Biden Apologizes to KSA after UAE, Turkey

Local Editor

US Vice President Joe Biden called Saudi Arabia's foreign affairs minister Tuesday and "clarified" previous comments in which he suggested Saudi Arabia and other key allies had financed the "ISIL" in Iraq and Syria group, the White House said.

Biden had already apologized to the leaders of the two other countries, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which, like Saudi Arabia are key members of the US-led coalition taking on ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The remarks had caused questions in Washington as to whether they would dampen the resolve of US allies who have signed up to fight the extremist group, which has overrun large swaths of Syria and Iraq in recent months.

The vice president thanked Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal for Saudi Arabia's cooperation in the international coalition, a White House official said.

Biden also "clarified" his remarks regarding how the conflict first unfolded in Syria, the official added, saying both officials agreed the issue had been closed.

In his comments, Biden referred to Turkey and its leader President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as Saudi Arabia and the Emiratis as friends.

But he said they been so determined to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that they had "poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against" him.

"Except the people being supplied were al-Nusra and al-Qaeda and extremist elements of "jihadis" coming from other parts of the world," Biden said.

Investigative media reports from the past two years have indicated that KSA, Qatar, and Kuwait have been financing the extremist groups.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team