Saudis, Western countries not seeking to eradicate Daesh: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Saeed Shahabi, political analyst from London, to ask for his take on a recent report saying that the number of foreign militants operating in Iraq and Syria has doubled since last year.

What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What do you think has led to the increase of militants travelling to Iraq and Syria?

Shahabi: Well, there are several factors for this increase. Number one is the continuation of ISIS to be a strong force in that region and that inspires many extremists to join them in Iraq and Syria, but most importantly the Western governments and their local allies especially the Saudis and the [P] GCC (Persian Gulf Cooperation Council) are not really serious about ending or curtailing the ISIS terrorists. Yes, they do want ISIS not to attack their own interests, the interests of the [P] GCC countries especially the Saudis or America and the West. This is what they want, but they do not really want to eradicate ISIS as a movement because it is serving their interests. So ISIS leadership and also its sympathizers feel and know that the bottom line is that their eradication is not an aim of those Western countries and their allies in the region. This is why they are being influenced by the propaganda of those Sheikhs in the Arabian Peninsula or the propaganda of ISIS itself.

Press TV: According to this report between 20 and 30 percent of the militants return home, creating major security challenges for their countries. That is an issue that they will have to inevitably deal with in the future.

Shahabi: Well, so far we have not seen much happening, for example, in Saudi Arabia. We have not seen them, these Takfiris [and] these terrorists, taking action there. We only see them taking action in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, North Africa and Nigeria, but not in those countries. The problem is that the West is not serious; they know that they need a place where they dump those extremists. There are many extremists in the West, [including] London, Washington and in many European countries and they are becoming a threat from within. Now the best thing for the West is to dump them somewhere where they can only inflict harm on others and become a local problem for the Arab countries.

The Saudis are also fearful. If they stop ISIS, if they really flush it out from Syria and Iraq, where will they go? They may go to Turkey and they may also go to Saudi Arabia. This is when the problem starts for those regimes. So they really do not want serious confrontation with them that will end up in scattering them in those countries that have created and financed them. 

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