Saudis may free inmates to fight in Syria

Saudis may free inmates to fight in Syria

A UK daily has reported that Saudi Arabia has offered its ‘jihadist’ prisoners freedom if they agree to go into Syria and join al-Qaeda-linked groups in operations against the Syrian government.

The Guardian published an article late November stating that the Saudi authorities have been offering to release the prisoners if they accept to cooperate in Syria and Lebanon with al-Qaeda-linked groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The article said the “Saudi dictatorship,” along with Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and the Israeli regime, has also made a close alliance with the military rulers in Egypt.

Saudi Arabia has been the main supplier of weapons and funds to the militants in Syria.

According to a recent report by the French daily Le Figaro, the weapons used by the militants in Syria are initially purchased by Saudi Arabia from black markets in Ukraine and Bulgaria. The arms, which include Israeli missiles, are then transferred to a number of cells on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The foreign-sponsored militancy in Syria has inflicted a major humanitarian loss on the country in nearly three years of turmoil.