascus denied any links to the killing. Ties deteriorated further because of disagreements over last year's war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah which is backed by Syria and Iran. They were further strained after the Hezbollah-led opposition launched a campaign to oust the government of Western-backed Sunni Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is close to Saudi Arabia. Syria moved to calm the row, with an official saying Sharaa's statements had been "unjustly distorted."