Nov 7 (Reuters) - Syria has no plans to send troops to Yemen, a Syrian diplomatic source told state news agency SANA, dismissing reports of a possible deployment while adding that military cooperation with Saudi Arabia could eventually expand.
Saudi Arabia has been locked in worsening hostilities with the Iran-allied Houthis since July, when the wider conflict in the Middle East reignited the Yemen war, and Riyadh has since sought both defensive and offensive support from a range of allies.
Reuters reported on Friday, citing two Syrian military sources and a senior US official, that Syria had sent a limited number of military personnel to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks to provide military advice and training as the kingdom faces attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.
The source told SANA that the current military cooperation focused on training forces, building their capabilities and exchanging military expertise. Coordination visits by Saudi officials to Syria are set to begin next month, with the cooperation potentially developing into a mutual defence agreement or Syria joining the Mecca Pact, depending on the shared interests of both countries, the source said.
The Mecca Pact is a defence agreement signed in Mecca in August by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey. Turkey ratified the pact on Thursday, clearing the way for Ankara to provide military support to Riyadh.
Syria and Saudi Arabia signed the defence cooperation deal on Wednesday during a visit to Riyadh by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa for his second meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in less than a month. A senior Syrian diplomat described the agreement as "a broad framework for military cooperation."
Syria has emerged as a close ally of Saudi Arabia and the United States since rebels led by Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran, in 2024.
(Reporting by Enas Alashray and Menna Alaa El Din; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Hugh Lawson)
