Protests in Egypt Denounce Qatar Interference

Source :  http://www.almanar.com.lb

Demonstrators in Egypt have burned Qatari and Israeli flags in protest against what they described as the Gulf state’s interference in their country’s internal affairs.

Protesters gathered outside the Qatari Embassy in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and chanted anti-Doha slogans.

Demonstrators believe that Doha and Tel Aviv are meddling in Egypt’s domestic affairs after the 2011 revolution that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

On January 10, Doha said it had offered Egypt a lifeline of $.5-billion to help the North African country tackle its currency crisis.

“There was an initial package of $2.5 billion, of which $0.5 billion was a grant and two billion dollars a deposit,” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said in reference to the financial aid Qatar has provided Egypt with since the revolution.

“We discussed transferring one of the deposits into an additional grant so that the grants became one billion dollars and the deposits doubled to around four billion dollars,” he added.

The Egyptians have also held several massive protests across the country since the revolution, calling on the government to sever all the existing ties with the Zionist entity

Syrian gov't rejects AL's decision to grant seat to opposition

Source  :  Xinhua

DAMASCUS, March. 26 (Xinhua) -- The 24th Arab League summit on Tuesday granted Damascus' seat to the exiled Syrian opposition coalition, a move rejected by Syrian government and some domestic opposition parties.

"It is part of the restoration of legitimacy that the people of Syria have long been robbed of," said Moaz al-Khatib, resigned head of exiled Syrian opposition coalition.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Arab leaders rushed through a declaration in Doha and granted Damascus' seat at the Arab League to the Syrian opposition, acknowledging the right of the member countries to provide all means of self-defense to the Syrian opposition.

Khatib took up Damascus' seat at the summit, calling for more political and financial support to the Syrian opposition.

"We call for an end to the bloodshed. We want liberty, we wish to steer the country away from further destruction," Khatib said when addressing the meeting which began on Tuesday morning.

He said that he had requested U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to use NATO patriot surface-to-air missiles on the Syrian- Turkish border to safeguard Syrian civilians.

Besides, the summit called on the United Nations to follow suit by stripping Syria of its seat in its body and handing over the chair to the opposition coalition. However, such a move would definitely be vetoed by Russia, Syria's main international ally.

The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in November 2011. Earlier this month, some countries, mainly oil-rich Qatar and Saudi Arabia, led a push to invite the Syrian opposition to occupy the seat of Damascus at the pan-Arab body.

The Arab League's decision to grant Damascus' seat to the exiled opposition coalition was rejected by the Syrian government and the domestic opposition.

It legitimizes terrorist acts that are committed overtly and blatantly against the Syrians, their institutions and properties, the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper said in a commentary.

The pan-Arab body is taking pains to grant the opposition coalition a "forged birth certificate," it added.

Syria's former ambassador to the Arab League Yousef al-Ahmed also slammed the AL's move, telling the pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV that the group aims to distance Syria away from the Arab's meeting so that they could implement their schemes against Syria.

He charged that the Arab body has made itself a part of the conflict and not the solution.

"Syria is not concerned about any decision by the Arab League as long as it doesn't attend the meetings. So any decision would be null and void and of no legal effect," he said.

He also stressed that the Arab League's previous remarks about arming the rebels in Syria is dangerous and blatantly infringe upon the pan-Arab body's charters and internal system.

On the other side, Damascus-based opposition group, the Building Syria State party, said whoever takes Damascus' seat in the league will be "partner with those that want to fragment Syria. "

Meanwhile, Tarek al-Ahmad, an opposition figure, told Xinhua that what happened in the Arab League summit was "a political farce."

Al-Ahmad said "the Arab states want to give a cover about what is happening on ground," referring to reports about the direct involvement of Saudi Arabia and Qatar in arming and bankrolling the Syrian rebels.

Related

Qatar hands Syrian embassy to opposition, death toll nears 70,000

Source : Al Akhbar English

statement Wednesday said that Qatar has handed the Syrian embassy building in Doha to the National Coalition, Syria's main opposition group.

"Qatar has acted faster than the Friends of Syria coalition," the opposition statement said, in reference to a string of Western and Arab states, along with Turkey, which support the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"The flag of the revolution will be raised above the building," the Syrian National Coalition added.

Speaking to AFP by phone, Haraki said the Qatari authorities had accepted his appointment.

"A formal decision has been made to accept my appointment as ambassador," he said.

"I will start work along with two other diplomats," said Haraki.

"Depending on whether they support the revolution, we will decide which former embassy staff members we will keep, and who we will lay off."

The National Coalition was formed in the Qatari capital on November 11.

A day later, Qatar and other Gulf countries recognized the group as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

And a week after that, the European Union followed suit and recognized the coalition.

The Coalition in November named ambassadors to Paris and London but neither France nor Britain have yet handed over embassy buildings to the opposition.

70,000 dead

The move came as Navi Pillay, human rights chief said 9,000 have died since the beginning of the year, bringing Syria's death toll to nearly 70,000.

Pillay said one immediate action the council can take is to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court, which could investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"This would send a clear message to both the government and the opposition that there will be consequences for their actions, and could have a very significant preventive effect," she said.

Russia to keep sending arms

Russia will continue deliveries of arms to Syrian President Bashar al- Assad and his armed forces, the head of the state weapons exporter said on Wednesday, despite the Middle Eastern country's civil war.

Russia supplied nearly $1 billion's worth of arms to Syria in 2011 and has long been an ally of Assad.

"We are continuing to carry out our obligations on contracts for the delivery of military hardware," Rosoboronexport director Anatoly Isaikin told a news conference.

(AFP, AP, Reuters, Al-Akhbar)