Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Saudis wary of West's overtures to Syria due to its links with Iran
Saudi Arabia thinks Syria has not delivered enough to deserve Western diplomatic overtures and fears international rapprochement would do little to cut Damascus' links with Iran, diplomats and analysts say.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:45 October 21, 2008
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia thinks Syria has not delivered enough to deserve Western diplomatic overtures and fears international rapprochement would do little to cut Damascus' links with Iran, diplomats and analysts say.
They also say that Saudi rancour towards Syria and its president Bashar Al Assad may be blinding Riyadh to the possibilities of dialogue with Damascus.
A US official said this month Washington is assessing its policy of trying to isolate Syria. The review in US policy follows a recent rapprochement between France and Syria, with President Nicolas Sarkozy visiting Damascus last month.
In a sign of a possible thaw, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Mua'allem on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at the end of last month - their third meeting in 18 months.
But a Western diplomat said those moves were unlikely to change thinking in Riyadh. "The hatred they have in Saudi Arabia for Syria is enormous. King Abdullah [Bin Abdul Aziz] says Bashar 'broke an oath' - though what oath we don't know," said the diplomat, who has experience of Lebanese and Syrian affairs.
Negotiation channel
He said Arab and foreign governments had "underestimated" Al Assad, an eye doctor who was plucked from relative obscurity in London to succeed his father Hafez Al Assad who died in 2000.
Al Assad made further overtures to Western powers last week, issuing a decree to allow the establishment of diplomatic relations with Lebanon for the first time since the two Arab neighbours won independence from France in the 1940s.
Israel and Syria have also begun a negotiation channel through Turkish mediation aimed at a peace deal.
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