Update: Syrian FM warns against Saudi military intervention

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned Saudi Arabia against intervening in Syria militarily, saying those who will enter the Syrian ground without the consent of the Syrian government "will return to their countries in wooden coffins."

Speaking at a press conference held in the capital Damascus, Syria's top diplomat said "we will resist any violations to our sovereignty."

"Any ground intervention in Syria without the consent of the Syrian government is an aggression that should be countered, which will be the duty of all of the Syrian people. And the aggressors will return to their countries in wooden boxes," al-Moallem warned, while asked about the recent reports, suggesting Saudi Arabia is ready to send ground troops into Syria.

The head of the Syrian diplomacy said "the logic and the normal sense rule out any possible intervention scenario, but reviewing the crazy decisions made by Saudi Arabia in other areas suggest that nothing can be ruled out."

"I think there is something being cooked under a U.S. supervision between Turkey and Saudi Arabia," he said.

"Whether Saudis or Turkish, all those who will practice aggression on Syria will be sent back in wooden coffins."

The minister said the Saudi desire to enter Syria came after their frustration with the defeats dealt against the Saudi-backed militants in key Syrian areas recently.

"After the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, the conspirators against Syria have become desperate with the failure of their tools on ground, so they decided to enter personally," he remarked.

Last Friday, a Saudi military spokesman said the kingdom is ready to send ground troops to fight the Islamic State (IS) in Syria if the U.S.-led coalition agrees.

Brigardier General Ahmed Asiri told Dubai-based TV channel Al-Arabiya the country will commit ground troops to the conflict for the first time if its coalition partners agree during an upcoming meeting in Brussels.

Saudi Arabia has taken part in the coalition's air strikes since the United States began the air assault on IS group in September 2014.

The Syrian government regards any move into the country without its consent an aggression, particularly that Syria sees any Saudi intervention as an intervention aimed not at fighting the IS, but to render support to its militants on ground.

Regarding the Geneva talks on the Syrian crisis, al-Moallem said his government rejects any preconditions ahead of the talks, blaming the foreign-backed opposition groups for the failure of the first rounds of talks, which started last week and were later suspended till Feb. 25 due to the lack of progress.

He said the opposition backers wanted to strike the political process because they were counting on advancing on ground.

"They came because pressure was practiced on them to come, not because they wanted to negotiate," he said, adding that "such opposition don't belong to the Syrian people and they don't have the leverage to negotiate. They pretended to care about the humanitarian situation in Syria but they didn't seem to have enjoyed breaking the siege on Nubbol and Zahraa," both pro-government Shiite towns which were besieged by the militants in Aleppo for over three years, before the Syrian army backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah group succeeded to break the siege in recent days.

He said the Syrian delegation was the first to arrive in Geneva, adding that all the government asked for was a list of the opposition groups that were planned to take part in the talks.

"After the end of the talks, which haven't even started, the UN provided a list of the opposition groups," he said, stressing that his government is ready to return to Geneva for the Syrian-Syrian dialogue without preconditions, adding that "Syria will not place any precondition and at the same time will not accept any."

"We are committed to the concept of dialogue... and the Syrian people are the only ones who can decide the future of their country," he said.

Ahead of the meeting in Geneva, the opposition demanded bringing the Syrian army operations against rebel-held areas to a halt, adopting the communique of the 2012 Geneva meeting, which calls for a political transition in Syria, and basing the upcoming negotiations on the 2013 UN resolution no. 2118, which calls for forming a transitional governing body exercising full executive powers, which could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent.

During previous talks in Geneva in 2012 and 2014 that ended without results, the Syrian government said the opposition must not place preconditions, noting that any issue should be subjected to negotiations.

Meanwhile, amid the sweeping victories of the Syrian army in Aleppo, the minister urged the rebels in Aleppo to lay down their weapons as a result of the Syrian military progress. He said the Syrian government is ready to settle the situation of the rebels who abandon the insurgency against the Syrian government "because they are the sons of this country."

"Your regional backers are giving up on you," the minister said in a message to the rebels.

He stressed that the Syrian government still deems all those who hold up arms against the army as terrorists.

Speaking of terrorism, the minister revealed that the Syrian government has intelligence cooperation with some Western countries, except Britain and France.

"Whoever wants to return to Syria is welcome," he said, in a reference that Syria welcomes any cooperation to share intelligence with the countries that truly want to counter terrorism. Endit