Geneva 2: UN retracts Iran’s invite, Syrian opposition confirms attendance
January 20, 2014
The UN has withdrawn an invitation for Iran to the January 22 Geneva 2 peace conference after Syria’s main Western-backed opposition group threatened to pull out of talks if the Islamic Republic attends.
A UN spokesperson announced Monday that UN chief Ban Ki-moon has withdrawn his invitation for Iran.
“[Ban] continues to urge Iran to join the global consensus behind the Geneva communique,” Ban’s spokesman Martin Nesirky said. “Given that it has chosen to remain outside that basic understanding, [Ban] has decided that the one-day Montreux gathering will proceed without Iran’s participation.”
Following the announcement Syria’s main opposition group – Syrian National Coalition – has confirmed its participation in the peace talks.
“We appreciate the United Nations and [UN Secretary-General] Ban Ki-moon’s understanding of our position. We think they have taken the right decision. Our participation is confirmed for 22 January,” Monzer Akbik, chief of staff of the president of the National Coalition told Reuters.
http://rt.com/news/iran-syria-peace-geneva-916/
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June 20, 2013 - ‘Syrian Rebels: We’ve Received Heavy Weapons from Saudis’:
The first delivery of heavy weapons has arrived on Syria’s front lines following President Barack Obama’s decision to put Western military might behind the official opposition, rebels told the British Daily Telegraph. More have now arrived, confirming reports that the White House has lifted an unofficial embargo on its Gulf allies sending heavy weapons to the rebels. “We now have supplies from Saudi Arabia,” a rebel source said. “We have been told more weapons are on their way, even higher-end missiles.” European Union foreign ministers agreed at the end of May to lift an arms embargo in order to supply weapons to Syrian rebels, but British Foreign Secretary William Hague said at the time that “no immediate decision” would be made on sending arms to the rebels. ”Terrorists will return to Europe with fighting experience and extremist ideologies,” President Assad told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169117#.Up9x2MTuK5U
November 7, 2013 - Saudi Arabia to spend millions to train new rebel force – Syrian, Arab and western sources say the intensifying Saudi effort is focused on Jaysh al-Islam (the Army of Islam or JAI), created in late September by a union of 43 Syrian groups. Diplomats and experts warned that there are serious doubts about its prospects as well as fears of “blowback” by extremists returning from Syria. The Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, is also pressing the US to drop its objections to supplying anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles to the JAI. Jordan is being urged to allow its territory to be used as a supply route into neighbouring Syria. (The Guardian)
November 10, 2013 - ‘The CIA is Leading Massive Arms Deliveries to Rebels in Syria, Saudi Arabia is Training Terrorists’:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/cia-is-leading-massive-arms-deliveries-to-rebels-in-syria-saudi-arabia-training-terrorists/5357531
November 30, 2013 - Terror Actions in Syria – Saudi Colonel Captured by Syrian Army:
http://www.aydinlikdaily.com/Saudi-Colonel-Captured-by-Syrian-Army-1445
18+...Graphic Video......Saudi lieutenant colonel killed in Syria
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http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bed_1373652652
December 6, 2013 - Pentagon approves $1.1 billion Raytheon missile sale to Saudi Arabia:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/06/us-raytheon-saudi-missiles-idUSBRE9B50SF20131206
December 12, 2013:
'No one is expecting a tank invasion of Saudi Arabia anytime soon, but the kingdom just put in a huge order for U.S.-made anti-tank missiles':
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/12/why_is_saudi_arabia_buying_15000_us_anti_tank_missiles_for_a_land_war_it_will_ne#sthash.otwdA4hc.dpbs
In 2010, the US made the largest arms sale in its history, selling $60 billion’s worth of jets and attack helicopters to the Arab kingdom. Saudi Arabia is also a major exporter of oil to the US, though its highly unlikely OPEC would support a slow down or boycott over the kingdom’s political gripes with the US. Israeli personnel in recent days were in Saudi Arabia to inspect bases that could be used as a staging ground to launch attacks against Iran, according to informed Egyptian intelligence officials…
Photo: American military basis on Qatar
