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What is behind the surprise Saudi decision to provide 3 billion dollars worth of military aid to the Lebanese army? The announcement of this decision was recently made by Lebanese president Michel Suleiman, after Saudi King Abdullah and French president Francois Hollande apparently agreed on the issue during their summit in Riyadh. The deal says Paris is to play the role of the military supplier, while Riyadh will take care of the financing. No one has so far mentioned that the military aid could be used to deter Israel. Tel Aviv has launched wars on Lebanon ever since its existence but no such military aid has ever been granted to Lebanon. Moreover Israeli officials have not made any objections to this announcement. Hence the logical, widespread conclusion is that this step targets Hezbollah. In a recent visit by Suleiman to Riyadh, the Saudi Monarch reportedly called for the Lebanese army to stop Hezbollah from joining the fight in Syria. Many experts believe that this is a Saudi reaction to the role Hezbollah has played in thwarting Riyadh\\\'s agenda of toppling Syrian president Bashar Assad. Saudi Arabia\\\'s Lebanese allies in the March 14 movement appeared to confirm this view, with members of the movement describing this declaration as a blow to Hezbollah. Meanwhile, the designated supplier of the military aid, France, is believed to be the main force behind the recent E-U decision to blacklist the military wing of Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia is eager to escalate its campaign against Hezbollah, perhaps showing Washington that it can seek support elsewhere. France meanwhile welcomes the 3 billion dollar package, as it\\\'s trying to find ways to boost its austerity-hit economy. Now the main question is whether the deal could possibly change the Lebanese\\\'s anti-Israeli doctrine into an anti-Hezbollah stance?

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A senior member of the Saudi royal family says Riyadh will continue arming insurgents in Syria until the so-called Geneva-Two conference. The former director general of Saudi Arabia\'s intelligence agency says he believes the peace conference will not yield sustainable results as long as the battle between the two sides remains disproportional. Turki Al Faisal also sharply criticized Washington\'s policy on Syria. Under a US-Russian-led initiative, the Syrian government and the insurgents in Syria are scheduled to attend peace talks in Geneva on January 22.

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A Saudi source says Saudi Arabia is in talks with Pakistan to provide Syrian insurgents with anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets. The source who is close to Saudi decision-makers referred to the recent meetings between Riyadh and Islamabad\'s high-ranking officials. Riyadh is seeking to provide the militants in Syria with Pakistan\'s version of Chinese shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, known as Anza, and anti-tank rockets. The source also noted that Jordan will provide facilities to store the weapons before they are delivered to militants in Syria. The head of the Syrian National Coalition Ahmad Jarba said during a visit to northern Syria last week that powerful arms would be arriving soon.

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The Syrian information minister says Saudi Arabia is responsible for death and destruction throughout the Muslim world today -- including in Syria. Omran al-Zoubi made the remarks in a television interview, in which he advised Riyadh to halt its policy of terrorism against Syria and other regional countries, such as Iraq, Lebanon, and Algeria. He had particularly scathing criticism of the Saudi foreign minister, saying Saud al-Faisal has always driven Saudi policy toward failure. The comments came after a meeting between Faisal and his U-S counterpart, John Kerry. During the meeting on Monday, the Saudi official reportedly lamented the international community\'s inaction on the Syrian crisis, particularly the U-S decision not to intervene militarily. Syria has long accused Saudi Arabia of being one of the main regional patrons of the foreign-backed militants, which provides military and financial support to them.