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Saudi Arabia says US has welcomed troops offer for Syria

Saudi Arabia says the United States has welcomed Riyadh’s offer to contribute forces to a potential ground incursion by a US-led coalition in Syria.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the offer, made last Thursday, had been met with Washington’s approval and that Saudi forces would be playing a major role in any such operation.

“The United States government was very supportive and very positive about the kingdom’s readiness to provide special forces to the operation in Syria, should the international coalition make a decision to do so,” he told reporters.

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir (photo by AFP)

“So the kingdom will be part of it,” he said. “That support came from the White House, it came from the [US] State Department, it was natural for [US] Secretary [of State John] Kerry to support such a decision.”

The 65-member coalition, of which Saudi Arabia is a member, has been conducting air raids inside Syria since September 2014. The airstrikes have no authorization from the Syrian government or the UN and have reportedly fallen short of uprooting the militants.

State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the United States had welcomed the Saudi offer, but he would not comment on the nature or timing of any potential ground operation.

“We are talking about a ground element,” he said. “We have discussed the potential value of a special operations capability inside that element, which would be valuable.”

Washington itself has deployed special forces to eastern Syria in what it claims is an effort to shore up local militias against Daesh.

Emad Askarieh

Emad Askarieh has worked as a journalist since 2002. The main focus of his work is foreign policy and world diplomacy. He started his career at Iran Front Page Media Group, and is currently serving as the World Editor and the Vice-President for Executive Affairs at the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website.