United States President Donald Trump has spoken to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud by phone on Saturday regarding the Washington’s latest direct military action in Syria.
During the telephone conversation, Trump briefed the Saudi King on the launch of 59 precision guided missiles that hit Shayrat Airfield in Syria, where Washington claims Tuesday’s alleged chemical attack was launched.
On his part, Saudi King Salman congratulated the US President on “this courageous decision which serves the regional and world interest,” a statement released by SPA read.
In one of the first international reactions to the developments in Syria, Saudi Arabia on Friday said it “fully supports” US strikes on military targets in the country, adding that it was a “courageous decision” by President Donald Trump in response to the use of chemical weapons against civilians.
“A responsible source at the foreign ministry expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s full support for the American military operations on military targets in Syria, which came as a response to the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians…,” a statement carried by state news agency SPA said.
The statement praised what it described as “the courageous decision” by Trump and said it holds the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responsible for the military strikes.
The Saudi king’s remarks came as his country has been launching deadly airstrikes against the impoverished people of Yemen for the past two years. According to the UN, the Saudi military campaign has claimed the lives of more than 11,000 Yemenis and left 40,000 others wounded.
Local Yemeni sources have already put the death toll from the Saudi war at over 12,000, including many women and children.
