Qatar willing to send ground troops to Syria

Qatar became the latest Gulf state to signal its willingness to intervene in Syria with ground troops.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheik Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said Qatar indicated last year it was willing to send soldiers to fight DAESH.

"In October 2015, our former foreign minister mentioned this clearly that if the coalition decided to do anything against DAESH, we are ready to do so," he said at a news conference. "This is something which was planned earlier."

Last week, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced their readiness to send troops to Syria under the umbrella of the U.S.-led anti-DAESH coalition.

Within the scope of operations, Saudi Defense Ministry spokesman Ahmed Assiri said on Saturday that Riyadh deployed warplanes to Turkey's İncirlik Air Base.

According to reports, Assiri said that yet there are currently no Saudi ground troops at İncirlik Air Base.

This is the first time a non-NATO country has deployed military forces to İncirlik since it entered into service in 1955.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in a German newspaper interview, "There is discussion on whether ground troops are needed against DAESH. … If a decision is taken to send in special units against DAESH, Saudi Arabia is ready to take part."

In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) released Friday, Syria's Bashar Assad said he "doesn't rule out" that Turkey and Saudi Arabia would intervene militarily in Syria, but said his armed forces "will certainly confront it."

Saudi Arabia had already said this month it was ready to join any ground operation against DAESH.

Qatar joined the coalition in 2014 alongside nine other Arab nations. It has participated in airstrikes and supported the training and equipment of the moderate Syrian opposition.

Thani said the question of sending ground troops to Syria had gained urgency recently, although he did not specify the reasons.