Qatar leads call for Arab League to deploy troops in Syria

Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — Qatar has become the first to call for foreign troop
deployment in Syria.

Qatar, deemed the leading supporter of the revolt against President
Bashar Assad, has demanded that Arab League forces arrive in Syria to stop
the bloodshed. Qatar’s Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani said the Arab League
must intervene in Syria, where more than 5,500 people have been killed since
March 2011.

Qatar

“For such a situation to stop the killing some troops should go to stop the killing,” the emir said.

The call marked the first by an Arab leader for foreign military
intervention in Syria. Hamad was interviewed by the U.S. network CBS in a program scheduled for airing on Jan. 15.

Arab diplomats said Qatar, which coordinates with Turkey and the United States, has been the strongest supporter of the revolt against Assad. They said the Gulf Cooperation Council emirate has relayed hundreds of millions of dollars to help equip and train rebel forces, most of them deserters from the Syrian Army.

“We are supporting the people of those countries [fighting for
democracy],” Hamad, who insisted he remains friends with Assad, said.

The emir’s remarks were reported three days after Qatar and the United
States held high-level talks concerning Syria. Officials said Qatar was
represented by Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani and Washington by
Vice President Joseph Biden.

“In particular, they condemned the ongoing violence in Syria perpetrated
by [Bashar] Al Assad regime and noted the significance of the Arab League
observer mission’s final report due on Jan. 19,” a White House statement
said.

Qatar’s demand for foreign military intervention has not been echoed by
most of the Syrian opposition. The exception has been the Free Syrian Army,
which called for a no-fly zone and buffer zone along the Syrian border with
Turkey.

In late December, the Arab League sent 165 observers to help
stop the killing of civilian protesters by Assad forces. But the United
Nations has determined that during the first three weeks of the Arab
mission, at least 400 people were killed in Syria.

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