The Middle East British website revealed the details of a four-way security meeting that brought together the director of the Mossad with intelligence leaders from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, and discussed ways to reduce Turkey's influence in the region and rehabilitate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The website, in an article by British journalist David Hirst, said the security meeting was held last December in a Gulf capital.
The plan was prepared in cooperation with Israeli Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, who participated in the meeting, to welcome the return of the Syrian president to the League of Arab States in order to marginalize the regional influence of Turkey and Iran.
The consequences of Khashoggi's death
The meeting came in response to what has been described as cold in the relations between US President Donald Trump and Riyadh since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, especially after the intelligence officials told them that "Trump can do what he can and will not do more."
The officials also agreed that they consider Turkey, not Iran, the main military opponent in the region, and discussed plans to counter what they call Turkish influence.
During the meeting, Israeli officials said Iran could be militarily contained, while Turkey had much greater capabilities. "The Iranian force is fragile, but the source of the real threat comes from Turkey," Cohen was quoted as saying during the meeting.
The participants in the meeting agreed on four measures: the first to help Trump in his efforts to withdraw 14 thousand troops from Afghanistan, and then a meeting between the Taliban and US officials in Abu Dhabi.
Year of Iraq
The second measure was aimed at controlling the year of Iraq, and is meant by efforts to reduce the influence of Turkey within the National Axis Alliance, the largest parliamentary bloc of the Sunnis in the Iraqi parliament, and this is through the visit by Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohamed Halabousi to Riyadh last month.
He met with the former Saudi ambassador to Iraq, Thamer al-Sbahan, who preferred between reducing Turkey's influence by the National Axis Alliance or withdrawing completely from it.
The third is seeking to restore full diplomatic relations between the three Arab countries and President Assad. The heads of the intelligence services discussed the message they wanted to convey to the Syrian president.
In this regard, Hurst spoke about many details that were followed, including the arrival of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to Damascus, the visit of Ali al-Shamsi, deputy head of the UAE intelligence to Syria, and his country's reopening of its embassy there. Bahrain also announced that it would return its diplomatic mission to Damascus.
Ali, the owner of Assad's special security adviser, paid a rare public visit to Cairo, and the Middle East newspaper learned from his sources that he expected soon to announce the full normalization of relations between the two countries.
The sources say that Egypt will ask the Syrian government to declare that its main enemies are: Turkey, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Initiatives towards Assad include setting the course for the return of his regime to the League of Arab States and supporting Arab states to Damascus in opposing the Turkish military presence in northern Syria.
Support the Kurds
The fourth measure, which was agreed at the meeting, was to support the Kurds of Syria against the Turkish efforts to expel the protection units of the Kurdish people from the Turkish border.
The heads of the intelligence services also agreed to strengthen relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and to prevent any reconciliation with Ankara since the failure of the referendum in the region.
The participants agreed on the policy of seeking to empower Assad, to be reached by Israel through Syrian businessmen: Christians and Alawites, as intermediaries.
Meet Haspell
After Khashoggi's murder, Abu Dhabi has made efforts to repair troubled relations between the White House and the Royal Court in Riyadh.
After the presentation by CIA Director Gina Hasebel to a select number of members of the US Congress, in which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was held responsible for Khashoggi's murder; Mohamed bin Zayed instructed his brother and national security advisor Tahnoon bin Zayed to meet Hasebel, But his request was rejected.