International intervention in Syria must go beyond dismantling the regime’s chemical arsenal, Saudi Arabia said Monday, in veiled criticism of a US-Russian deal that prevented Western military strikes against the Damascus.

International intervention in Syria must go beyond dismantling the regime's chemical arsenal, Saudi Arabia said Monday, in veiled criticism of a US-Russian deal that prevented Western military strikes against the Damascus.

The Saudi cabinet urged the international community not simply to focus on the issue of chemical weapons in the 30-month-long conflict in Syria in a statement after its weekly cabinet meeting, headed by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz.

The kingdom also renewed "calls for the international community to take effective decisions to immediately end the fighting in Syria" that has cost thousands of lives since 2011, said the cabinet statement published on the official SPA news agency.

It also urged strengthening international support to the Syrian militant groups to enable them to face the army.