Western Allies in Persian Gulf 'Becoming a Burden'

The West should reconsider its alliances in the Middle East with states involved in human rights abuses and supporting Islamic extremists, London-based human rights group Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria Founder Ribal al-Assad told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — The United States and Europe count Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Gulf monarchies as key allies in the ongoing fight against the Islamic State and extremism in the Middle East, despite those countries' documented support for Salafist extremists and the Muslim Brotherhood.

“They are becoming a burden on us,” Assad said in a Thursday interview specifically citing Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

A number of western allies are “worse than the Syrian regime,” Assad, the cousin of Syrian President Bashar Assad, explained.

“Our allies are still dictatorships… some of them [still follow] Sharia law, they cut people's heads off, they cut people’s hands off, they whip people. These are our allies, but it is embarrassing today to say these are our allies,” Assad stated.