Saudi king recalls Syria envoy and condemns killings

KING ABDULLAH of Saudi Arabia has condemned Syria’s crackdown on protesters and recalled his ambassador to Damascus for consultations as the country’s military continued operations yesterday against the city of Deir al-Zor and other restive towns.

Kuwait and Bahrain have followed the Saudi example. “What is happening in Syria is not acceptable,” King Abdullah said, demanding an end to deployment of the “killing machine and bloodshed”.

“Any sane Arab, Muslim or anyone else knows that this has nothing to do with religion, or ethics or morals; spilling the blood of the innocent for any reason or pretext does not lead to the path to . . . hope.”

In Damasucus meanwhile, President Assad changed his defence minister, removing Ali Habib and replacing him with chief of staff Gen Daoud Rajha.

King Abdullah accused Damascus of a disproportionate response to protests that began in mid-March and urged Damascus to quickly implement thoroughgoing reforms to avoid anarchy.

These were strong words from the generally cautious and restrained octogenarian monarch who had previously refrained from intervening in the Syrian crisis.

The Arab League and the GCC condemned Dr Assad’s policies this month, calling for “an immediate cessation to all acts of violence”.

As well as killing at least 100 protesters on Sunday, security forces arrested hundreds more, Ammar Qurabi of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria said in a telephone interview.

Riyadh has been accused by Egyptian activists of working to maintain ousted president Hosni Mubarak in power as millions flooded into the country’s squares and streets demanding his overthrow.

The king’s warning to Syria reveals that he is concerned that by relying on repression, President Assad could be undermining his own ability to prevent Syria, once a stabilising force at the heart of the eastern Arab world, from sliding into sectarian and ethnic conflict as did Iraq after the 2003 US invasion and occupation.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria have been cold since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, a Saudi ally.

Damascus was blamed by the Hariri family and the Saudis for the killing, although the Syrians denied involvement.

The longer-term issue dividing Riyadh and Damascus is Syria’s 30-year alliance with Tehran. This was founded when Syria backed Iran against Iraq – ruled by a rival branch of the Baath party – during their eight-year war (1980-88).

The Saudis, who financed the Iraqi campaign, deeply resented the Syrian stance.

As guardians of Islam’s holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina, the Saudis regard Iran as an upstart Shia competitor for the allegiance of the global Muslim community, the Umma.

Since the 1979 Iranian revolution that toppled the pro-western shah, many Sunni Arabs have expressed support for Tehran’s anti-US, anti-Israel policies, although Iran is ruled by Shia clerics who have sought to export their brand of religious revival and their model of governance to Sunni countries.

To Riyadh’s alarm, Tehran has succeeded in bringing Iraq into its sphere of influence in spite of the US political and military presence in the country.

This is why the Saudis sent troops to Bahrain to help crush protests by Shias demanding equality and a more representative parliament.

The Saudis have responded to the Iranian challenge by funding mosques and preachers trained in their own ultra-conservative Wahabbi traditions and practices.

Saudi Arabia has fostered the emergence of ultra-orthodox Sunni Salafis and strengthened the Muslim Brotherhood, the pan-Arab parent of most Sunni political movements.

The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has been deeply involved in the protests in Syria.

Separately, the Saudi daily al-Sharq al-Aswat has reported that Riyadh and Washington have convinced Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh not to return to Sanaa, which has stabilised since he left for medical treatment following an attack on his compound.

The Saudis are said to have offered him sanctuary if he signs a document relinquishing power.