AL Gives Members Green Light to Arm Syrian Militants

Local Editor

The Arab League summit in the Qatari capital Doha has given the green light on Tuesday to its members to send arms to the Syrian insurgents fighting the Syrian government. The League issued a resolution at the summit, giving member states the right to offer the militants all the means of what it called self-defense, including weapons. This comes as Syria’s foreign-backed opposition was also formally handed Syria’s seat at the summit. Speaking at the meeting, the head of the so-called Syrian National Coalition (SNC), Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, called on the United Nations to follow suit and give Syria's seat to the opposition. Syrian media outlets condemned the move, calling it an illegal and a moral crime. Syrian state television also said, "Qatar wants to bypass the rules of the Arab League by giving the seat of a founding member of the league to a coalition that obeys only the money and fuel of the Gulf and submits to American dictates."

Source: Websites 27-03-2013 - 10:18 Last updated 27-03-2013 - 11:26

• Syria Opposition Parties Slam “Hegemony” of Arab, Regional Countries ‫

Saudi Arabia & qatar: 'For the Love of Syria & the Syrians!'

 

 

"... What’s happening here, in part, is that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are conducting a decades-old battle for influence, using their contacts in the Syrian opposition as proxies. The two wealthy Gulf nations use their media outlets — al-Arabiya for Saudi Arabia and al-Jazeera for Qatar — to promote their different agendas. It’s a ruinous rivalry, reminiscent of the way Arab regimes once sponsored feuding warlords in Lebanon. 

The biggest surprise is how little the U.S. has been willing or able to influence the Syrian political maneuvers in recent months. U.S. frustration with the old Islamist-dominated opposition led to the creation last fall of a new umbrella organization, headed by Khatib. But it’s mostly been downhill since then........ Critics of President Obama’s low-key approach to Syria would argue that the opposition wrangling illustrates what happens when the U.S. leaves policy to headstrong allies, such as Turkey and Qatar. The White House could counter that opposition fracas shows what a mess Syria is—and why the U.S. is wise to keep its distance. 

The dangerous aspect of the ascendency of Qatar and Turkey is that they are driving the Arab revolutions further toward Islamist governance. “Do you want to hand post-Bashar Syria to the Muslim Brotherhood?” asks one prominent Arab diplomat. Like many in the Arab world, he fears that the Brotherhood is now inexorably on the march toward regional hegemony."

Michel Kilo: "Qatar's Hamad bin Jassem's shenanigans could pass with the ignorant!"

 

Kilo: "... it's people like him (Bin Jassem) that are beMoadh al Khatib's marginalization & neutering ..."

 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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