Reuters: Saudi Arabia is offering Assad $4 billion to stop drug exports

ARK News… A regional source close to Damascus and a Syrian regime source close to the Gulf with knowledge of the communications said that Saudi Arabia, a large market for Captagon, had proposed compensating the Syrian regime for the loss of the trade if it stopped.

The regional source said that Saudi Arabia offered $4 billion, based on Riyadh's estimate of the value of the trade, and that the proposal was made by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan during his visit to Damascus.

The source added that the money will be given as agricultural aid. The Syrian source confirmed that Riyadh had proposed paying an amount as humanitarian aid, but it did not specify it.

The Syrian and Saudi governments did not respond to requests for comment.

A Gulf Arab diplomat in the region said Syria should stop exporting drugs and that Syria knew the Gulf was ready to invest in Syria and showed signs of doing so.

Two Western sources familiar with Arab contacts with Syria said that compensation is necessary to distance armed units associated with the state from the Captagon trade.

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