DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Saudi Arabia and other petro-powerhouses of the Gulf for years encouraged a flow of private cash to Sunni rebels in Syria. Now an al-Qaida breakaway group that benefited from some of the funding has stormed across a wide swath of Iraq, and Gulf nations fear its extremism could be a threat to them as well.
Those countries are now trying to put the brakes on the network of private fundraisers sending money to the rebel movement, hoping to halt the financing going to the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. But at the same time, they sharply oppose any U.S. military assistance to Iraq's Shiite-led government aimed at stopping the extremists' rapid advance — and are furious at the possibility Washington could co-operate with their top rival Iran to help Iraq.
Their stance reflects the complex tangle of national rivalries and sectarian enmities in the region. Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, along with its Gulf allies, have had the primary goal of stopping the influence of mainly Shiite Iran in the Middle East, and they deeply oppose Iran's ally, Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom they accuse of discriminating against his country's Sunni minority.
They are torn over the Islamic State's stunning victories. They would be happy if the insurgency forces the removal of al-Maliki and his replacement with a more Sunni-friendly government. But long term, they fear the Islamic State or other radicals inspired by it could eventually turn their weapons against the Gulf's pro-Western monarchies. And they are alarmed that its power could increase Iran's role in Iraq — a scenario already realized with top Iranian military figures in Baghdad helping organize the army.
http://www.canada.com/news/After+backing+Sunni+rebels+Syria+Gulf+nations+face+blowback+militant/9950992/story.html
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