The speculations about Saudi Arabia climbing down on the regime change project in Syria in tandem with the United States’ diplomatic moves following up the Russian initiative on chemical weapons, can now be laid to rest. The UPI has a special report that spy chief Prince Bandar Sultan is being assigned to work on bringing together under Saudi control the hardline Islamist groups operating in Syria.
Prince Bandar reportedly paid a secret visit to Israel last month. Saudi Arabia and Israel have a congruence of interests in the containment of Iran. Recently, in his UN speech Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointedly referred to Israel and some unnamed Arab states working together.
The Saudis and Israelis are petrified that a broad spectrum engagement between the West and Iran may commence in a near future. Both watch with deep disquiet that contrary to expectations that any US-Iran thaw would be a painfully slow process, “significant progress” has already been made in the secret discussions going on between the two adversaries.
Suffice to say, an aggravation of the Syrian conflict suits Saudi Arabia. Prima facie, this could put Riyadh at odds with the US and its western allies, but then, it could be equally argued that the US and Saudi Arabia go a long way in using radical islamists as instrument of regional policies.
Ironically, the head of Britain’s MI5 Andrew Parker in a major speech on terrorism Tuesday in London highlighted the rise of al-Qaeda threat in Syria. He said:
“A time-lapse sequence of a world map over the past decade would show outbreaks [of al-Qaeda] in Iraq, North & West Africa, Yemen, Somalia, and most recently Syria. Al Qaida and its affiliates in South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula present the most direct and immediate threats to the UK. For the future, there is good reason to be concerned about Syria. A growing proportion of our casework now has some link to Syria, mostly concerning individuals from the UK who have travelled to fight there or who aspire to do so. Al Nusrah and other extremist Sunni groups there aligned with al Qaeda aspire to attack Western countries.” [Emphasis added.]
In the final analysis, what probably stands out is the sharp decline in the US’ capacity to influence Saudi regional policies and the Saudi perception that its interests in regional politics do not necessarily coincide with the Obama administration’s policies. For instance, Saudi Arabia has been extending robust support to the junta in Egypt despite the Obama administration distancing itself from the folks in Cairo.
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