By TARIQ ALHOMAYED, ARABNEWS

A dangerous statement, or gaffe, was made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, by its minister Sergey Lavrov, in which he said: “If the current Syrian regime collapses, some countries in the region will want to establish Sunni rule in Syria.” It is very strange that a foreign minister would issue such a statement, particularly the Russian foreign minister.

This statement, or gaffe, was not made by Hassan Nasrallah or Nuri Al-Maliki or Muqtada Sadr or even Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi or Bashar Assad himself, rather it was made by a secular state that is not known for falling into sectarian quicksand, particularly with regard to the language that “mullah” Lavrov used; and when we say “mullah” here, we mean one of the mullah’s of Khomeinist Tehran! However, can we look at Lavrov’s statement solely from this sectarian standpoint? I think not, for it is clear that Lavrov’s statement reflects confusion, more than fears of Sunnis!

(NOTE BY THE EDITOR: This is the view from Saudi Arabia; everyone has its own view…)