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SaudiArabia:Ifneeded,removeSyria'sAssadbyforceCNN.com

Saudi Arabia official: If all else fails, remove Syria's

Assad by force
By Mick Krever, CNN
Updated 1115 GMT (1915 HKT) February 13, 2016

Will Saudi Arabia send ground troops to Syria? 01:06

Story highlights
"I believe Bashar al-Assad is weak," Saudi
foreign minister says
Saudi Arabia will send ground troops to fight in
Syria, but only as part of a U.S.-led coalition

Editor's Note: Part two of Amanpour's interview with

the Saudi foreign minister, on the war in Yemen and
human rights in Saudi Arabia, airs next week.
Munich, Germany (CNN)Saudi Arabia's foreign
minister says if the Syrian political process fails,
President Bashar al-Assad will have to be removed "by
force."

"I believe Bashar al-Assad is weak and I believe Bashar

al-Assad is finished," Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an
exclusive interview in Munich, Germany.
Saudi Arabia is prepared to contribute ground troops to the fight in Syria, but only as part of a U.S.-led
coalition, he said.
"Bashar al-Assad will leave have no doubt about it. He will either leave by a political process or he will be
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SaudiArabia:Ifneeded,removeSyria'sAssadbyforceCNN.com

removed by force."
"We will push
as much
+ as we can to ensure that the political process works. But if it doesn't work, it will be
Regions
because of the obstinance of the Syrian regime and that of its allies."
"And should that prove to be the case, then it becomes clear that there is no option to remove Bashar alAssad except by force."

No time for celebrations

The political process has been in doubt, especially of late. U.N.-brokered talks were put on ice almost as
soon as they started this month.
Hopes were buoyed here in Munich after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov announced an agreement that would, in theory, lead to a pause of sieges to allow
humanitarian aid delivery, and an eventually de-escalation of hostilities.
Jubeir called the deal "very important."
But U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told Amanpour the time for celebration had not yet arrived.
Only after the deal is implemented, Eliasson said, will the U.N. be able to think about restarting peace talks.
He emphasized that, though he was hopeful about the deal's prospects, it was not yet a breakthrough, and
he needed to see progress within a week to believe in the deal's robustness.

Russia steps in
Russia's intervention in the Syrian conflict last fall has bolstered Assad's position and allowed him to launch
a major offensive on the rebel-held city of Aleppo.
Saudi Foreign Minister Jubeir made clear that his
country's troops would not go it alone.

"I can tell you that there is some serious discussion

going on with regards to looking at a ground
component in Syria, because there has to be a
possibility of taking and holding ground, that one
cannot do from the air."
"We are saying we will participate within the U.S.-led
coalition, should this coalition decide to send ground
troops into Syria, that we are prepared to send
special forces with those troops."

Related Video: Saudi FM: Bashar al-Assad

is finished in Syria 10:30

When asked whether America was doing enough to

help bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria, Jubeir
said they are "playing a role" in the political process,
in supporting the opposition, and helping Syria's
neighbors.

Whether that is enough, he said "is for the Americans to decide."

"From my perspective no country, including Saudi Arabia, can play a big enough role.""

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'Neighbors have to live with each other'

Were Saudi troops to deploy to Syria, they could come into direct contact with the military of Iran Saudi
Arabia's longtime foe in the region, with whom tensions have been rising of late.
"We have always said that we would like to have good relations with Iran," Jubeir said.
But Saudi Arabia, he said, has been on the "receiving
end" of Iranian aggression.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif expressed similar
genial sentiments in an interview with Amanpour last
month, but did not miss an opportunity to mention
that 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11, 2001,
were Saudi citizens.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif

"We believe that Iran and Saudi Arabia can be two

important players who can accommodate each
other, who can complement each other in the
region," Zarif said.
"Unfortunately," Zarif said, "the Saudis have had the
illusion that, backed by their Western ally, they could
push Iran out of the equation in the region. And they

were successful for some time."

Jubeir reacted to that with mock incredulity.
"I find it comic that the foreign minister of the country that is single-handedly responsible for the mischief in
the region for the past 35 years would say this," he said.
"It is Iran that has mobilized sectarian militias from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan to support this dictator, not
Saudi Arabia," Jubeir said, referring to Assad.
Iran is our neighbor," he said. "But neighbors have to live with each other based on the principle of good
neighborliness, And the principle of non-interference in the affairs of others."

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