MANAMA // After months of deadlock on Syria at the United Nations Security Council, Qatar is urging countries opposed to Syria's regime to take their case to the UN General Assembly, where it would likely win support for a broader international intervention.
Russia and China have stymied attempts by the US and its western and Arab allies to increase global pressure on Syria's president, Bashar Al Assad, vetoing three resolutions at the Security Council aimed at pressuring the government to stop the violence.
"I think we will be thinking seriously of doing it through the United Nations General Assembly, to take such a resolution, in order to protect the Syrian people from the blocking resolutions on the Security Council," Qatar's minister of state for foreign affairs, Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, told a regional security conference in Manama, Bahrain, on Saturday.
A resolution at the General Assembly would likely win backing from a majority of member states, providing moral - although not legal - authority to help to end the civil war, which activists say has killed at least 40,000 people since March last year.
Mr Al Attiyah also urged the international community to involve all elements of the armed opposition in Syria, including those deemed by western intelligence to have links to extremists groups such as Al Qaeda.
"I am very much against excluding anyone at this stage, or bracketing them as terrorists, or bracketing them as Al Qaeda," he said. "What we are doing is only creating a sleeping monster ... We should bring them all together, we should treat them all equally, and we should work on them to change their ideology."
His comments add to growing debate, particularly in the West, over assisting the Syrian armed opposition. That debate is particularly acute in the US, where concerns over Islamist extremist groups have so far confounded calls to provide more assistance.
But a growing number of members of the US Congress have called for a more aggressive stance - including lethal aid - despite the risks, arguing that an aggressive intelligence effort could target the assistance towards more moderate opposition elements.
"I believe that in Syria everything that those in our country and Congress have used to argue against involvement, those things that they said would happen, have happened because they didn't intervene," US senator John McCain told conference delegates on Saturday, noting that the opposition had grown more extreme in the absence of a unified and funded secular military command.
The position of the US and Qatar contradict Saudi Arabia's more conservative stance towards assisting extremist groups in Syria's opposition.
Saudi's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Saud, responded to questions from delegates on Saturday about weapons falling into the hands of extremists in Syria.
"This is our major concern, that this is what will happen in Syria ... I would say that we should look really where weapons are going to and who's going to use them," he said.
For months, Qatar has called for a more aggressive stance towards the provision of arms - a call reiterated at the conference this weekend. Mr Al Attiyah went further, saying the opposition should be given the means to control their airspace.
"I think the people of Syria do not want us to provide them with a no-fly zone. They want us to provide them with the means for them to impose their own no-fly zone," he said. "The lack of means is what is holding them back."
Since the summer, Qatar has been reported to be assisting in arming the opposition, but Mr Al Attiyah said that his country had deferred to international concerns, providing only humanitarian aid.
"If you think that food, medicine and clothes are means of defence, then yes, we have supplied the opposition. We limited ourselves," he said. "The only thing we have been able to do until now is supply humanitarian aid."
edickinson@thenational.ae
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
EXPATS
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'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: Automatic
Power: 530bhp
Torque: 750Nm
Price: Dh535,000
On sale: Now
The%20specs
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RESULTS
West Asia Premiership
Thursday
Jebel Ali Dragons 13-34 Dubai Exiles
Friday
Dubai Knights Eagles 16-27 Dubai Tigers
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Chelsea 2 Burnley 3
Chelsea Morata (69'), Luiz (88')
Burnley Vokes (24', 43'), Ward (39')
Red cards Cahill, Fabregas (Chelsea)
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support