UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah yesterday said there was general international agreement with Russia on its call to fight Islamic State (IS), but cautioned that it failed to tackle the root cause of the crisis in Syria, which is President Bashar Al Assad.
In an interview, Dr Al Attiyah said it was time for Gulf Arab states and Iran to hold “serious dialogue” and discuss all issues to normalise ties.
“Nobody can reject Mr Putin’s call for an alliance against terrorism, but ... we need to treat the cause,” he said. “We believe strongly that the Syrian regime, namely Bashar Al Assad, is the real cause.”
“We can’t come together and say, ‘Bravo, you are our ally in fighting the terrorists which you (Assad) either created or brought in’,” he said at Qatari Mission to the UN.
He said those fighting Assad on the ground needed to be given more sophisticated means to tackle the government’s “barrel bombing machine.
“They need to be given the means to defend themselves. Only then will Bashar understand he needs to come to the table, to have this political solution with him departing.”
The US admitted last week that US-trained Syrian rebels had deserted and given weapons to Al Qaeda-linked groups, and Dr Al Attiyah questioned whether the strategy of training rebels to fight IS rather than Assad was the best way forward.
“We have not treated the root of the cause. You cannot bring Syrian people and force them to go and fight IS only. Their cause is not IS, their cause is the regime. They will fight IS, but they need to fight the regime first which created IS.”
He defended Qatar’s efforts to aid Syrians fleeing the conflict in their country, responding to criticism that Gulf countries were not taking in any refugees since the conflict broke out four years ago.
Dr Al Attiyah said Doha had spent some $1.6bn in aid during that period and that since the conflict began, the number of Syrians in Qatar had increased from 20,000 to 54,000. He said it was vital that Gulf Arab states and Iran develop a normal dialogue after Tehran had “over-exaggerated” its criticism of Saudi Arabia after hundreds of pilgrims were killed during Haj there last week.
“We need to have a serious dialogue with the Iranians. We are neighbours and can’t change the geography. We have to discuss all issues and leave nothing behind and only then we can have a normal relation between neighbours,” Dr Al Attiyah stressed. Reuters
UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah yesterday said there was general international agreement with Russia on its call to fight Islamic State (IS), but cautioned that it failed to tackle the root cause of the crisis in Syria, which is President Bashar Al Assad.
In an interview, Dr Al Attiyah said it was time for Gulf Arab states and Iran to hold “serious dialogue” and discuss all issues to normalise ties.
“Nobody can reject Mr Putin’s call for an alliance against terrorism, but ... we need to treat the cause,” he said. “We believe strongly that the Syrian regime, namely Bashar Al Assad, is the real cause.”
“We can’t come together and say, ‘Bravo, you are our ally in fighting the terrorists which you (Assad) either created or brought in’,” he said at Qatari Mission to the UN.
He said those fighting Assad on the ground needed to be given more sophisticated means to tackle the government’s “barrel bombing machine.
“They need to be given the means to defend themselves. Only then will Bashar understand he needs to come to the table, to have this political solution with him departing.”
The US admitted last week that US-trained Syrian rebels had deserted and given weapons to Al Qaeda-linked groups, and Dr Al Attiyah questioned whether the strategy of training rebels to fight IS rather than Assad was the best way forward.
“We have not treated the root of the cause. You cannot bring Syrian people and force them to go and fight IS only. Their cause is not IS, their cause is the regime. They will fight IS, but they need to fight the regime first which created IS.”
He defended Qatar’s efforts to aid Syrians fleeing the conflict in their country, responding to criticism that Gulf countries were not taking in any refugees since the conflict broke out four years ago.
Dr Al Attiyah said Doha had spent some $1.6bn in aid during that period and that since the conflict began, the number of Syrians in Qatar had increased from 20,000 to 54,000. He said it was vital that Gulf Arab states and Iran develop a normal dialogue after Tehran had “over-exaggerated” its criticism of Saudi Arabia after hundreds of pilgrims were killed during Haj there last week.
“We need to have a serious dialogue with the Iranians. We are neighbours and can’t change the geography. We have to discuss all issues and leave nothing behind and only then we can have a normal relation between neighbours,” Dr Al Attiyah stressed. Reuters
