Qatari emir supports Arab troop presence in Syria

[News_Editor]

Qatari emir supports Arab troop presence in Syria

2012-01-15 08:20:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

DAMASCUS (BNO NEWS) -- The ruling Emir of the State of Qatar supports Arab troops being sent into Syria to end the deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters there, he said in an interview which is to be aired on Sunday.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani said he would be in favor of Arab troops being sent into Syria in order to stop the bloodshed that continues even as Arab League monitors tour the country. "For such a situation to stop the killing ... some troops should go to stop the killing," he told CBS News.

Qatar has, as of late, held a high position in the region and was the first to announce its support for the no-fly zone which was imposed on Libya last year. Hamad also heads up the Arab League's committee on Syria, which sent observers to the country last month.

Last month, the Syrian National Council (SNC), a Turkish-based opposition government in exile, urged the Arab League and the United Nations (UN) Security Council to take "the necessary measures" to protect civilians after nearly 250 people were said to have been killed in two days.

"[The Syrian National Council] stresses the need to take action to stop the bloody campaign targeting more cities and town during the military build-up by the system," the group said in a news release in December.

The SNC called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the regime's 'massacres' in the Zawyiyeh mountain, Idlib, and Homs and to issue an international condemnation therefore. It also urged the UN to declare cities and towns which are being attacked as 'safe zones' which enjoy international protection, forcing the regime's forces to withdraw from these areas.

The SNC further called for the intervention of the International Red Crescent and other relief organizations. It said it wants to declare the areas under attack as "disaster areas exposed to large-scale genocide and displacement operations by the Syrian regime's militias."

Syria has been part of the wider Arab Spring movement which began in early 2011 and has been riddled by violence ever since. Pro-democracy demonstrations have spread across the country since mid-March, resulting in a fierce government crackdown which has left at least 5,400 people killed.

The Syrian government has repeatedly claimed that violent acts against protesters have been carried out by 'terrorists dressed as soldiers,' although international observers have rejected these claims. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad previously admitted that mistakes were made, but claimed protesters were no longer being targeted.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-01-15

[maidu]

It's been nearly a year since the trouble in Syria erupted. Until a month ago, other Arab countries have been very reluctant to have any involvement. It took them many months to even mention that there was a problem there, even while protesters were being jailed and killed every day. Sorry to say, but Arab monitors and/or troops placed in Syria won't slow the cruel oppression of the Syrian regime. The civil war has started, and will probably play out until one of the antagonists is crushed.

[Steely Dan]

It's been nearly a year since the trouble in Syria erupted. Until a month ago, other Arab countries have been very reluctant to have any involvement. It took them many months to even mention that there was a problem there, even while protesters were being jailed and killed every day. Sorry to say, but Arab monitors and/or troops placed in Syria won't slow the cruel oppression of the Syrian regime. The civil war has started, and will probably play out until one of the antagoinists is crushed.

I think one of the reasons why other Arab states have kept out of Syria for so long is due to the Syrian ruling class of Alawites are aligned with the Shia Muslims of Iran and the population that have been rebelling are predominantly Sunni Muslim, hence any outside intervention from a Sunni state is likely to turn the entire middle east into a sectarian warzone.

The fact that the Syrians are not even making an attempt to placate the peacekeepers and that Qatar are suggesting military intervention suggests to me the dice have been rolled and it is actually the Sunni states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE which have been leaning on the U.S to neutralize Iran, because Iran will surely not take outside intervention in Syria lying down.

[maidu]

Thanks Steely Dan for articulating some of the factors at play there. It's like spiders webs mixed with rats nests - near impossible to untangle. As if things aren't bad enough in a region with scant few natural resources except oil, sunlight and sand - there's the added problems of vericose veined religious sects - which exacerbate the problems.