“Any ground intervention in the Syrian territories without the government’s approval would be an act of aggression that has to be confronted, and in that case confrontation will be every Syrian’s duty”, al-Moallem clarified, adding that “Any aggressor will be sent back to their country in wooden boxes,”.
Advertisement
Since late 2014, Saudi Arabia has been part of a US-led coalition which officially has 65 members and has been bombing the Islamic State Sunni militant group which seized large parts of Syria and Iraq. Russia’s Defense Ministry on Thursday said it had “reasonable grounds” to suspect Turkey is making intensive preparations for a military invasion of Syria.
NATO’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has warned Russian airstrikes against opposition forces in Syria are “undermining efforts to find a political solution to the conflict”.
The U.S. has already sent around 50 special forces into the war-torn country to assist moderate rebel groups fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, but congressional Republicans want the White House to do more. Turkey and Saudi Arabia reportedly set up a military coordination team a few weeks ago.
Al-Moallem said conventional wisdom and logic would suggest the entry of Saudi troops is unlikely, but that “with the insane Saudi leadership nothing is far-fetched”.
Although Riyadh says the focus is on fighting ISIS, the deployment of more countries’ ground troops in Syria would likely draw opposition from the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies, given the Saudis’ strong support for anti-Assad rebel factions.
But aid agencies have said giving them food and temporary shelter is not enough.
Regime forces entered the two towns on Thursday to the cheers of residents, who chanted pro-government slogans and showered the fighters with rice. Al-Jubeir made these comments at a press conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier and revealed that the “Vienna group” will hold talks in Munich next week “to put the Syrian crisis on the right track”.
Foreign Minister al-Muallem went on to criticize United Nations envoy Steffan de Mistura for conducting talks with Syrian opposition leaders whom he claimed “don’t represent the Syrian people”.
Advertisement
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists from various groups, including Daesh (ISIL), now controlling parts of it.
