The British newspaper “The Guardian” revealed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman secretly gave the green light to Russia’s intervention in Syria, noting that the former Saudi intelligence chief Saad Al-Jabri – who is currently in Canada – and with bin Salman’s permission reversed his country’s support for opponents of the Assad regime in 2015.
Russia Today quoted the British newspaper as saying that in 2015, Mohammed bin Salman, the then Saudi defense minister and third in the throne, turned his country’s foreign policy upside down and gave the secret green light for Russia’s intervention in Syria, “according to a lawsuit filed by Al-Jabri.
According to Al-Jabri’s lawsuit, the move by the man who became crown prince alarmed the then CIA Director John Brennan, who met with the former intelligence official in July and August 2015 and asked him to deliver a reprimand from the Barack Obama administration.
According to the lawsuit filed last week, “Brennan expressed concern that bin Salman was encouraging Russian intervention in Syria, at a time when Russia was not yet a party to the war in Syria,” as the newspaper indicated that Saad Al-Jabri conveyed Brennan’s message to bin Salman, who He responded angrily.
Al-Jabri stated that the meeting with Brennan cost him his job as the second most powerful man in Saudi intelligence and coordinator with the “CIA”, and later fled Saudi Arabia and is now residing in an unknown location in Canada, indicating that the crown prince tried to assassinate him through a squad sent to Canada after the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Al-Jabri presented his accusation of attempted extrajudicial killing as a “flagrant violation of US law and international norms and standards” under the Torture Victims Protection Act and the Alien Torture Act.
Neither the Saudi government nor the Saudi embassy in Washington has commented on these accusations.
In March 2020, Saudi security arrested two sons of Al-Jabri, Sarah, 20, and age 21, and he has not heard from them since that time. There is a comment from the royal court on his accusations.
The British newspaper declared that saying Mohammed bin Salman’s call to intervene in Syria is a “bomb,” noting that the royal family was clearly supporting opponents of the Syrian regime.
And Western diplomats say that, shortly after Mohammed bin Salman was appointed defense minister after his father’s ascension to the throne following the death of King Abdullah in January, he was severely affected by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed.
A source familiar with the events since 2015 stated that Mohammed bin Zayed and bin Salman met at the Index weapons exhibition in Abu Dhabi in February 2015, adding that it was a turning point in the ambition, vision and belief of Mohammed bin Salman.
The source stated that Mohammed bin Zayed said, “The threat of a revolution led by the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria is more dangerous from the point of view of the Gulf states, than if Assad remained in power,” explaining that he had convinced his Saudi counterpart that if he wanted to compete and topple his cousin, Muhammad bin Nayef, the crown prince, and responsible Al-Jabri, who had a relationship with Brennan and the Obama administration, should look for friends beyond Washington.
The same source explained that Mohammed bin Zayed told bin Salman that you should search for new alliances and you should look towards China and Russia, “noting that Mohammed bin Zayed has a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Hassan Hassan, director of the “Non-State Players” program at the International Policy Center in Washington, said: “I was privy to some important discussions regarding the Gulf states’ support for a Russian-led role in Syria and after the war on Yemen in 2015.
He continued, “At that time, the UAE was pushing for Russia’s support to achieve stability in Syria and help Damascus regain the areas it lost.
Hassan Hassan stated that the initiative initiated by Prince Muhammad bin Nayef and Al-Jabri and was supported by the “CIA” and known as “Riyadh Chamber”, discussed which group should be supported and which should be rejected.
He stated that the “Riyadh Chamber” was able to achieve some kind of success and control of Western and Gulf support to the groups opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2014, but it faded in the spring and summer of 2015 with the rise of Muhammad bin Salman.
Hassan Hassan also mentioned that in June 2015, Mohammed bin Salman, who was then deputy crown prince, traveled to St. Petersburg and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and according to Al-Jabri, they discussed the Russian intervention in Syria.
The British newspaper added that when the CIA learned of the discussions, Brennan called Jabri for an emergency meeting in Dublin in July, and Brennan conveyed during the meeting the resentment of the United States.
I also mentioned that Brennan met with Jabri again in Washington and held talks at the same time with Secretary of State Philip Hammond, who expressed his concern.
