Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah yesterday opened the Syrian embassy with Syrian National Coalition President Moaz Alkhatib. Several ministers, senior foreign ministry officials and heads of diplomatic missions were present.
DOHA: Syria’s opposition National Coalition opened its embassy here yesterday — the first anywhere in the world — a move excitedly welcomed by the large Syrian expatriate community in Qatar.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, inaugurated the diplomatic mission along with the President of the National Coalition, Moaz Alkhatib. A number of ministers, diplomats, and senior foreign ministry officials attended the ceremony in the Diplomatic Area of the city.
Alkhatib lauded the Emir,
H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar and its people for their support for the Syrian uprising and showing deep understanding of the Syrian people’s painful experience. “We are here to open the first embassy in the name of the Syrian people who are stripped of their rights for 50 years. He said the morale of the rebels was high and they are confident of a victory despite an “international will not to let this revolution succeed”.
Alkhatib decried the refusal of international powers to provide Patriot missile support for rebel-held areas of northern Syria. “This is a new international cover for the Syrian regime,” he said. Nizar Haraki, who was earlier named the Coalition’s ambassador to Qatar, was present.
The Peninsula
