Fear and loathing in Jeddah
Assad’s tantrum at the airport

A meeting of the foreign ministers of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan on 1 May was meant as a landmark breakthrough in Arab diplomacy on Syria. A statement said that the officials had discussed a “step-for-step” approach to addressing return of refugees and tackling drug trafficking. The meeting was followed by Syria’s re-admission into the Arab League and a formal invitation to Bashar al-Assad to attend the upcoming summit in Jeddah. 

In Jeddah, however, things did not go to plan. Informed sources say that the Syrian leader was aggrieved by the invitation to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, whose show-stopping appearance was kept as a last-minute surprise by the Saudi hosts. Not only did Assad have to sit through Zelensky’s anti-Russia speech; also he had to watch Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani walk out of the session before he had a chance to speak. The only two Arab leaders to welcome him by name were presidents Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine and Qais Saied of Tunisia. 

To add insult to injury, Assad’s request for an audience with King Salman was turned down. Instead, he was given a hastily-arranged meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that lasted no more than 20 minutes. According to insiders, Assad failed to secure any financial assistance. Meanwhile, Zelensky was given a 1.5 hour meeting with the Crown Prince and walked away with a further pledge on top of the $400m aid package already announced by Riyadh in February. 

Incensed with being upstaged and snubbed, eye-witnesses at Jeddah Airport reported that Assad vented his fury at the Saudi foreign ministry’s protocol official who accompanied him to his plane. He accused the Saudis of “laying a trap”. His close adviser, Luna al-Shibl, piled in and berated the hapless official for Riyadh’s pro-Zelensky media coverage. She went as far as to demand that the Crown Prince visit Damascus “for at least two days” to make up for the perceived humiliation. 

The following day, Assad’s foreign minister Faisal al-Mikdad appeared on RT to pour cold water on the reciprocal nature of what was supposedly agreed in Amman. “We did not discuss step-for-step,” he said, “we discussed steps to reach solutions to the situation in Syria.” He then read out a wish-list of concessions that his boss expected from the international community. The Arabs might now be talking to Assad, but it doesn’t mean that he’s listening.