Damascus - Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal arrived in Damascus on Wednesday in yet another sign of improving ties between the two Arab powers.

Al-Faisal is expected to deliver a message from King Abdullah to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya news satellite channel reported.

On Thursday, al-Faisal said that he wanted to build "healthy" new ties with Syria.

"The disagreements between us are over and buried," he said two days after his Syrian counterpart visited Riyadh with a message from al-Assad.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria have been strained by the countries' opposing stances on Lebanese politics in the past, and, more recently, on the appropriate response to Israel's 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The split was highlighted after Egypt and Saudi Arabia stayed away from an emergency summit called by Qatar and supported by Syria. That summit did not get the quorum of two-thirds of Arab League member states required for a formal Arab summit.

During an Arab economic summit held in Kuwait in January, King Abdullah urged Arab leaders to open a new era of Arab unity and solidarity, and al-Assad and King Abdullah met briefly on the sidelines of the summit. (dpa)