Qatar Calls for Taking Firm Action to Protect Syrian People

New York, April 24 (QNA) - The State of Qatar has called on the international community to take firm action to protect the Syrian people if the Syrian authorities did not comply with the provisions of the Security Council resolution (2043), which authorized the deployment of the military observers mission in Syria to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the implementation of the six-point plan of the UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan. Addressing the UN Security Council meeting on the "Situation in the Middle East Including the Palestinian Question", Charge d'Affaires of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Yousuf Sultan Laram underlined Qatar's support for the implementation of the Security Council resolutions (2042) and (2043) concerning sending observers to Syria. He expressed hope that the mission would be a success, however, he warned that the Syrian government have always reneged on its promise and continued the acts of oppression against the Syrian people. Since the deadline to stop the violence on the 10th of this month, he noted, the Syrian government continued violations of its obligations, maintained military forces in population centers, continued bombing of cities with heavy weapons and even helicopters, and continued arrests, torture and other abuses, which emphasizes the lack of commitment to any of the six items of Annan's plan. The representatives of the Syrian authorities have directed several false accusations to the State of Qatar intending to distort the facts on the ground in a desperate attempt to divert the attention of the international community about the terrible massacres they committed against the Syrian people, the Qatari official said. Concerning the Palestinian issue, the Charge d'Affaires of Qatar's Permanent Mission to the UN Yousuf Sultan Laram called for exerting political pressure to activate the direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis in order to reach an agreement on the main issues of the final solution by the end of 2012. Qatar called for supporting the Human Rights Council recent resolution to send an independent fact-fining mission on the repercussions of Israeli settlements on Palestinian rights. The Charge d'Affaires of the Permanent Mission to the UN said that the Israeli government has no real intention in peace and held it the full responsibility of the failure of the talks and the freezing of the negotiations. He highlighted the efforts exerted by the Palestinian side to revive the direct talks, the last of which was the letter of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. He also noted Israel's continuation of settlement expansion even after the meetings in Amman between the two sides, saying that the international community has affirmed with one voice on the seriousness of the continuation of settlement on the peace process as it makes the negotiations meaningless and pointless. The Qatari official renewed Qatar's invitation to the countries which have no yet recognized Palestine to do so and called on the Security Council not to obstruct the Palestinian demand for the full membership of the United Nations. He said that this recognition would contribute to the establishment of the peaceful, comprehensive, just and sustainable solution. (QNA)