ISTANBUL

The leader of Syria’s new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, met in Damascus on Wednesday with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani, marking the first official meeting between the two sides since last month’s fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported the meeting, without giving any details about the content of the talks between the two sides.

On Dec. 29, Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khalifa, the head of Bahrain’s Strategic Security Agency, visited the Syrian capital and met with al-Sharaa to reaffirm Bahrain’s support for a comprehensive transitional process in Syria and to discuss issues of mutual interest.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party's decades-long regime.

The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

A new administration led by al-Sharaa has now taken control of the country.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar