Manama: Syria must sign the Arab League protocol on allowing observers into the country if it wants to avoid action from the Security Council, Qatar’s prime minister warned on Saturday.
Under the protocol, Damascus should halt its crackdown, hold talks with the opposition and allow Arab observers into the country to ensure compliance with the agreement.
“The Arab League ministerial meeting on December 221 is critical and decisive,” Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani said. “We have been patient and gradual in our approach to the Syrian crisis, and the meeting on Wednesday will be highly significant,” he said at a Press conference.
If the Syrians do not sign before December 21, the Arab League initiative and Arab resolutions will be presented to the Security Council, he said.
“I am talking at least on behalf of my country. We simply cannot continue with this issue. We have been patient because we had hope there would be a solution. Now if there is no solution within weeks or within the next two months, the whole issue will be out of Arab hands. We have told our brothers in Syria about such development since the beginning. We as Arabs do not want this to happen,” he said.
Syrian has to assume its responsibility of finding a solution to the crisis quickly while taking onto consideration its strategic interests and those of its people, Shaikh Hamad said.
“The solution to the crisis is not through killing people, but through political dialogue,” he said at the end of a meeting in Doha that brought together Qatar, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Oman and the Arab League Secretary General.
“The Arab League Secretary General had contacted the Syrians as there was new hope that they would sign the protocol on the Arab observers. Unfortunately, the hope was shattered. The difference was ostensibly over the words ‘citizens’ or ‘civilians’. We suggested a compromise by using ‘armless civilians’, but the Syrians refused,” Shaikh Hamad said. “Every time there is a meeting by the Arab League, the Syrians escalate the situation, a clear indication of procrastination. The Syrian government refuses to listen to the Arab League. We wish they listened to its people and agreed with them.”
