Looks like Islamabad tries to dodge taking an active part in the military operation against Yemen. Pakistani Prime Minister Navaz Sharif owes Saudi Arabia. It saved his life and let his clan prosper. Thanks to kingdom’s interference he was exiled from the country instead of facing the death sentence handed down by the country’s Supreme Court in 2001. Sharif was sheltered by Saudi Arabia after the coup that overthrew him in 1999. The benevolent attitude of kingdom’s ruling circles contributed to success of his family business. Now Riyadh is irritated by the fact that personal close relationship with the Prime Minister does not guarantee Pakistan’s participation in the operation against Yemen…

…Official sources report that during the negotiations with King Abdullah, President Obama only rejected the idea of direct U.S. military strikes against Syria.  Obama considered everything else, including the delivery of MANPADs to the rebels, to be possible. White House representatives do not speak plainly about this; they begin to prevaricate, but the question can essentially be considered resolved. After the negotiations, it is clear that this summer Riyadh and Washington, in partnership with other «friends of Syria», will once again try to use weapons to «close the issue» of al-Asad and of the Syrian Arab Republic in its current form…

Recently the Syrian issue has flared up once more. Heated discussions in American political circles and emotional speeches from participants of the Arab League conference in Kuwait March 25-26 are not a discussion of plans for the peaceful resolution of the Syrian conflict; they are a debate about which method for capturing Damascus and overthrowing President al-Asad will be most effective… Now Americans see Syria as a way to get «revenge for Crimea» and the capture of Damascus as an opportunity to deprive Moscow of all its positions in the Middle East… Obama is to visit Riyadh March 28-29. At the end of the week it will apparently become clear what path al-Asad’s opponents have chosen for the «final solution» to the Syrian issue.