A senior member of Saudi Arabia’s monarchy called on Friday for Syrian rebels to be given anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to “level the playing field” in their battle against President Bashar al-Assad.

Insurgents in Syria have seized territory in the north of the country and control suburbs to the east and south of the capital, but Assad’s air power and continued army strength have limited their advances 22 months into the conflict.

“I’m not in government so I don’t have to be diplomatic. I assume we’re sending weapons and if we were not sending weapons it would be terrible mistake on our part,” Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Intelligence Chief and brother of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, said in a televised debate at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting moderated by Al-Arabiya TV.

Prince Turki warned of extremists flowing into Syria from North Africa, Europe and other regions to fight with opposition forces.

“Stop the killing and you won’t have these terrorists, they won’t have any place to go in Syria,” he said. Their presence was predicted from day one in the event of a prolonged crisis, he added.

Funds should be channeled to “the good guys” among the opposition to help them regain their credibility among the people.

“You have to level the playing field. Most of the weapons the rebels have come from captured Syrian stocks and defectors bringing their weapons,” he said.

“What is needed are sophisticated, high-level weapons that can bring down planes, can take out tanks at a distance. This is not getting through.”

Syria has accused Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, the United States and France of funding and arming the rebels, something they have all denied. But U.N. diplomats say that weapons are clearly reaching the rebels via Gulf Arab states and Turkey.

Saudi Arabia has called in the past for the rebels to be armed, but Diplomats say that Western countries are reluctant to allow sophisticated weapons into the country, fearing they would fall into the hands of increasingly powerful Islamist forces.

The United States has designated one Islamist group in Syria - the Nusra Front - as a terrorist organization and expressed concern about the growing Islamist militant strength in Syria.

But Prince Turki said foreign powers should have enough information on the many rebel brigades to ensure weapons only reached specific groups.

 

Source: Al Arabiya - Photo: Reuters