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Qatar must follow UN decision on Syria: Analyst

Saturday, 26 December 2015 8:46 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 26 December 2015 8:46 AM ]

A militant fires his weapon on the frontline during the battle against the Syrian government forces in the Handarat region, north of Aleppo, December 18, 2014. (Photo by AFP)

Press TV has interviewed Ken Stone, with the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, about a recent meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Qatari counterpart Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah in Moscow to discuss Syria.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Certainly, this must have been a very odd meeting considering Qatar and Russia’s stances [are] so far apart when it comes to Syria.

Stone: Indeed it was. I like the position of Mr. Lavrov, who is probably the preeminent diplomat or statesman in the entire world at this moment. And he has taken the correct position that the Syrian people are the only people who have the right to decide who is going to be their president and who is going to be their government.

And in fact, in 2013, the Syrian people decided overwhelmingly – I think it was by vote of 87 percent – that they preferred Mr. Bashar al-Assad as their president.

Now, when the Qatari government comes along after the unanimous UN resolution that set out a road-map for peace in Syria and comes and says that ‘Mr. al-Assad is illegitimate,’ then they are speaking against the decision of the world body that’s been set up to prevent war in the world, and in this case, has done exactly the right thing by preparing the ground work for a peaceful rather than a military solution in Syria.

The Qatari government should mind its own business. It should stop supplying and funding the terrorists, and it should go along with the unanimous decision of the UN Security Council.

Press TV: But then do you see that happening in realistic terms? Do you think Qatar will back off?

Stone: Well, it will take a lot of arm-twisting from the United States on Qatar and not just Qatar but Turkey and Jordan and Saudi Arabia to make them toe the line. After all, without the United States’ backing, none of these vassal states would be engaging in supplying the terrorists the way they are.

So, while it’s Christmas here and we are off thinking about peace on earth and goodwill to all, these kinds of settlements take a long time. I remember, going back to Vietnam, that it took more than a year, almost two years to decide just who is going to sit at the peace talks.

So, we can’t expect the road-map to be in place any time soon. It’s going to be a long struggle of arm-twisting and also battles on the ground in Syria.

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