Meet Saudi Arabia's Bandar bin Sultan: The Puppetmaster Behind The Syrian War.pdf

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Home > Meet Saudi Arabia's Bandar bin Sultan: The Puppetmaster Behind The Syrian War

Meet Saudi Arabia's Bandar bin Sultan:

The Puppetmaster Behind The Syrian WarBy Tyler DurdenCreated 08/27/2013 - 15:21

[1]Submitted by Tyler Durden [1] on 08/27/2013 15:21 -0400

China [2] Evans-Pritchard [3] Iran [4] Middle East [5] Saudi Arabia [6] Turkey [7]

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Yesterday the Telegraph's Evans-Pritchard [8] dug up a note that we had posted almost amonth [9]ago, relating to the "secret" meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia, in whichSaudi's influential intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan met with Putin and regaledhim with gifts, including a multi-billion arms deal and a promise that Saudi is "ready to helpMoscow play a bigger role in the Middle East at a time when the United States is

disengaging from the region", if only Putin would agree to give up his alliance with Syria'sal-Assad and let Syria take over, ostensibly including control of the country's all importantnatgas transit infrastructure [10]. What was not emphasized by the Telegraph is that Putinlaughed at the proposal and brushed aside the Saudi desperation by simply saying "nyet."However, what neither the Telegraph, nor we three weeks ago, picked up on, is whathappened afterPutin put Syria in its place. We now know, and it's a doozy.

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[11]

Courtesy of As-Safir [12](translated here [13]), we learn all the gritty details about what reallyhappened at the meeting, instead of just the Syrian motives and the Russian conclusion,and most importantly what happened just as the meeting ended, unsuccessfully (at leastto the Saudi). And by that we mean Saudi Arabia's threats toward Russia and Syria.

First, some less well-known observations on who it was that was supporting the MuslimBrotherhood in Egypt even as US support was fading fast:

So while Saudi was openly supporting the Egyptian coup, which is well-known, it wasTurkey and most importantly Qatar, the nation that is funding and arming the Syrianrebels, that were the supporters of the now failed regime. One wonders just how muchEgypt will straing Saudi-Qatari relations, in light of their joined interests in Syria.

Bandar said that the matter is not limited to the kingdom and that somecountries have overstepped the roles drawn for them, such as Qatar andTurkey. He added, We said so directly to the Qataris and to the Turks.We rejected their unlimited support to the Muslim Brotherhood inEgypt and elsewhere. The Turks role today has become similar toPakistans role in the Afghan war. We do not favor extremist religiousregimes, and we wish to establish moderate regimes in the region. It isworthwhile to pay attention to and to follow up on Egypts experience. Wewill continue to support the [Egyptian] army, and we will supportDefense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi because he is keen onhaving good relations with us and with you. And we suggest to you tobe in contact with him, to support himand to give all the conditions for

the success of this experiment. We are ready to hold arms deals withyou in exchange for supporting these regimes, especially Egypt.


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Second, some better-known observations by Putin on Russia's relationship with Iran:

Then, Putin's position vis-a-vis Turkey, whom he implicitly warns that it is "not immune toSyria's bloodbath."

Of course, there is Syria:

Regarding Iran, Putin said to Bandar that Iran is a neighbor, thatRussia and Iran are bound by relations that go back centuries, andthat there are common and tangled interests between them. Putin

said, We support the Iranian quest to obtain nuclear fuel for peacefulpurposes. And we helped them develop their facilities in this direction. Ofcourse, we will resume negotiations with them as part of the 5P+1 group. Iwill meet with President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of theCentral Asia summit and we will discuss a lot of bilateral, regionaland international issues. We will inform him that Russia iscompletely opposed to the UN Security Council imposing newsanctions on Iran. We believe that the sanctions imposed against Iranand Iranians are unfair and that we will not repeat the experience again.

Regarding the Turkish issue, Putin spoke of his friendship with TurkishPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Turkey is also a neighboringcountry with which we have common interests. We are keen to developour relations in various fields. During the Russian-Turkish meeting, wescrutinized the issues on which we agree and disagree. We found out thatwe have more converging than diverging views. I have already informedthe Turks, and I will reiterate my stance before my friend Erdogan, that

what is happening in Syria necessitates a different approach on their part.Turkey will not be immune to Syria s bloodbath. The Turks ought to bemore eager to find a political settlement to the Syrian crisis. We are certainthat the political settlement in Syria is inevitable, and therefore they oughtto reduce the extent of damage. Our disagreement with them on theSyrian issue does not undermine other understandings between us at thelevel of economic and investment cooperation. We have recentlyinformed them that we are ready to cooperate with them to build twonuclear reactors. This issue will be on the agenda of the Turkish primeminister during his visit to Moscow in September.

