Saudi youth fighting against Assad regime in Syria

/saudi-youth-fighting-assad-regime-syria

  • Saudi youth fighting against Assad regime in Syria | GlobalPost
    http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/saudi-arabia/130312/saudi-youth-fighting-assad-regime-syria?page=0,1

    The Saudi government purges the country of young troublemakers while undermining a hostile neighbor, [Randa Slim] said. “In the name of a good cause, they are getting rid of a problem.”

    Human rights activist al-Qahtani called the Saudi stand a “don’t ask, don’t tell policy.” Saudi authorities have a strategic goal in Syria, he said.

    “Their ultimate policy is to have a regime change similar to what happened in Yemen, where they lose the head of state and substitute it with one more friendly to the Saudis,” al-Qahtani said. “But Syria is quite different. It will never happen that way.”

    Last week, a Saudi Court sentenced al-Qahtani to 10 years in prison for sedition and providing false information to foreign media. Human rights groups immediately defended al-Qahtani, saying he is being persecuted for his political views and human rights work. 

    Meanwhile, evidence mounts that Saudis are pouring into Syria.

    ... dozens of Facebook pages and Twitter feeds document the deaths of .. Saudis .... Almost all joined the al-Nusra Front.

    “Most people going there don’t think they will come back,” Alghufili said. “They will fight to die or win freedom.”

    ...

    Al-Qahtani argues that Saudi support for al-Nusra resembles their aid to the mujahedeen fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Back then Osama bin Laden was a scion of a Saudi construction magnate who transferred his inherited wealth out of Saudi Arabia and into what came to be called “The Base,” English for Al Qaeda. Both the United States and Saudi Arabia encouraged the flow of Arab fighters and arms to the Afghans, part of a proxy war against the Soviets.

    Saudi authorities set up networks to support the mujahedeen. “They recruited kids to fight there,” al-Qahtani said. “They financed them and provided them with [airplane] tickets.”