Did Saudi Arabia send al-Qaeda prisoners to Syria?

It has become increasingly difficult to believe the news. Documents can easily be forged and approval stamps no longer mean anything thanks to photoshop. Piles of documents have spread over the conflict in Syria but we are never told of their sources. The most recent of these documents was published twice in two different versions and stamped by the Saudi Minister of Interior, in which he orders Al-Qaeda prisoners to be released and sent to fight alongside Syrian revolutionaries. The idea is conceptually acceptable since we then get rid of both the terrorists and Bashar’s regime. Yet the danger of such an idea lies in the fact that they cannot guarantee that those fighters won’t threaten their own country and its neighbors. No one does, of course. This is what we have witnessed in Afghanistan and this is what Bin Laden has done to us. We sent him to fight the Soviets only for him to turn on us and other Muslims. The document was most likely fabricated by the Syrian regime as part of its false propaganda, but why would they do this? They want us to believe that the war is between them, the fighters and the extremists in a complex triangle of conflict. Yet the real sides are that of the regime and the fighters. Extremists are common components of both sides. They supported Assad before the revolution and they antagonized whoever they could. Assad hosted and supported them during the war in Iraq against US forces. He also used them in Lebanon against the Sunnis. He also alleged that they had assassinated Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. Assad tried to use the Fatah Al-Islam, an extremist group, to topple Fouad Siniora, the other former prime minister. Assad sparkled the fighting that lasted for months before the Lebanese Army stopped it, but only after the Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr Al-Bared, came toppling down on its own people. The Assad regime has made it easier for extremists to take part in the current conflict so that Assad can convince Westerners that he is fighting Al-Qaeda. Now, these extremists are no longer under his control and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of “Jihadis” have entered Syria from Europe and the Arab states. Syrians have joined these Jihadis and hoisting the black flag instead of the revolution’s flag. In short, they want to establish an extreme Islamist state. Two days ago, an alleged statement announced the unity of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Jabhat Al-Nusrah in Syria. This allegation has yet to be confirmed. It may well be a lie told by the Syrian regime to scare Westerners from arming the opposition. It also could be true, which reflects the Syrian regime’s failure and the sectarian disintegration of Iraq. Briefly put, this announcement serves only the Assad regime and the Al-Maliki government in Iraq. Unlike the Syrian regime, Saudi Arabia would never send hundreds of Al-Qaeda prisoners to support the Syrian people. As we know, the original Al-Qaeda organization members are still based in Yemen and to date, have not gone to fight in Syria because they consider Saudi Arabia their main target. They are controlled by Iran through other Islamist groups who act as intermediaries. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.