Saudi Arabia seeks Pakistani arms to overthrow Assad

Saudi Arabia is in talks with Pakistan to provide anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets to Syrian rebels to try to tip the balance in the war to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, a Saudi source said Sunday.

The United States has long opposed arming the rebels with such weapons, fearing they might end up in the hands of extremists, but Syrian opposition figures say the failure of Geneva peace talks seems to have led Washington to soften its opposition.

Pakistan makes its own version of Chinese shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, known as Anza, and anti-tank rockets – both of which Riyadh is trying to get for the rebels, said the source, who is close to Saudi decision-makers, requesting anonymity.

The source pointed to a visit to Riyadh earlier this month by Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, who met Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz.

Prince Salman had last week led a large delegation to Pakistan, shortly after Saudi’s chief diplomat Prince Saud al-Faisal visited the kingdom’s key ally.

Jordan will be providing facilities to store the weapons before they are delivered to rebels within Syria, the same source said, however, no confirmation could be could be obtained from any of the mentioned countires.

The head of the Syrian opposition, Ahmad Jarba, had promised during a visit to northern Syria last week that “powerful arms will be arriving soon”.

Rebels have long said that anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets would help tip the balance in the battle against Assad’s forces, which enjoy air superiority.

The nearly three-year-conflict in Syria has torn the country apart, killing more than 140,000 people, including some 50,000 civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.