MANAMA // After months of deadlock on Syria at the United Nations Security Council, Qatar is urging countries opposed to Syria's regime to take their case to the UN General Assembly, where it would likely win support for a broader international intervention.
Russia and China have stymied attempts by the US and its western and Arab allies to increase global pressure on Syria's president, Bashar Al Assad, vetoing three resolutions at the Security Council aimed at pressuring the government to stop the violence.
"I think we will be thinking seriously of doing it through the United Nations General Assembly, to take such a resolution, in order to protect the Syrian people from the blocking resolutions on the Security Council," Qatar's minister of state for foreign affairs, Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, told a regional security conference in Manama, Bahrain, on Saturday.
A resolution at the General Assembly would likely win backing from a majority of member states, providing moral - although not legal - authority to help to end the civil war, which activists say has killed at least 40,000 people since March last year.
Mr Al Attiyah also urged the international community to involve all elements of the armed opposition in Syria, including those deemed by western intelligence to have links to extremists groups such as Al Qaeda.
"I am very much against excluding anyone at this stage, or bracketing them as terrorists, or bracketing them as Al Qaeda," he said. "What we are doing is only creating a sleeping monster ... We should bring them all together, we should treat them all equally, and we should work on them to change their ideology."
His comments add to growing debate, particularly in the West, over assisting the Syrian armed opposition. That debate is particularly acute in the US, where concerns over Islamist extremist groups have so far confounded calls to provide more assistance.
But a growing number of members of the US Congress have called for a more aggressive stance - including lethal aid - despite the risks, arguing that an aggressive intelligence effort could target the assistance towards more moderate opposition elements.
"I believe that in Syria everything that those in our country and Congress have used to argue against involvement, those things that they said would happen, have happened because they didn't intervene," US senator John McCain told conference delegates on Saturday, noting that the opposition had grown more extreme in the absence of a unified and funded secular military command.
The position of the US and Qatar contradict Saudi Arabia's more conservative stance towards assisting extremist groups in Syria's opposition.
Saudi's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Saud, responded to questions from delegates on Saturday about weapons falling into the hands of extremists in Syria.
"This is our major concern, that this is what will happen in Syria ... I would say that we should look really where weapons are going to and who's going to use them," he said.
For months, Qatar has called for a more aggressive stance towards the provision of arms - a call reiterated at the conference this weekend. Mr Al Attiyah went further, saying the opposition should be given the means to control their airspace.
"I think the people of Syria do not want us to provide them with a no-fly zone. They want us to provide them with the means for them to impose their own no-fly zone," he said. "The lack of means is what is holding them back."
Since the summer, Qatar has been reported to be assisting in arming the opposition, but Mr Al Attiyah said that his country had deferred to international concerns, providing only humanitarian aid.
"If you think that food, medicine and clothes are means of defence, then yes, we have supplied the opposition. We limited ourselves," he said. "The only thing we have been able to do until now is supply humanitarian aid."
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
On sale: now
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
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The five pillars of Islam
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Company%C2%A0profile
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Wydad 2 Urawa 3
Wydad Nahiri 21’, Hajhouj 90'
Urawa Antonio 18’, 60’, Kashiwagi 26’
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)
Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)