Saudi Arabia launched a fierce attack on Syria's vice president on Thursday, accusing him of making false statements and seeking to "stoke disorder in the region," Recent statements by Faruq al-Shara "contain numerous lies aimed at damaging the kingdom," SPA cited a government source as saying.
Shara said on Tuesday that it was "regrettable" that Saudi Arabia had not attended a meeting in Damascus last week on the security situation in Iraq, which was attended by US and French delegations.
"The kingdom never refused any meeting aimed at strengthening
Arab ranks... the problem lies in the (Syrian) positions which are designed to stoke disorder and trouble in the region," the Saudi source said.
Relations between Riyadh and Damascus have been fraught since
disagreements over last summer's war between Israel and the Syrian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah.
They were further strained after the Hezbollah-led Lebanese opposition launched a campaign to oust the government of Western-backed Sunni Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is close to Saudi Arabia.
But Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem struck a more conciliatory note, describing relations between Damascus and Saudi Arabia as "strong and excellent" in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya TV that aired on Thursday.
"We have strong relations with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council states through bilateral visits between the leaders," Moallem said..
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