DefenseNews:
Saudi Sends Military Gear to Syria Rebels: Diplomat
DUBAI — Saudi Arabia is delivering military equipment to Syrian rebels in an effort to stop bloodshed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a top Arab diplomat said on March 17.
“Saudi military equipment is on its way to Jordan to arm the Free Syrian Army,” the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity. “This is a Saudi initiative to stop the massacres in Syria,” he added, saying that further “details will follow at a later time.”
The announcement came two days after the conservative Sunni-ruled kingdom said it had shut down its embassy in Syria and withdrawn all its staff. It also followed a brief meeting on the Syrian crisis last week between Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the Saudi monarch King Abdullah in Riyadh.
There was no official reaction to the statement from the Saudi capital, but Jordan flatly rejected the report.
“Jordan categorically denies the report,” government spokesman and information minister Rakan Majali told AFP. “This is completely baseless. Jordan has not discussed this issue with any parties or brought it up at all,” he said without elaborating, while adding that an official statement would be issued later on March 17.......
The diplomat’s statement on Saudi military supplies being sent to Syria came as Iraq told Iran it would not permit weapons shipments to the strife-torn country. Baghdad informed Tehran “that Iraq will not permit the use of its airspace or its territory for the transit of any arms cargo to Syria,” Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said..........