Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Damascus on Wednesday in another sign of a thaw in ties between the two Arab countries that had clashed over regional issues.

The official Syrian news agency reported the meeting but gave no further details.

Arab efforts to mend ties have been underway since. Prince Saud met his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moualem this week at an Arab foreign ministers meeting in Egypt that discussed Palestinian reconciliation and the regional influence of Iran.

Prince Saud told the Arab foreign ministers meeting that a common view was needed to deal with what he described as the Iranian challenge and Iranian interference in Arab affairs.

He also called for a unified Arab stance in dealing with the new U.S. administration and sticking by an Arab peace initiative that offered Israel normal ties in return for the return of all Arab land occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

He said abandoning the initiative would leave Arab countries with no "reasonable alternative strategy to end the conflict".

Moualem, the Syrian foreign minister, visited Riyadh in February on a reconciliation mission which he said discussed all issues, including Hamas and Lebanon, where the two countries support rival political forces.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria plummeted after the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who had Saudi nationality and was close to the Saudi royal family.

A United Nations investigation implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the killing. Damascus denies any involvement.

Reuters