Syrian  President Bashar Assad arrived unexpectedly Wednesday in Saudi Arabia and participated in an inauguration ceremony of a Jeddah university for science and technology as part of the Saudi Arabian celebrations of 79 years of independence. King Abdullah and other Arab leaders were also in attendance, Ynet reported.

The visit is of significant important since the two countries have recently experienced a deep rift in their relations. Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar reported that Assad met on the sidelines with Fouad Siniora, prime minister of Lebanon's transition government, who is also the leader of the anti-Syrian camp in his country.

Saudi Arabia is considered patron of the Lebanese anti-Syrian camp, especially the al-Mustaqbal faction of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri. This makes the consequences of the Saudi Arabian meeting of particular interest.