Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz called on Thursday for an end to “genocide” against the Syrian people, during a meeting in Jeddah with the head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition.
Ahmed Aowainan Al-Jarba briefed the crown prince on the sufferings of the Syrian people under ongoing Syrian regime crackdown, the state news agency SPA reported.
The Saudi crown prince “stressed the Kingdom’s firm stance of the need to put an end to all kinds of genocide and starvation suffered by the Syrian people,” according to SPA.
Saudi Arabia is a major supporter of the Syrian uprising and pressed from the early days of the conflict for joint international action against Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on civilian protesters.
As the conflict developed into an open civil war, Saudi Arabia called for backing the opposition Free Syrian Army with the weaponry needed to defeat Assad’s army.
