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Saudi depends on bribery to win foreign support: Analust

Saturday, 20 February 2016 7:03 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 20 February 2016 7:29 AM ]

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir gives an interview at his ministry in Riyadh on February 18, 2016. ©AFP

Press TV has conducted an interview with Naseer al-Omari, a writer and political commentator from London, on Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut aid to the Lebanese security forces.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: The Saudis say the decision to halt the aid package is due to Lebanon’s siding with Iran over the latest regional developments. Many believe that this by itself may be proof that many of those who sided with Saudis were actually forced to, because of fear of such reprisals. I mean how much can this hold true?

Omari: It is fear and greed. We have seen from the WikiLeaks documents that were released, I think, a year ago that the Saudi foreign policy is heavily dependent on bribing other countries to join whatever mission or whatever position they happen to take.

This is obviously in line with the Saudi foreign policy. They bribe, they threaten and we have seen that. We have seen that they have offered bribe to politicians, to newspapers, to countries and I’m not surprised at all that the Saudis would withhold this aid to the Lebanese security forces because of political and sectarian sentiments. I’m not surprised at all.

Press TV: And of course Lebanese sources have also posed another possible reason for this decision; and that is, the financial difficulties caused by the plunging oil prices. Is this the main factor, or an additional one, do you think?

Omari: This is an important factor. We have heard and seen how the Saudis are trying to balance their budget, there is no end in sight to the slide in oil prices and they’re spending billions of dollars on weapons to support wars all over the place. But I think this is intended to escalate actually with Iran, to escalate with Hezbollah.

They’re saying ‘you have to align yourselves with our policies; otherwise, there will be a price to pay.’ This is not new to the Saudi royal family. I’m not surprised at all that they would threaten Lebanon with its own security because that money was going to security forces.

So, I’m not sure who’s being punished here, but I’m sure the Lebanese government will come under a lot of stress, financial strain to support its own troops and its own security forces.

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