Ready to supply ground troops to help anti-ISIS, says UAE

Syria would resist any ground incursion into its territory and send the aggressors home “in coffins”, its foreign minister said on Saturday, in comments clearly aimed at Sunni Arab countries that have said they were ready to join such an operation.

The Syrian army advanced towards the Turkish border on Monday (local time) in a major offensive backed by Russian Federation and Iran that rebels say now threatens the future of their almost five-year-old insurrection against Assad. “Turkey is enthusiastic about this option (of ground troops) since the Russians started their air operation and tried to push Turkey outside the equation”, Alani added. “We need to combine both to achieve better results on the ground”, he added.

In December, Saudi Arabia formed a military alliance to combat terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, and Afghanistan. Sending their own troops into the fray would mark a significant turning point.

“(The Saudis) have made such a claim but I don’t think they are courageous enough to do so … “They have a classic army and history tells us such armies stand no chance in fighting irregular resistance forces”, said Jafari.

In coordination with Turkey, thousands of ground troops could be deployed, the Guardian reported.

Saudi Arabia and most other Gulf states are opposed to the Assad government.

Another opposition delegate, Monzer Makhous, said the decision to leave the talks was rather easy.

Al-Jubeir declined to say how many troops Saudi Arabia might be prepared to send.

Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei warned any Saudi ground troops in Syria would set the entire Middle East, including the kingdom itself, on fire. Stemming from this relationship, the north African country has been participating in the Saudi-led airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which aim to restore legitimacy to the country’s now contested government. Politicians across the political spectrum, from Bernie Sanders to Marco Rubio, have been critical of Saudi Arabia’s lack of commitment to fighting ISIS. Like many other countries, it is aware that the organization will try and target the country at some stage.

Al-Moallem dismissed the representatives of the Saudi-backed opposition in Geneva, suggesting they followed orders from Saudi Arabia and were “not real Syrians”.

Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, outright threatened Sunni Arab nations who planned to get involved in the conflict, according to the Israel’s Haaretz.