Saudi Arabia And The Gulf States May Send Special Forces Into Syria

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir attends a news conference at a hotel in Paris, France, December 15, 2015, where he said their Islamic anti-terror alliance will share information and train, equip and provide forces if necessary for the fight against Islamic State. REUTERS/JACKY NAEGELEN

Reuters: Saudi Arabia says sending special forces to Syria under discussion

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are discussing sending special forces to Syria as part of U.S.-led efforts to fight Islamic State, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Tuesday.

"There are discussions, countries that are currently part of the coalition (like) Saudi Arabia, the (United Arab) Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain about sending in some special forces into Syria, and those discussions are ongoing. It's not excluded," Adel al-Jubeir told reporters.

He said that the discussions were aimed at clarifying the needs and the objectives of such an operation, but that the picture should become clearer in the next few weeks.

Jubeir was speaking in Paris after outlining a separate initiative by Riyadh to set up a coalition of Islamic countries for counter-terrorism operations, especially in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.

Update: Saudi: deploying anti-ISIS troops not ruled out (Al Arabiya)

WNU Editor: The problem with this Saudi plan to send special forces into Syria is that no one believes that they will be focused on just fighting the Islamic State. Saudi Arabia wants Syrian President Assad gone .... and Iranian influence curtailed. That is their priority .... not waging war against ISIS. My guess is that they also want this new organization to get involved in the fight .... Saudi Arabia Forms 34 Nation Islamic Alliance To Fight Terrorism .... or at least  give Saudi Arabia the political cover to intervene in the Syrian war.