Qatar’s prime minister said Wednesday that the Syrian government appears unwilling to change course and is continuing to attack its own people as the Arab League considers the effectiveness of its observer mission there. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautions that the monitoring mission can not continue indefinitely.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears unwilling to cooperate with Arab League efforts to resolve the political crisis.
Bin Jassim said President Assad dismisses the Arab League as a group that has had nothing but six decades of failure. He says there are those who would judge four decades of rule in Syria in much the same way, but that is for the Syrian people to decide.
As government attacks continue, Bin Jassim – who also is Qatar’s foreign minister – says the most important thing now is for the killing to stop, for the Syrian military to withdraw from the streets, and for the government to release political prisoners.
He spoke to reporters following talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who commended Qatar’s leadership in rallying the Arab world to end what she calls President Assad’s assault against his own people.
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