RIYADH — Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that any move to deploy Saudi special forces into Syria will depend on a decision by the US-led coalition fighting Daesh (the so-called IS). "The Kingdom's readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh in Syria — this US-led coalition — so the timing is not up to us," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told a news conference with his Swiss counterpart Didier Burkhalter in Riyadh. "With regards to timing of the mission or size of troops, this has yet to be worked out," he added. Jubeir said that Russia's efforts to support Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad will not succeed in keeping him in power, adding that previous efforts to prop up Assad, including by Iran, had "failed." "Now, (Assad) has sought the help of Russia, which will fail to save him," he said, urging Moscow to "end its air operations against the moderate Syrian opposition." Assad's departure "is a matter of time... sooner or later, this regime will fall, opening the way for building a new Syria without Bashar Al-Assad," said Jubeir. He urged the Syrian regime to "immediately allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to all parts of Syria, end military attacks on innocent civilians... (and) begin a political transition in Syria." US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday he expected both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send special operations forces to Syria to help local opposition fighters in their drive to retake the city of Raqaa. — With agencies
