Qatar Grants Syria Seat at Arab Summit to Opposition

Local Editor

The Arab summit kicked off on Tuesday in the Qatari capital, with the Gulf state granted the Syrian opposition the seat of Damascus. The summit kicked off when the Iraq handed over the presidency of the summit to Qatar. In his opening speech, Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani urged the U.N. Security Council to stop the “oppression and repression of the people” in Syria, halt the bloodshed and “present crimes against their people to international justice.” Sheikh Hamad said: "We are committed to go on with supporting Syrian people." The Qatari Emir called on the head of the so-called Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, who resigned on Sunday from his post to take the seat of the Syrian government. Despite resignation, Khatib demanded that the foreign-backed Syrian opposition be granted the Syria seat in the United Nations. “We demand ... the seat of Syria at the United Nations and at other international organizations,” Khatib said, addressing Arab leaders at the Doha summit. He said that Syrian people alone should determine who rules the country, “not any other state in this world.” Khatib also called on the United States to use Patriot missiles to “protect” areas controlled by militants. He said he had asked U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for U.S. forces to help “defend” these areas with Patriot surface-to-air missiles. “I have asked Mr. Kerry to extend the umbrella of the Patriot missiles to cover the Syrian north and he promised to study the subject,” al-Khatib said, referring to NATO Patriot missile batteries sent to Turkey last year to protect Turkish airspace.

Source: Agencies 26-03-2013 - 15:29 Last updated 26-03-2013 - 15:30

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!