Saudi heavy weapons supply to Syrian rebels breaks up Arab summit in uproar

Syrian rebels in Aleppo have begun receiving their first heavy weapons – 220-mm MLRS rocket launchers – from a large-scale supply operation headed by Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, DEBKAfile reports exclusively. In Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo, his agents produced snapped up Russian-made MLRS (Smerch) and Hurricane 9K57 launchers capable of firing scores of 220-mm rockets to a distance of 70 kilometers. Bandar hopes that with these weapons the rebels will soon capture the big Syrian air base of Nairab near Aleppo, key landing site for Iranian and Russian arms airlifts to the Syrian army.
This news brought the Arab League summit taking place in Doha, Qatar this week to a clamorous end.  The conference proceedings were abruptly halted as Arab delegation members pitched in to separate Saudi and Qatar delegates who came to blows in a side room of the assembly hall.