CAIRO—Syrian
Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem warned Saudi Arabia not to send troops to his
country, threatening, during a press conference Saturday, that troops would be
sent back home in coffins.
Muallem's statement at a news conference on Saturday came
two days after Riyadh said it
would send troops to Syria if the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rebel group would approve of it.
When asked about the possibility of Saudi ground troops entering
Syria, he said although it was unlikely, "with the crazy Saudi leadership
nothing is far-fetched".
"Any ground intervention in Syria, without the agreement of
the Syrian government, will be considered an aggression that should be resisted
by every Syrian citizen," he said. "I regret to say that they will
return home in wooden coffins."
He repeated the line three times during the one-hour press
conference, saying it applies to anyone who attacks Syria with ground troops.
Muallem also appeared to indicate a heightened confidence
that the government's recent military advances against opposition fighters put
it "on track" towards winning the five-year war.
"Like it or not, our battlefield achievements indicate that
we are headed towards the end of the crisis," he said, before calling on
rebel fighters to "come to their senses" and lay down their weapons.
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