Jordan's King Abdullah: Al-Qaeda May Get Chemical Weapons In Destabilized Syria

Jordan’s King Abdullah II told CNN on Wednesday that he is worried that Syria would become so destabilized that al-Qaeda could obtain some of the regime’s chemical weapons.

Abdullah was one of the first Arab leaders to call upon Syria President, Bashar al-Assad, to step down, and he made those comments after rebels detonated a bomb, by remote control, that killed members of al-Assad’s inner circle, including members of his family. 

“If it breaks down, if civil order breaks down to the point of no return, then it will take years to fix Syria. And I have a feeling we’re seeing signs of that over the past three weeks,” Abdullah said. “The only people that can bring us back from that brink are obviously the president and the regime. And I believe this is the last chance that they have.

If al-Assad’s regime is toppled and chaos ensues, Abdullah feared the sectarian violence would leave to civil war, and it would be more difficult to ensure weapons of mass destruction did not get into the wrong hands.