Saudi foreign minister defends policy at Munich meeting

“We reiterate our full support of Saudi Arabia against any interference in its internal affairs”, Xinhua quoted Mezouar as saying during a joint press conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel bin Ahmad Al-Jubeir.

MUNICH (AP) – Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Friday defended his country’s foreign policy and its stance in Yemen and Syria, insisting that the kingdom has no ambitions beyond its borders.

Riyadh last week announced Morocco agreed to join a future Saudi-led coalition in Syria in a bid to fight Islamic state combatants.

Saudi Arabia, which is leading air strikes against rebels in neighbouring Yemen, has warned the United Nations and worldwide aid groups to protect staff by removing them from areas held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to a letter that was seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia would be willing to commit special forces to Syria should the worldwide coalition decide to deploy ground troops against Islamic State, the country’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

As for Yemen, Mezouar said that the two sides consider that the Operation Decisive Storm was triggered to “defend legality in this brotherly country and restore peace and security”.

The man who is heading up a humanitarian task force on Syria following an overnight agreement on a cessation of hostilities within a week, says the deal could provide a “breakthrough” to get aid needed to civilians in the war-torn country.

“If Saudi Arabia does intervene in this part of Syria it will become yet one more combatant in the most complex and unsafe battlefield in the world”, he concluded.

O’Brien told Saudi Arabia that aid workers would continue to inform coalition authorities of their movements.

Fallon did not directly refer to ground troops and may have been thinking more in terms of a call is for the Gulf states to look at whether they could contribute more in terms of intelligence-gathering, finance, maritime services or more airstrikes. “But it is Turkey that is making the most concrete proposals”, he said.

Fallon denied the Turkish-German request was a sign that European Union efforts were failing. “Anything that helps save lives in the eastern Med and helps disrupt criminals behind this trafficking is extremely welcome and we will be looking at that proposal very seriously”, he said.