CAIRO — Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief Gen. Khalid bin Ali Al Humaidan met Nov. 13 with his Syrian counterpart Hussam Luka in Cairo, on the sidelines of the Arab Intelligence Forum. This comes as part of the Egyptian efforts to unfreeze Damascus’ membership in the Arab League and end any Arab disputes.

On Nov. 9, Egypt hosted the Arab Intelligence Forum, which was attended by a number of the intelligence services’ directors in the region. During the forum that discussed many regional and international issues, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressed the attendants via videoconference, and urged the directors to further cooperate in countering the challenges in order to preserve the Arab national security and stability.

So far, no official statement has been released by Saudi Arabia or Syria on the meeting.

Tarek Fahmy, professor of political science at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor that the meeting carries a symbolic significance and is an important sign indicating that Arabs welcome Syria’s return to the Arab League after a 10-year hiatus.