Blinken announces $150M in aid for Syria and Iraq
Riyadh, The Gulf Observer: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the U.S. would provide nearly $150 million in aid for areas in Syria and Iraq that were liberated from the Islamic State extremist group.
He spoke at a ministerial conference hosted by Saudi Arabia on combatting the group, which no longer controls any territory — but whose affiliates still carry out attacks across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS includes more than 80 countries and continues to coordinate action against the extremist group, which at its height controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq. Blinken said the U.S. pledge is part of new funding amounting to more than $600 million.
“Poor security and humanitarian conditions. Lack of economic opportunity. These are the fuel for the kind of desperation on which ISIS feeds and recruits,” he said, using a common acronym for the extremist group. “So we have to stay committed to our stabilization goals.”
Blinken co-hosted the conference as part of a two-day visit to the kingdom in which he met with senior Saudi officials, including the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Blinken also attended a meeting of Gulf foreign ministers.
The United States has been forced to recalibrate its decades-long alliance with Saudi Arabia as the kingdom seeks to transform itself into a global player untethered to Washington.
Under the crown prince, the oil-rich kingdom has embarked on a massive economic and social transformation aimed at reducing its dependence on oil and attracting commerce, investment and tourism. In recent years the kingdom has lifted a ban on women driving, sidelined its once-feared religious police and begun hosting concerts, raves and visiting celebrities — all of which was unthinkable a decade ago, when it was best known internationally for its ultra-conservative Islamic rule.
The Saudis have meanwhile launched wide-ranging diplomatic efforts to wind down their war in Yemen, resolve a crisis with Qatar, restore relations with archrival Iran and welcome Syria’s President Bashar Assad back into the Arab League after a 12-year boycott.
