Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem said Saturday that any ground operation in Syria without Damascus' approval is an "act of aggression." On Thursday, the Saudi Arabian Defense Ministry said it was prepared to deploy ground troops to Syria to fight Daesh. On Friday, the White House welcomed the Riyadh's announcement. Later, Bahraini ambassador to Britain Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohammed al-Khalifa said in a statement that the kingdom would commit troops to operate "in concert with Saudis." He added that the United Arab Emirates, a member of the Saudi-dominated Gulf Cooperation Council, was also ready to commit troops. The Syrian foreign minister also said during a press conference in Damascus that Riyadh-formed Syrian opposition delegation at the Geneva peace talks "walked away from the dialogue" after Syrian army's advance. A Saudi-backed opposition group walked out of the negotiations in Geneva on Wednesday, after which UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura announced the intra-Syrian talks were put on a three-week pause. The Syrian leadership has requested the United Nations to present a list of people who will represent the opposition at the Geneva talks. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/186876.aspx
