Saudi FM doesn't rule out military option in Syria
Date
9/30/2015 8:50:11 AM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Tuesday that military operations could be an option to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the absence of a political solution to the years-long conflict.
A devastating civil war in Syria now in its fifth year has claimed more than 250000 lives according to UN figures and made the country the world's single-largest source of refugees and displaced people.
Speaking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York al-Jubeir warned that a military option would be destructive but said that it was up to al-Assad to decide whether or not to comply with a political roadmap tabled by several nations in 2012.
According to the roadmap al-Assad should step down to make way for a transitional Syrian government.
The Saudi FM said the Free Syrian Army and moderate anti-Assad opposition groups would enjoy stepped-up support.
He went on to describe Iran as an “occupying power” in Syria stressing that no solution to the conflict could be achieved without the withdrawal of Lebanese militia Hezbollah -- and other Shia militias -- from the war-torn country.
Al-Jubeir did not however rule out the possibility of negotiations with Iran regarding the conflict.
He also criticized both Iran and Russia for their ongoing support for al-Assad which he asserted only served to dim hopes for a political solution.
He also asserted that recent Russian troop deployments to Syria were not intended to combat the Daesh militant group but rather to shore up the al-Assad regime.
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