ISTANBUL

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud extended Ramadan greetings to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday.

According to a statement from the Syrian presidency, King Salman sent a message expressing "his sincere greetings and best wishes for good health and happiness to President al-Sharaa, and for security and stability for the Syrian Arab Republic and its brotherly people on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan."

The Saudi king also wished that "this month brings goodness and blessings to all the peoples of the Islamic nation."

Several Arab and Islamic countries are set to search for the crescent moon on Friday to determine the official start of the fasting month.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.

The next day, al-Sharaa, the leader of the new Syrian administration, who was appointed president on Jan. 29, tasked Mohammed Al-Bashir with forming a government to oversee Syria’s transitional period.