Doha Meeting: Vague Decisions, Kerry Calls on Syrian Mutual Concessions - Bandar Supervises Arming Militant Groups in Syria

The so-called “Friends of Syria” countries, held a meeting in which they were represented by their ministers of foreign affairs on Saturday in Doha, Qatar. The attendants took “game-changing” secret decisions, according to Qatar FM Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani.

Bin Jassem announced that nine of the countries in this group agreed on providing the Syrian militant groups with military aids.

“The Syrian militants need military support, not a moral one,” he said in a joint press conference with the US Secretary of State John Kerry after the meeting.

Qatar FM deemed that the Syrian militants need heavy weapons to restore the field balance with the army so that the regime accepts the political solution for the Syrian crisis.

“We support Geneva 2, yet we are doubtful about the intentions of the Syrian regime,” Qatar official stated.

Bin Jassem demanded that the peaceful track lead to a transitional cabinet which excludes President Assad and takes full powers.

For his part, Kerry considered that the two conflicting parties in Syria have to make mutual concessions to reach a political solution for the Syrian crisis.

He further stressed the right of the Syrians to decide on the features of their future away from violence.

“Some principles were adopted in the meeting to put an end to the Syrian crisis,” Kerry told the reporters.

“We all agree on the necessity of the political solution that must be reached through mutual concession and forming a transitional cabinet that includes the representatives of the government and the opposition,” the American top diplomat confirmed.

John Kerry pointed out that the participating countries agreed on providing the Syrian militants with weaponry to achieve a political solution through restoring the field balance between the militants and the army.

Kerry considered that the bloodshed in Syria threatens the political solution, as he reiterated the US accusations that the Syrian army used chemical weapons.

“The Syrian President Bashar Assad responded to Geneva 2 by summoning the Iranians and Hezbollah to interfere in the Syrian crisis,” he added.

Bandar Bin Sultan, the Saudi National Security Council Secretary and Head of the Saudi Intelligence, supervised last week the operations of providing the foriegn-backed militants fighting the Syrian government, with German anti-aircraft missiles in Antakia.

 

Arab sources told Assafir Lebanese newspaper that Prince Bandar Bin Sultan supervised last week supplying the militant groups in Syria with a batch of heavy weapons that includes mainly German anti-aircraft missiles in Antakia before the militants distributed the weapons over their different groups in Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, and Idleb.

The sources added that Bandar is seeking an arm deal with France to provide the Syrian militants with French anti-aircraft missiles, yet the French expressed their concerns about their strategic interests, and refused to be the sole provider of weapons for the militants, calling on to share these burdens.

Arming the militant groups in Syria has been a hot political controversy among the countries which support the Syrian opposition.

As the Syrian army is achieving consecutive field victories, the Syrian militants complained their need for heavy weapons to face the army progress.

 

In response, the countries that support them had different reactions. The Gulf countries expressed their readiness to supply the militant groups in Syria with all their military needs, yet the European countries and the United States refrained from a clear military intervention and from providing heavy weapons to the Syrian militants due to different strategic, political, and security interests.