SAUDI ARABIA is in talks to reopen its embassy in Syria for the first time in a decade, state television in the kingdom reported late on Thursday.

The talks represents another step towards improving long-standing hostilities among Arab countries and follows the success of the Chinese-mediated talks in Beijing that saw Saudi Arabia and Iran agree to reopen embassies in each others’ nations after years of tensions. 

The move came hours before the United States launched a missile attack in Syria in retaliation over the killing of a US contractor by a suspected Iranian drone.