Boris Johnson’s Saudi ‘Proxy Wars’ Comment ‘Not UK’s View’

Downing Street has said Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s comments on Saudi Arabia do not represent “the government’s position”.

Footage has emerged from an event last week at which Mr Johnson said UK ally Saudi Arabia was engaging in “proxy wars” in the Middle East.

The PM’s spokeswoman said these were the foreign secretary’s personal views.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale called it a “pretty robust slapdown”for Mr Johnson.

Mr Johnson’s comments were made at a conference in Rome last week but only emerged after the The Guardian newspaper published footage of the event.

In it the foreign secretary said: “There are politicians who are twisting and abusing religion and different strains of the same religion in order to further their own political objectives.

“That’s one of the biggest political problems in the whole region. And the tragedy for me - and that’s why you have these proxy wars being fought the whole time in that area - is that there is not strong enough leadership in the countries themselves.” ‘Offending the Saudis’ Mr Johnson told the Med 2 conference: “There are not enough big characters, big people, men or women, who are willing to reach out beyond their Sunni or Shia or whatever group to the other side and bring people together and to develop a national story again.

“That is what’s lacking. And that’s the tragedy,”he said, adding that “visionary leadership” was needed in the region.

He went on:“That’s why you’ve got the Saudis, Iran, everybody, moving in and puppeteering and playing proxy wars.”

The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Landale said Mr Johnson had spoken a “bit of truth”, but it was “clearly awkward” for the government, which had led to No 10’s “slapdown”.