Saudi Arabia will be the first country to contribute troops should a joint U.N.-Arab peacekeeping force proposed by the Arab League see light, journalistic sources in the kingdom said, following the sharp toned remarks voiced by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal during the League’s meeting on Sunday.

“The Royal Saudi Land Forces will be at the forefront of participants in the peacekeeping mission in Syria should the decision taken by the Arab foreign ministers during their meeting in Cairo yesterday be approved,” journalistic sources in Saudi Arabia told Naharnet.

The Arab League on Sunday decided to offer political and financial support to the Syrian opposition and to ask the United Nations to form a joint peacekeeping force to the unrest-swept nation in moves swiftly rejected by Syria.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed media reports said the kingdom had addressed a strongly worded ultimatum to the Syrian regime, warning it “to stop the killing within 72 hours or face a possible direct military intervention or military support for the soldiers who have defected from the regime.”

Media circles in the kingdom have been buzzing with the aforementioned reports.

According to semi-confirmed information obtained by Naharnet, columns of Saudi tanks are heading north towards the city of Tabuk which is located some 90 kilometers from the Halat Ammar border crossing with Jordan.


http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/29937...ping-force