Saudi unaware of Syria developments: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Naseer al-Omari, author and political analyst in New York, to discuss a report saying that the anti-Syria terrorist group known as Ahrar al-Sham has reportedly withdrawn from a conference in Saudi Arabia.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: The fact that Ahrar al-Sham might have quit this conference might be an afterthought because you know the fact that it was invited to this conference to begin with being unknown terrorist group is kind of confusing, isn’t it?

Omari: Yes, it is. The situation on the ground you know does not reflect what is happening in Saudi Arabia. The forces that are fighting on the ground are not represented in any way. Most importantly, ISIS is fighting on the ground and obviously they have no representation. So this meeting is really intended to show that the Saudis are in control of what is happening in Syria when, in fact, al-Qaeda is running the show on the ground and ISIS is actually you know is calling the shots on the ground. So I am not surprised that Ahrar al-Sham withdrew because they have the real power on the ground, not these politicians sitting in Riyadh.

Press TV: So then what is the point of this entire charade because you know apparently from this meeting the Saudis hope to achieve unity before going into any Vienna talks?

Omari: Well, it is political. The Saudis want to show the Europeans and the Americans that they are able to pull strings and [that] they control Syrian opposition when in fact they do not control anybody on the ground. All they do is just [to] provide weapons and ISIS is willing to fight even Saudi Arabia. So there is no political process and all the effort to unify the Syrian opposition, unfortunately, has failed and we will see these factions fight it out on the ground instead of you know trying to achieve a political solution.

Press TV: You know US Secretary of State John Kerry struck a very positive tone when it came to this conference, saying you know “there is progress”, but then you know where the presence of the likes of Ahrar al-Sham and varying degrees of militancy amongst all these groups, how can the US stand behind them?

Omari: It is a delusion that these terrorist groups can transform themselves into political movements; this has never happened and we have seen how ISIS and al-Qaeda itself, it was used in Afghanistan and then it turned against America and then against Saudi Arabia itself. It is a shame that the United States and Saudi Arabia failed to see that these terrorist groups can never be transformed into political factions. Their goal is to fight; their goal is to control power and attack everybody, including Saudi Arabia and the United States.

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