A key supporter of Syrian rebels has warned that Assad regime has lost interest in a political solution to civil war
Mr Attiyah said Qatar was a supporter of Mr Assad until " he started killing his own people" Photo: EPA
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
5:45PM GMT 04 Dec 2013
Qatar's foreign minister has condemned international efforts to seek a negotiated solution to the Syrian civil war, warning that President Bashar al-Assad should face a war crimes trial, not the conference table.
Diplomats hope to convene a long-delayed peace conference in Geneva next month for negotiations involving the Assad regime, its backers, the opposition and interested states.
But Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah, foreign minister of the wealthy Gulf emirate, derided the prospect of a satisfactory outcome to the conference. Qatar could not be part of an "immoral waiting game" of drawn-out talks with a regime responsible for "systematic crimes" against its own people, he said.
"Bashar al-Assad has lost any interest in a political solution," he told an audience at Chatham House in London. "The regime should go to The Hague and other people should go to Geneva. Whoever has blood on their hands should go to The Hague."
Qatar supported the outcome of the first round of Geneva peace talks last year that concluded with a declaration that a transitional government agreed by both sides should rule Syria. That is the basis of the next round, but Qatar is suspicious of the initiative.
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Mr Attiyah said Qatar had been a supporter of Mr Assad until "he started killing his own people" - and that the only acceptable outcome of new talks was for Mr Assad to step aside.
But Syria's information minister Omran al-Zohbi said in Damascus that Mr Assad would not do so. "He will lead the period of transition, if there is one. He is the leader of Syria... And he will remain the president of Syria," he said.
"If anyone thinks we are going to Geneva 2 to hand the keys to Damascus over (to the opposition), then he might as well not go."
Diplomats have closed in on a deal on the format of the talks. It is believed some backers of the opposition, including Qatar, are dismayed that the opening day of the two-day meeting will be dominated by discussions between states. Only on the second day will formal session take place that puts the opposition on the same footing as the regime.
Qatar is concentrating its diplomatic fire power on UN backing for humanitarian corridors into Syria to be opened up, to alleviate the suffering of communities under siege in the third winter of a bitter civil war.
"We forget the people of Syria. The friends of Syria must do as much as we can to protect the people of Syria from the brutality of the regime," said Mr Attiyah. "We have to enforce humanitarian corridors."
A new generation of leaders under Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the 34-year old emir, and Mr Attiyah, the foreign minister, took power in the Gulf state this summer. A country known for its aggressive support for opposition movements and rebel forces in the Arab Spring has since changed tack. Although Qatar remains a fervent supporter of the Arab Spring, the changing fortunes of those it championed place it in danger of suffering a backlash for over-playing its hand.
"We have the same policy but it may be that our approach has changed," he said.
Mr Attiyah, a former fighter pilot also lashed out at suggestions that Qatar's support for Islamic fighters in Syria has seen an upsurge in al-Qaeda linked factions.
"Who made these people extremists?" he asked. "These people are seeing their children dying every day and then we classify them as a terrorists? We should ask questions about... how did the terrorists come to Syria."
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"The regime should go to The Hague and other people should go to Geneva. Whoever has blood on their hands should go to The Hague."
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