KSA pays al-Qaeda to start war in Iraq: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Zayd al-Isa, Iraq Affairs expert, about terrorist car bombings across Iraq in mainly Shia populated districts.

The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: It seems the situation in Iraq is not letting up; the bloodshed continues. What do you make of it – where is this headed?

Al-Isa: As you said it seems that there is an intense relentless campaign to destabilize Iraq. The main culprit there is al-Qaeda and the remnants of the Baathists.

But, we can easily see that the al-Qaeda has been vaulted into prominence again after being on the back foot and left reeling in 2008 – That is why all the funding, arming, logistical support; and even the unprecedented move of paying salaries to all the Wahhabis and Salafist mercenaries that are converging on Syria.

All this arming and funding has gone to the most ruthless and brutal force of extremists in Syria that is Jabhat al-Nusra and that has been confirmed by The New York Times.

Now, the connection is that al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has confirmed and acknowledged that Jabhat al-Nusra is simply part and parcel of the al-Qaeda in Iraq.

That means all that arming and funding, logistical support, paying salaries all went to dramatically intensify the power influence and prowess of al-Qaeda, which has been waging war against the Iraqi people targeting specifically Shia areas and the security forces, which are based in western Iraq….The overarching goal of Saudi Arabia is actually to instigate a sectarian war in Iraq.

Press TV: As you’ve just said these elements are trying to sew sectarian strife within Iraq. How do you think the Iraqi people are going to cope with that? Do you see them actually falling for this or do you see them coming out stronger than before?

Al-Isa: Well, I do see them and we have been seeing them for the last eight months, despite the relentless carnage and targeting of the Shias, fiercely resisting and simply resisting the temptation to actually take up arms and start a sectarian war because they know it’s an outside agenda, which is led by Saudi Arabia.

Now, Saudi Arabia desperately needs to trigger and start a sectarian war in Iraq in order to save its own skin because they see that the myth it has propagated for decades that it is the guardian and defender of Sunni Islam has unraveled and fallen apart in the eyes of the Saudi people… because they’ve seen that the main overarching goal of the Saudi regime is not only to hold at bay democratic change, but also mainly to turn the tide and revert the popular uprisings.

And we see the Saudi regime spearheading the counter revolution so that it has been laid bare in front of the Saudi people and that’s why the Saudi regime has to demonstrate to its people that it is defending the Sunnis.