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Saudi prince blames Obama's Syria policy for IS' rise

Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal said the Islamic State wouldn't be a threat if the United States had armed Syrian rebels.

Former Head of Saudi intelligence and current Saudi King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies Chairman Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud attends a close session meeting at the IISS Regional Security Summit - The Manama Dialogue in Manama, December 8, 2013. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed (BAHRAIN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY HEADSHOT ROYALS) - RTX169HJ
Former Head of Saudi intelligence and current Saudi King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies Chairman Prince Turki Al-Faisal attends a closed session meeting at the IISS Regional Security Summit — The Manama Dialogue in Manama, Dec. 8, 2013. — REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki Al-Faisal on Tuesday blamed the United States and Europe for the rise of the Islamic State (IS).

The former intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States said arming the so-called moderate rebels battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when the civil war broke out three years ago would have prevented extremists from filling the void. Faisal said the recent creation of an international coalition to combat the group was a good first step, but that IS cannot be defeated until the world gets behind the Syrian opposition and ousts Assad.

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