Saudi Arabia plays a dangerous double game in Syria

Saudi Arabia is playing a dangerous double game—turning a blind eye to the jihadists flocking from Riyadh to Syria while assuring the West of its commitment to fighting terror.
Saudi jihadists are flocking in growing numbers to join al-Qaeda affiliates in northern Syria and despite public expressions of disquiet, Saudi Arabian officials are doing little to try to stop them flying out from the Riyadh airport—a further sign, say Western diplomats, of the Kingdom throwing caution to the wind when it comes to the Syrian civil war.
While the Obama administration is fearful of the rise of extremism in the Syrian rebel ranks, an increase in Saudi Arabia’s gloves-off support of militant factions is further undercutting the Western-backed and more moderate “Free Army”—which is near to collapse—benefiting not only radical Islamists but also al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria who have close ties with the Saudi-backed Islamic Front.
In early December, the head of the “Free Army” Salim Idriss, fled to Turkey when units of the Islamic Front occupied the militias’ warehouses on the border with Turkey that contained American-supplied equipment such as trucks, food, medicine and communications equipment including laptops and radios.
The Saudi point man on the Syrian conflict, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, has been angry over the Obama administration’s Middle East policies—from the decision to refrain from striking Syria to pushing a provisional nuclear deal with arch-rival Iran—and he appears prepared to court the risks of backing the Islamic Front, while reassuring Americans officials he is concerned about the growing clout of the al-Qaeda affiliates al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and The Levant, or ISIL.
The Saudis are in jeopardy of repeating history, says an American intelligence official who declined to be named for the article. “There was blowback for the Saudis from jihadists fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980s and that could happen again.”
“The Saudis are playing a double game,” says the official. “They are focused on out-maneuvering Iran in Syria, at the same time strengthening the jihadists, I don’t see them making much effort to avoid this happening. They seem to be operating under the principle of my enemy’s enemy is my friend.”
Certainly, Saudis leaving to fight in Syria are having few problems on their departure from the Kingdom. Western officials estimate that nearly a thousand Saudi jihadists have joined al-Qaeda affiliates in northern Syria in recent months and they suspect that number will exponentially grow in the coming months. The Saudis have told American officials they are tracking the flow.
But U.S. intelligence sources say dozens of Saudi jihadists have been allowed to fly out of Riyadh without challenge, several after being released from detention and many of whom were under official travel bans. Those going to fight are not obscure figures: a major in the Saudi border guards was killed in early December in Deir Atieh in Syria; another Saudi jihadist killed fighting in Aleppo was the son of Maj. Gen. Abdullah Motlaq al-Sudairi.
Hardline Salfist Saudi clerics have also been heading to Syria without incurring problems from Saudi Arabian authorities.

Source: Breaking News Network