Official : Qatar won’t normalise ties with Syria unless a political solution is reached

Qatar has affirmed that its position towards the Syrian regime will not change unless a real political solution to the Syrian crisis is reached.

“The reasons for freezing Syria’s membership in the Arab League still exist,” said Majid Al-Ansari, a spokesman for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a weekly briefing on Tuesday.

“If there is no real political solution, there will be no change in the Qatari position on this issue,” he added.

A few Arab and Gulf countries have accelerated steps to normalise relations with the Syrian regime since the earthquakes that hit the country on 6 February, sending relief and rescue teams, amid talk about efforts to restore Syria’s membership in the Arab League, which has been suspended since 2011.

On Sunday, a number of Arab parliament speakers arrived in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on a visit they said aimed to express their countries’ support for Syria after the natural disaster.

The visit followed visits by Arab leaders to Syria and their meeting with President Bashar Al-Assad, including Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

However, Qatar has reiterated its rejection of normalising ties with the Assad regime, calling for a solution to the Syrian crisis through the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 2254, which calls on all parties to stop launching attacks against civilian targets, and requests the United Nations to bring parties together for negotiations and hold elections under UN supervision to bring about a political transition.

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