Saudi Step Up Help
for Rebels in Syria With Croatian Arms
A NYTimes article states that according to American and Western officials, "Saudi Arabia has financed a large purchase of infantry weapons from Croatia and
quietly funneled them to antigovernment fighters in Syria in a drive to break
the bloody stalemate that has allowed President Bashar al-Assad to cling to power." The weapons are attained via shipments through Jordan.
·
Signals shift among several governments to a
more activist approach to assisting Syria’s armed opposition and to counter
shipments of weapons from Iran to Mr. Assad’s forces
·
One Western official familiar with the transfers
said that participants are hesitant to discuss the transfers because Saudi
Arabia, which the official said has financed the purchases, has insisted on
secrecy.
Both the Saudi Arabian and Croatian governments are denying these claims. It will be interesting to see what the Arab League will say about them during their March summit this year (after SERMAL).
It will definitely interesting to follow news related to this. For those going to SERMAL, I'm sure this will definitely be something good to follow. The insistence of secrecy and denial makes this whole situation even more suspicious.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. I wonder if these weapons will actually make a significant difference the anti-government fighters' attempts against Assad. And if they do what will this cause as far as Saudi Arabia's relations with Iran who is shipping weapons to Mr. Assad's forces?
ReplyDelete