Arab troops should be sent to halt the bloodshed in Syria, the ruler of Qatar said Sunday, Jan 15 in the first public call by a regional leader for military intervention in the bloody uprising.
The comments by Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani mark a renewed effort by Syria's neighbours to increase pressure on President Assad amid mounting fury that he has failed to comply with the terms of an Arab peace plan agreed three weeks ago.
Sources in Doha said that the wealthy Gulf state – which bolstered the Western-led overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya by supplying special forces, air support and massive financial support to the rebels – is now considering a similar operation in Syria, The Times reported.
The head of the Arab League monitoring team in the Syrian capital, Sudanese Ambassador Jafaar Kudaiba, said he will take up the idea of a military force when the League meets to review the observer mission.
Former Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa said the 22-member bloc should discuss the Qatari emir's idea of replacing the monitoring mission with a military force to separate Syrian security forces and civilians.
Meanwhile, rights activists said government security forces killed at least 11 civilians Sunday, as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon demanded Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stop killing his own people, according to the Voice of America.
