The Prime Minister: Political Solution to Syrian Crisis Must be Clear

Doha, January 12 (QNA) - HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani has said that any political solution to Syrian crisis must be clear. Commenting on the UN- Arab League Joint Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi's call for finding a political solution to end the crisis and his statement that that there is no military solution to this conflict, HE the Prime Minister said 'from the beginning we all agree that a military solution is undesirable one. Neither the Arab League nor the Arab Ministerial Committee on Syria, which I chair, favors this option and all the parties agree with us. But this does not mean that there are other tools to be used to stop the fighting in Syria." Speaking to Aljazeera, he said "with regard to Brahimi's call, I met him two days age in Cairo and we had a long meeting. It was a good one. I support his endeavors to find a clear political solution. That is to have a government with full powers, and this is we called for at the Arab League from the beginning. It means that Assad must step down from office. Some diplomats may not want to refer to this, but this must be done this way. "We are delighted to find a solution through the UN Security Council with an agreement between Russia and the US. We support the effort of Brahimi in seeking to find an agreement between the two parties." He added: "I think that there is no longer a long time for diplomacy to continue. It may continue for two or three or four weeks but no more because there is a tragic situation in Syria. We cannot justify that we are now talking of solutions. We support talking about political solutions. It is known that the first Geneva meeting, which I attended provides for the transmission of power, and that means that power must be transferred and handed over. Asked about the Russia and the US and whether they agreed to manage the crisis rather than resolve it, HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim said the two powers definitely have different views and Brahimi is working on finding a common ground between the two sides. "We support this move but until when? The international mediator realizes that, and we cannot wait indefinitely in this regard." HE the Premier said that all the meetings of the Arab League ministerial committee on Syria have been dedicated to discussing and supporting Brahimi's mission. However, he noted that HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has previously mentioned the notion of deploying peace corps, stressing that this would not be a military intervention that favors one side over the other. "In my opinion, Arabs must seriously consider this solution if other means fail. Arabs are capable of ending the bloodshed." Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim blasted Assad's denial that his fight is not over power. "I do not really know what he means in this regard. If the conflict is not over power, why does not he hand over power to the Syrian people," HE the premier questioned. The Qatari premier stressed that any resolution that keeps the Assad regime will not end the bloodbath. "We support the opposition and the Syrian people in their quest for liberation from this regime," HE said, pointing to the killings, detainments, and damage that have been sweeping the country for nearly two years. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim added that eyewitnesses told him that complete cities were destroyed by the regime's fire. "One of them said this reminds us of World War II." (QNA)