​Saudis fault US policy on Syria

RIYADH (SAUDI ARABIA): Saudi Arabia has abandoned its traditional policy of discretion in recent weeks, signalling deep anger at the Obama administration's Middle East policies and threatening to break with its most powerful ally and pursue a more robust and independent role in supporting the rebellion against Syrian president Assad.

Saudi officials concede that their efforts to forge an alternative strategy in Syria have run up against the same issue the Americans face: how to bolster the military might of a disorganized armed opposition without also empowering the jihadists who increasingly dominate its ranks.

While Saudi officials have hinted at a broader diplomatic shift away from the US, their options are limited there, too: It is dependent on American military and oil technology, and the other countries the Saudis have courted — including France and India — can help only on the margins, analysts say.

Diplomats who spent time with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi intelligence chief running the kingdom's Syria operation, say that he seems preoccupied with the number of foreign jihadists fighting in Syria , which he estimates at 3,000 to 5,000, including about 800 Saudis whose identities his government closely track.