His first official visit as the King of Saudi Arabia was to Cairo, Egypt, in mid-July 1975. The visit was an indication of Saudi Arabia's support of the initiatives of Anwar Sadat concerning peace settlement between the Arabs and Israel. King Khalid visited Damascus in December 1975 and met with then-Syrian President Hafez Assad to discuss the ways to support Muslims in Lebanon where civil war began in April 1975. He declared the Saudi Arabia's support to Syria's role in the war.