The former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, addressed the attempts to reintegrate Bashar Al-Assad into the region. This was mentioned in a video interview conducted with Princeton University's School of International and Public Affairs, which was later published on their YouTube page. In the interview, a question was posed to the prince: "Has Bashar Al-Assad been reintegrated into the region? How do countries like Saudi Arabia deal with all the damage his regime has caused to his people and the atrocities against displaced persons and the deaths of many Syrians at the hands of Syrians with the help of Russia and Iran?"
Prince Turki responded: "It seems that way... I must say that I am not in the government to deal with this matter and I do not envy any of our officials who have to face issues stemming from previous actions by him (Bashar Al-Assad) and his regime. The truth is, I do not know what is happening on the ground. If I have to say something, I do not think I would be useful regarding this matter, and as I said, the officials are monitoring this issue, and I will leave the topic here."
Regarding the Houthis and the threat to navigation that directly harms Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Prince Turki stated: "I see here the irony of the matter; Saudi Arabia has been condemned even by its allies regarding the events in Yemen, which preceded what is happening in Gaza, especially concerning the Houthis and whether they should be listed on U.S. terrorism lists or not. The arrival of Mr. Biden and their removal from that listing and now placing them back (on the terrorism list) and it is not Saudi planes that are bombing the Houthis but rather American, French, and British planes; for me, this is really an incomprehensible matter..."
He continued: "How did things evolve to the point where the Kingdom is engaging with the Houthis regarding what is happening in Yemen, and those who were urging us to engage with the Houthis and make peace in Yemen are now in conflict with the Houthis? This is something that should not have happened in my opinion, but it has occurred, and the only thing that the Kingdom can do, in my view, is to call for everyone to calm down and de-escalate tensions and reduce missiles and drones, among other things."
