The intention of Saudi Arabia to intervene in the Syrian conflict has caused shock among all parties involved and forced the US to reconsider how far they are ready to go in its support of Riyadh, the article said.
"The United Kingdom is ready to participate in any ground operation of the coalition in Syria," Saudi Arabian military spokesman Ahmed Assiri told the news channel Al Arabiya earlier. Airstrikes alone would not be enough to eliminate Daesh, Assiri argued. "There rather should be a mix of air and ground operations," the military representative said.
The newspaper noted that the deployment of Saudi ground troops without consent of the Syrian government will constitute a violation of international law. Moreover, Riyadh is in fact the main "author" of the Syrian conflict as the Saudi monarchy has become the main source of financing and weapons supply to Islamist rebel groups in the region.
The military participation of the Saudis in the conflict will never be approved by Syria, Iran and Russia. For Shiite Iran, Saudi Arabia is the real embodiment of evil, since for many decades Saudi rulers sought to expand radical Sunni beliefs throughout the Middle East. For Moscow and Damascus, in turn, their military achievements in the counterterrorism fight play the most important role. Riyadh's intervention could negate all the common efforts, and both Russian and Syrian governments won't let that happen, Die Welt wrote.