Regarding the Syrian issue, the Russian president responded to Bandar,saying, Our stance on Assad will never change. We believe that theSyrian regime is the best speaker on behalf of the Syrian people, and notthose liver eaters. During the Geneva I Conference, we agreed with the


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Alas, that has failed.

So what are some of the stunning disclosures by the Saudis? First this:

It is good of the Saudis to admit they control a terrorist organization that "threatens thesecurity" of the Sochi 2014 Olympic games, [14]and that house of Saud uses "in the faceof the Syrian regime." Perhaps the next time there is a bombing in Boston by someChechen-related terrorists, someone can inquire Saudi Arabia what, if anything, they knewabout that.

But the piece de resistance is what happened at the end of the dialogue between the twoleaders. It was, in not so many words, a threat by Saudi Arabia aimed squarely at Russia:

Americans on a package of understandings, and they agreed that theSyrian regime will be part of any settlement. Later on, they decided torenege on Geneva I. In all meetings of Russian and American experts,we reiterated our position. In his upcoming meeting with his Americancounterpart John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov willstress the importance of making every possible effort to rapidly reach apolitical settlement to the Syrian crisis so as to prevent further bloodshed.

Bandar told Putin, There are many common values ??and goals thatbring us together, most notably the fight against terrorism and extremismall over the world. Russia, the US, the EU and the Saudis agree on

promoting and consolidating international peace and security. The terroristthreat is growing in light of the phenomena spawned by the Arab Spring.We have lost some regimes. And what we got in return were terroristexperiences, as evidenced by the experience of the Muslim Brotherhoodin Egypt and the extremist groups in Libya. ... As an example, I can giveyou a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics in the city of Sochi on theBlack Sea next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security ofthe games are controlled by us, and they will not move in the Syrianterritory s direction without coordinating with us. These groups do notscare us. We use them in the face of the Syrian regime but they will haveno role or influence in Syrias political future.

As soon as Putin finished his speech, Prince Bandar warned that inlight of the course of the talks, things were likely to intensify,especially in the Syrian arena, although he appreciated the Russiansunderstanding of Saudi Arabias position on Egypt and their readiness tosupport the Egyptian army despite their fears for Egypt's future.


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Since we know all about this, it means no more talks, an implicit warning that theChechens operating in proximity to Sochi may just become a loose cannon (with Saudi'sblessing of course), and that about a month ago "there is no escape from the military

option, because it is the only currently available choice given that the politicalsettlement ended in stalemate." Four weeks later, we are on the edge of all out war,which may involve not only the US and Europe, but most certainly Saudi Arabia andRussia which automatically means China as well. Or, as some may call it, the world.

And all of it as preordained by a Saudi prince, and all in the name of perpetuating thehegemony of the petrodollar.

P.S. Russia and Saudi Arabia account for 25% of global oil production.

China Evans-Pritchard Iran Middle East Saudi Arabia Turkey

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-27/meet-saudi-arabias-bandar-bin-sultan-puppetmaster-behind-syrian-war

Links:[1] http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden[2] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/139[3] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/9325[4] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/8419[5] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/11126[6] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/11356

[7] http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/10360[8] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10266957/Saudis-offer-Russia-secret-oil-deal-if-it-drops-Syria.html[9] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-08/putin-laughs-saudi-offer-betray-syria-exchange-huge-arms-deal[10] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-16/mystery-sponsor-weapons-and-money-syrian-rebels-revealed[11] http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/08/Prince%20Bandar.jpg[12] http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2543&articleId=1693&ChannelId=61387#.UhQa-pNOKM8

The head of the Saudi intelligence services said that the dispute overthe approach to the Syrian issue leads to the conclusion that thereis no escape from the military option, because it is the only currentlyavailable choice given that the political settlement ended instalemate. We believe that the Geneva II Conference will be verydifficult in light of this raging situation.

At the end of the meeting, the Russian and Saudi sides agreed to continuetalks, provided that the current meeting remained under wraps. This wasbefore one of the two sides leaked it via the Russian press.


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[13] http://assafir.com/MulhakArticle.aspx?EditionId=2548&MulhakArticleId=1836474&MulhakId=6439#.UhyKCW2Qb_S[14] http://www.sochi2014.com/en/


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Meet Saudi Arabia's Bandar bin Sultan: The Puppetmaster Behind The Syrian War.pdf