From Syrian media
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Syria have seldom been higher. Sharp disagreements over Lebanon, Iraq and Palestinian have launched a very undiplomatic war of words in recent weeks, with both sides claiming the other is playing a divisive role in the region.
The most recent – and sensational – accusations came in August when the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Abdel Aziz Khoja, left the country claiming he had received repeated death threats. A member of Saudi Arabia’s appointed Shura (Consultative) Council went on to point the finger at Damascus, saying Syrian proxies could be behind the threats.
The Kingdom also launched a wave of blistering attacks through the various media channels it owns, condemning Syria for a number of perceived ills.
“The Saudi Kingdom is voicing concern on behalf of all the Arabs at Syria’s new role in the region and at the change of its historical role from being an Arab country in the heart of its Arab homeland to being part of a bizarre alliance with a regional element which does not conceal its aspirations to promote its own interests at the expense of the Arabs,” The Saudi daily ‘Okaz published on August 18. “So much so that Syria has practically become a dagger thrust by this regional element into the Arab nation.”
Syrian political analysts comment on these Saudi allegations by highlighting the Syrian role in defending the Arab issues and rights. “For more than 50 years, Syria has played a leading role in the Arab world,” Umran Zauby, a political analyst, said. “With respect to the Saudi accusations, those who have accused Syria of implementing non-Arab agendas cannot distinguish between the peaceful Iranian nuclear programme and Israel’s 300 nuclear war heads.”
The Syrian Government’s disapproval of the Arab powerbroker was made public in July when Vice-President Farouk al-Shara’a, addressing a gathering of journalists for Syrian Journalists Day, criticised Saudi Arabia’s role in the region. Describing it as “ineffective”, he added it was “regrettable” Saudi Arabia choose not to participate in a July meeting in Damascus about the security situation in Iraq, which was attended by US and British delegations. “Saudi Arabia’s political function in the Middle East is functionally semi-paralysed,” Shara’a said to the gathering.
But while the diplomatic tension between the two countries has only recently burst into the public realm, Syrian-Saudi relations have been boiling beneath the surface since the February 2005 murder of Rafik Hariri. The Saudi government suspects Syrian involvement in the assassination of the Saudi-backed former Lebanese PM and subsequently put pressures on Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon.
Last year’s war between Israel and the Syrian-Iranian backed Hezbollah further strained relations. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan criticised Hezbollah’s capturing of two Israeli soldiers and did little to stop the Israeli onslaught. The difference in opinion between Syria and its Arab neighbours became public during the war’s emergency meetings of the Arab League in Cairo when the countries’ foreign ministers traded barbs over the responsibility Hezbollah bore for the Israeli assault.
The insults continued following the conclusion of the war, with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad praising Hezbollah and describing its resistance as “heroic”, while criticising Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan for their failure to act decisively to stop the violence.
The two states also line up on different sides of the debate over Palestine. Syria supports Hamas, led by the Damascus-based Khalid Misha’al, while Saudi Arabia has thrown its weight and resources behind the pro-US Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Syria’s close ties with the Shiite-dominated government in Iraq is another thorn in the Kingdom’s side, particularly the government’s positive relationship with Nouri al-Malki who the Saudis regard as little more than an Iranian stooge. Syria has also moved to open an embassy in Baghdad – a diplomatic recognition Saudi refuses to grant its war-torn neighbour.
Syria’s strengthening ties with Iran are also causing alarm in Riyadh and spurring much talk of a Shiite Crescent extending from Iran through to the south of Lebanon. Those fears were heightened in January 2006 when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his first visit to Syria. The two countries were officially bound in a strategic alliance when the Ministers of Defence signed a mutual defence pact in June of the same year.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab states look with suspicion on the growing ties between secular Syria and the Islamic theocracy of Iran and have accused Damascus of adopting Iran’s agenda in the region – allegations denied by Syrian officials.
Saudi Arabia, the key Sunni state, is also disturbed by Iran’s economic and cultural influence in Syria, with Tehran accounting for USD 400m of the USD 800m of investment from non-Arab countries last year. Reports of Iran backing the conversion of Sunni Muslim communities in Syria, particularly in the country’s poor eastern area, remains a sensitive topic, as were rumours that Iran would build a new Hawza (a Shiite religious school) in Syria. While this was denied by Iran’s Ambassador to Syria Hassan Akhtri in an interview with Syria Today, such rumours do nothing to improve relations.
Reported attempts by Saudi Arabia to exert its influence in Syria through the country’s Bedouin tribes have also raised Syrian suspicions. In September 2006, a Syrian private news website claimed that an official from the Saudi Embassy in Damascus had met with Syrian Bedouin chiefs and encouraged them to “rebel against the regime”. Saudi Arabia has good ties with the Bedouin tribes, including those of the Shammar, Eniza, Rollah, Bano Khalid and others who live in the north-east of the country. Most of these tribes have Saudi relatives and visit the Kingdom regularly.
“Since the days of King Saud, the government of Saudi Arabia maintains strong ties with the Syria’s Bedouin chiefs and pays sharha, or an annual salary, to some of them,” Muhammad Hamad, an expert on Syria’s Bedouin tribes, said.
But it’s not all bad news. Despite a diplomatic freezing of relations between Damascus and Riyadh, day-to-day interaction between the two countries continues. Syrians still visit Saudi Arabia for religious purposes (umrah and hajj) and ever-growing numbers are heading East in search of good job opportunities. Syrian economists estimate that remittances from Syrians working in the oil-rich kingdom account for around USD 1bn each year.
Likewise, Saudi investment dollars continue to flow into Syria, with Saudi businessmen pouring in close to USD 200m according to Mohammad Seif Adeen, the deputy general director of Syria’s Investment Commission, in the past few years in a range of projects covering industrial, transport and agriculture. Many Syrian economists say the adverse political environment hasn’t dramatically affected the flow of Saudi investment dollars. “Saudi investment in Syria is stable,” Seif Adeen, said. “Most Saudi investors have family ties and partnership relations with Syrian businessmen.”
Likewise, despite the recent troubles, the two countries have put aside political differences to tackle crises affecting the region. The most recent example was in February when Syria intervened to pressure Hamas to sign up to the Saudi-led Mecca Accord which brought about – however brief – an end to fighting between Fatah and Hamas and gave hope for the creation of a national unity government in Palestine.
Damascus was publicly rewarded for this at the Arab summit in Riyadh in March 2007, when Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz received President Assad and expressed his wish to improve Saudi-Syrian relations.
Such cooperation shows what can be achieved in the region when the two countries work toward common goals. With both able to exert influence in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, the region can only hope a joint vision will soon emerge.
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