Agence France-Presse reported Saturday on remarks made by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah warning that “the West will be the next target of the jihadists sweeping through Syria and Iraq.” The king made his remarks about the jihadist threat, including the Islamic State of of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), at a ceremony welcoming new diplomats to the Gulf kingdom.
“If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month,” he said in remarks quoted on Saturday by Asharq al-Awsat daily and Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya television station.
“Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East,” said the king who was speaking at a welcoming ceremony on Friday for new ambassadors, including a new envoy from Saudi ally the United States.
In particular, Abdullah said, “You see how they (jihadists) carry out beheadings and make children show the severed heads in the street,” as an example of the “cruelty” of the jihadists.
The London based Saudi news site Asharq al-Awsat added:
British ambassador John Jenkins said that the ambassadors were lucky to be envoys to Saudi Arabia, affirming that the Kingdom is witnessing a period of safety, security and stability “while the phenomenon of violence, terrorism and bloodshed is sitting cities and capital around this safe haven.”
Saudi King Abdullah called on all ambassadors present to convey warnings regarding the evil of terrorism to their home countries, stressing that this evil phenomenon must be fought with “force, reason and speed.”
He said: “It is no secret to you, what they have done and what they have yet to do. I ask you to transmit this message to your leaders: ‘Fight terrorism with force, reason and (necessary) speed.”
In an op-ed this weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry echoed the king’s concerns and called for a global coalition to fight ISIS.
In Qatar’s Rise and America’s Tortured Middle East Policy, which was published in the August 2014 issue of The Tower Magazine, Jonathan Spyer wrote that there is a “three way divide in today’s Middle East – moderate and Western-oriented Sunni Arab states, like Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait and others; the Sunni extremists terrorist supporting states, Qatar and Turkey, who fund and promote forces like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas; and the dangerous and radical axis of Iran, Assad, and Hezbollah.”
[Source: Cherie A. Thurlby / WikiCommons ]