Saudis drop idea of toppling Syrian regime

Syria's Bashar al-Assad

WASHINGTON – The Saudis are telling Russia they no longer seek to topple the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, but insist they should continue arming and training their surrogates in the Free Syrian Army as opposition to ISIS – even though FSA commanders have signed a non-aggression pact with ISIS.

Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal reportedly gave the news to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a staunch defender of the Assad regime.

However, Middle East sources regard the Saudi comments to the Russian president as a deflection of the kingdom's true intentions of ultimately seeing the Assad government replaced with a Sunni-led government and is using an offer of training U.S.-backed Islamic fighters as a "ruse."

"The Saudi offer is a ruse to train fighters to oust Assad and ultimately for the Saudis to reassert their influence again not only in Syria but Lebanon to halt the spread of Iran's Shiite influence in the region," one Lebanese political source told WND. "The offer for the U.S. and West to train and equip jihadi fighters to fight ISIS hides the real intent of the Saudis."

The Obama administration is to ask Congress for a half billion dollars to facilitate the training, with the Saudis taking the lead on the expenditures.

However, as WND previously reported, FSA fighters increasingly are linking up with ISIS. The FSA not only has seen many of its fighters defect to ISIS but it also turned over American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, both of whom were subsequently beheaded.

In fact, commanders of the FSA forces have announced they won't attack ISIS. Its leader in Syria, Col. Riad al-Asaad, announced that his forces have signed a non-aggression pact with ISIS.

"The two parties will respect a truce until a final solution is found and they promise not to attack each other because they consider the principal enemy" to be Assad's government and military.

The al-Qaida-affiliated group Jabhat al-Nusra had mediated the non-aggression pact between the FSA and ISIS.

Even though the fighters between ISIS and al-Nusra had battled one another, al-Nusra's mediation role suggests it, too, is working more closely with the Islamic State, even though its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, severed ties over a year ago over major differences between them.

In effect, all jihadist groups appear to be coalescing under ISIS.

Sources believe this non-aggression pact between FSA and ISIS could have an impact on whether Congress will vote to authorize funds to train and equip rebel groups. That vote could take place as early as this week.

In addition to the U.S. having to fork over the money to pay for the train and equip of jihadist fighters under Saudi Arabia's direction, there also is concern in Congress the weapons will wind up in the hands of ISIS as they have in the past.