Saudi Arabia warns against foreign involvement in Syria

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on Tuesday warned of the risk of the involvement of foreign forces in the Syrian crisis, while vowing further help for the Syrian rebels. During a press conference with visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the Saudi city of Jeddah, al-Faisal said his country considers the role of Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah group in Syria as "dangerous." Some Gulf Arab countries, along with the West, say that the Syrian government troops are fighting the rebels with assistance of Hezbollah fighters, and that they are receiving sophisticated weapons from Damascus' long-time ally Iran. Al-Faisal called for prohibiting the flows of arms to the Syrian troops. But at the same time, he pledged to provide military aid to the opposition fighters to "defend themselves." For his part, Kerry stressed that the U.S.-Russia proposed Geneva meeting, which is scheduled to be held in July, is the best chance to resolve the crisis in Syria. The meeting, according to its original plan, is expected to be attended by both Damascus officials and the opposition representatives. However, as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to send a delegation to the conference, the opposition, frustrated by recent setbacks in rebels' battles with the government forces, is reluctant to show up in Geneva.