Saudi Senior Official on a Visit in Deir Ez-Zour, Arab Tribes Call for Stability Support
Deir Ez-Zour – North-Press Agency
Delsoz Yousuf
The Saudi Minister of State for the Middle East affairs, Thamer Al-Sabhan, visited the Autonomous Administration territories in the eastern countryside of Deir Ez-Zour yesterday and met some of the region’s tribes’ leaders.
The Saudi minister discussed the latest developments in the region with the heads of the Arab tribes in Deir Ez-Zour Governorate, after the expulsion of the “Islamic state”, and the support for stability process.
The meeting was held in Al-Busaira, Al-Egidat tribe’s leader Jamil Mahmoud Al-Hefel, Al-Begarra tribe’s leader Hajim Al-Bashir, Al-Sheittat tribe’s leader Naser Al-Khalaf, and Bujamel tribe’s leader Hammoud Al-Nofel, the meeting was also attended by Ghassan Al-Yousuf, the co-chair of Dei Ez-Zour civil council, in addition to the Saudi Minister of State and the representatives of the US State Department, the advisor to the Global Coalition Against ISIS William Robak.
The tribes’ leaders pointed out to the Saudi official that the Syrian Government supports the infrastructure of the west bank of the Euphrates River, alongside supporting the service sectors in a bid to tempt the local population of the area to move to the government-controlled areas, as the public utilities and infrastructure in the east of the Euphrates had much great destruction, as a result of the military campaign against ISIS, calling on Saudi Arabia to provide economic support to the region.
While the tribes’ leaders expressed their full support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in which the Arab component constitutes the largest proportion of these multi-ethnic forces, stressing that their region enjoys more security and stability than the Syrian and the Iraqi sides, especially in the post-ISIS territories.
Minister Al-Sabhan, promised that Saudi Arabia would provide the needed support for the stability of the region, calling on the tribes to hold together with all of the other components of the region to prevent the return of the terrorist group of ISIS again.
Al-Sabhan also promised to support the region’s economy by providing support to small projects, the education system, and the health sector to revive life in the East of Euphrates.
This is the Saudi Minister’s second visit to North and East Syria, after the first visit on October 2017.