Iraq

Iraqi official: Qatar must mind its size and respect others

qatarIraqi deputy foreign minister says Qatar must consider its ‘size’ and try to respect other Arab nations, criticizing Doha’s support to the war in Syria which has turned to a threat for Iraq as well.

Hussain al-Shahrestani told the Lebanese al-Mayadin news channel on Sunday that Baghdad had already warned Saudi Arabia about its concerns over huge amounts of arms being sent to Syria militants, many of them by support of Riyadh and Doha.
According to a May report by the Financial Times, Qatar has spent billions of dollars to fund militants in Syria in the past two years and Saudi Arabia leads the countries providing arms to them.
Qatar Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiya recently held a round of meetings with Takfiri leaders of active groups from nearly all over Syria, including Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Homs and Hama in Istanbul.
The militants asked for Qatar’s support for forming an independent army.
Director General of the Saudi Intelligence Agency Prince Bandar Bin Sultan is also considered to be one of the most influential leaders of the militants in Syria’s Aleppo.
Sahrestani said Baghdad informed the Saudi royals of the dangers these arms pose to Iraqi people as they are also used for killing Iraqis.
He said the arms that are sent to Syria by foreign countries end up in Iraq and are used by terrorist groups for deadly attacks against Iraqi people.
He criticized Qatari government for its interferences in regional countries’ affairs and said, “Qatar needs to review its policies and mind its position and size and respect other Arab countries and their choices”.
The war in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.
Since the start of the war al-Qaeda affiliated groups have been emerging under different names in Syria, fighting at the side of the US-backed opposition which is leading one of the bloodiest conflicts in the recent history.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the turmoil that has gripped Syria for over two years.

Related Articles

Back to top button

Adblock Detected

Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker