Report: US Seeks Arab Force in Syria
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration has asked Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to contribute billions of dollars in addition to troops to restore security in Syria
Dan Arkin
| 18/04/2018
US President Trump with Egyptian President el-Sisi and Saudi King Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Archive photo: AP)
The Wall Street Journal claims that the United States has been courting officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt in an effort to assemble an Arab force to "replace the US military contingent in Syria."
The paper quotes US officials as saying that John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, has asked Egypt’s acting intelligence chief Abbas Kamel if Cairo would contribute to the effort.
"Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE have all been approached with respect to financial support and more broadly to contribute," an official told the WSJ.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told the WSJ that "assembling a new force would be a challenge because Saudi Arabia and the UAE are involved militarily in Yemen, and Egypt would be reluctant to defend territory that wasn’t controlled by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad."
The mission of the regional force would be to work alongside US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces in their fight against the Islamic State and thwart any Iranian-backed forces from gaining territory formerly held by ISIS.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Tuesday that the kingdom is considering contributing troops as part of a broader international coalition to help stabilize Syria after the defeat of ISIS, the Washington Post reported.
Speaking to reporters in Riyadh, he said the deliberations on what type of force needs to remain in eastern Syria and where that force would come from are "ongoing."
"We are in discussions with the US and have been since the beginning of the Syrian crisis about sending forces into Syria," the minister said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration has asked Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to contribute billions of dollars in addition to troops to restore security in Syria
US President Trump with Egyptian President el-Sisi and Saudi King Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Archive photo: AP)
The Wall Street Journal claims that the United States has been courting officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt in an effort to assemble an Arab force to "replace the US military contingent in Syria."
The paper quotes US officials as saying that John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, has asked Egypt’s acting intelligence chief Abbas Kamel if Cairo would contribute to the effort.
"Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE have all been approached with respect to financial support and more broadly to contribute," an official told the WSJ.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told the WSJ that "assembling a new force would be a challenge because Saudi Arabia and the UAE are involved militarily in Yemen, and Egypt would be reluctant to defend territory that wasn’t controlled by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad."
The mission of the regional force would be to work alongside US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces in their fight against the Islamic State and thwart any Iranian-backed forces from gaining territory formerly held by ISIS.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Tuesday that the kingdom is considering contributing troops as part of a broader international coalition to help stabilize Syria after the defeat of ISIS, the Washington Post reported.
Speaking to reporters in Riyadh, he said the deliberations on what type of force needs to remain in eastern Syria and where that force would come from are "ongoing."
"We are in discussions with the US and have been since the beginning of the Syrian crisis about sending forces into Syria," the minister said.
