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In a new indication of the escalating hostility between the
regime of Syria’s President Bashar Assad and Saudi Arabia, pro-Assad Syrian
websites claimed that Syria has assassinated Prince Bandar bin
Sultan, Saudi Arabia’s flamboyant former ambassador to the United States,
who was appointed to head his country’s intelligence services earlier this
month.
The reports, which cited unofficial sources and for which
there was no confirmation, claimed that Bandar was killed because it was he,
with American support, who organized the July
18 bombing in central Damascus that killed several of Assad’s most
senior ministers and aides.
One analyst said privately that, whatever the truth of the
claim, it underlined the profound hostility between Assad’s regime and the
Saudis.
The Syrian reports, quickly picked up elsewhere Monday,
including on Israel Damascus CIA . An English
account of the purported Syrian revenge attack in which Bandar was allegedly killed,
on the Voltaire Network’s website, noted admiringly that “It
took Syria
The reports claimed Bandar had been appointed his country’s
spy chief on July 24 as a reward for organizing the Damascus
Credible Western reports have said Bandar was actually
appointed Saudi intelligence chief on July 19, the day after the Damascus
A Reuters profile of Bandar last week noted that the
intelligence appointment represented a return to prominence for Bandar, 63,
“who vanished from public view when he was recalled from Washington by King
Abdullah in 2005 after notching up 22 years as the kingdom’s ambassador there.”
The same article noted that Saudi Arabia, the United States’
closest Arab ally, “is a firm supporter of the Syrian rebels now battling in
Damascus” to oust Assad “and is mending fences with Washington after a
disagreement over last year’s Arab uprisings.”
It quoted Jamal Khashoggi, an influential Saudi
commentator, saying: ”Bandar is quite aggressive, not at all like a
typical cautious Saudi diplomat. If the aim is to bring Bashar down quick and
fast, he will have a free hand to do what he thinks necessary. He likes to
receive an order and implement it as he sees fit.
