Diplomatic sources have revealed that Syrian President Bashar Al Assad was in Saudi Arabia for several hours on Sunday and later traveled to the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula to meet Egyptian president despite warnings of a possible coup in the Republican Palace in Damascus.
In Jeddah, Assad met with the Saudi king Abdullah and Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and later with Egyptian President Egyptian Hosni Mubarrak in the town of Sharm El Sheikh in the southern region of the Peninsula, according to Al Quds al Arabi.
The same sources added that several Arab countries, as well as a number of other nations including Russia, advised the Syrian leader to postpone his trip in light of the warnings.
Assad, however, did not heed the warnings and added that he had previously postponed his trip, opting instead to leave Syria for his trip, albeit alone.
A UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese premier, Rafiq Hariri suspects that the Syrian regime may have been involved in the murder.
Assad has blamed former Syrian Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam, who earlier in the week accused Assad of having threatened Hariri before his death, for leading conspiracies of a possible coup.
Sources behind claims of a possible coup, however, claim that it would likely have been initiated from within the Syrian palace.
