The reconciliation summit is widely seen as the successful outcome of King Abdullah's diplomatic overtures to strengthen Arab unity and confront the challenges facing the Arab Ummah.
King Abdullah arrived in the Syrian capital on Thursday on the second leg of a four-nation Arab tour and held talks with Assad. The two leaders called upon Lebanese groups to end their conflicts in order to establish peace and security in the country.
King Abdullah and President Assad will travel together to Beirut on Friday to try to calm tension over a UN tribunal set up to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The Saudi-Syrian summit talks focused on the Palestinian issue and the suffering of the Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the repeated aggression of Israeli forces against Palestinians and their properties.
The two leaders emphasized the need to unify the ranks of Palestinians and revive peace talks to establish a just and comprehensive settlement in the Middle East.
They called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital on the basis of international resolutions and the Arab peace initiative.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, the Kingdom and Syria urged Iraqi leaders to expedite their efforts to set up a unity government, giving priority to national interests rather than personal ones.
This is Abdullah's second visit to Syria after becoming the king in August 2005.
Hours before the king’s visit, the Syrian government asked the United States not to interfere in its relations with other countries. A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said the US "has no right to define our ties with the countries of the region and interfere in the content of the talks the Saudi king will have in Damascus."
The statement added: "Syria and Saudi Arabia ... know better than others the interests of the people of the region and how to achieve them without outside interference and they are able to define their policies to achieve peace and stability in the region."
This was in response to a comment made recently by US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley who said Washington hoped Syria would play a constructive role in the region and would respond to the king's concerns about Iranian "threats" to stability in the Middle East.
King Abdullah on Wednesday met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. They "held one-on-one talks that lasted around one hour," the official MENA news agency said.
Meanwhile, France commended King Abdullah's current Arab tour, saying it reaffirmed the Kingdom's desire to establish peace and stability in the Arab world.
"France has been considering Saudi Arabia for quite a long time its principal partner to establish peace and stability in the region," said Bernard Valero, spokesman of the French Foreign Ministry.
Valero expressed his hope that the king's current visit would support Arab efforts for the continuation of the peace process, especially the launch of direct talks between the Palestinians and Israelis.
He said the direct talks, which are set to start before September, would determine the borders of the Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem as the capital of two states.
