The truth about the Saudi meeting with Assad envoy
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya NewséFriday, 7 August 2015
A Saudi source revealed that the head of the national security bureau of the Syrian regime, Major General Ali Mamlouk, arrived on board of a Syrian plane few days ago in the Saudi city of Jeddah. He was sent by President Bashar al-Assad to meet with Saudi officials in presence of Russian officials according to what was published in the Lebanese Al-Liwaa newspaper. Following the meeting, the Syrian regime informed the pro-Syrian Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar of this visit including details the Saudi source had declined in the al-Liwaa article. These leaks, denied by Saudis, revealed that this meeting with the representative of the Syrian regime aims to form a quadruple alliance involving Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan to fight terrorism. The Saudi source denied those claims clarifying that this meeting was initiated by Riyadh after another Saudi-Russian meeting during which Moscow accused Riyadh of obstructing a political solution and fueling terrorism through supporting the opposition. However, Saudi officials denied these accusations back then and invited the Russians to find a new solution to end the crisis. The Saudi source further said that Riyadh informed Moscow of an initiative aiming to bring peace and satisfy the Syrians or show the true face of al-Assad to its Russian allies.
Not a guarantor
The tripartite meeting was held in Jeddah, and both planes, Russian and Syrian, arrived each alone and not on one single Russian plane as al-Akhbar reported. The Saudi source also stated that the Russian delegation made sure the Syrian delegation does not join them on their plane so Russians do not appear as a guarantor of al-Assad but serve only as a witness. The source said that al-Assad is trying to convince a Gulf state that Saudi Arabia was planning for the meeting without the knowledge of its allies. However, Saudi Arabia had already notified all of its allies beforehand. The Saudis illustrated their initiative as follows: “Saudi Arabia and its allies will stop supporting the Syrian Opposition provided that Iran, Hezbollah and Shiite militias get out of Syria.” This will make “the conflict and the solution strictly Syrian.” Major General answered: “What do we do with Hezbollah? We need time to think!” The Syrian regime allegedly claimed, according to its leaks to Al Akhbar newspaper, that Saudi Arabia requested him to stay away from Iran as a price for a political rapprochement while the source denied that Saudi officials had ever asked that. The Saudi source revealed that al-Assad sent its envoy out of anxiety after international negotiations with its allies, Russia and Iran. It even went on to wonder “Who will accept to host al-Assad?Finally, the Saudi source considered that its country has achieved gains from this initiative and its meeting with the Syrian regime delegation in presence of the Russian delegation. This has shown the true face of al-Assad regime and its lack of credibility and proved that terrorism in Syria is not perpetrated in order to stand in the face of the regime crimes.