Qatar is to hand over the Syrian embassy in its capital, Doha, to Syria's main opposition group.
The news was announced by the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), which has already appointed an ambassador.
Qatar was among the first states to recognise the SNC as the official representative of the Syrian people.
Meanwhile, Syria's former foreign ministry spokesman has told
the BBC he abandoned the regime because his hopes for reform had been
dashed.
Jihad Makdissi, who disappeared from Damascus in early
December, told BBC Arabic he left Syria quietly to be independent and
support what he called "the peaceful change that's based on national
dialogue and partnership away from hatred, extremism and foreign
military intervention".
Mr Makdissi had been one of the main public faces of the regime, outlining its position in many news conferences.
His whereabouts remain unknown, though in a statement to the
BBC he said he was not in Europe or the US but with "brothers" who were
supporting the Syrian people without discrimination.
Mr Makdissi said he left in the way he did because he did not want to be used as a "dagger" by one side against the other.
'Defensive weapons'
According to the SNC, the opposition flag will fly over the
embassy in Doha, and the new ambassador and two of his staff will be
accorded full diplomatic status.
The SNC has appointed ambassadors to other states which have
recognised it, including the UK and France, but Qatar is the first to
hand over an embassy, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Beirut.
Clearly, the coalition hopes others will follow suit, our correspondent adds.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay meanwhile has said the
death toll in Syria had reached nearly 70,000 since the uprising began
in March 2011.
At the start of this year Ms Pillay had estimated a death toll of at least 60,000.
Speaking at a UN Security Council debate in New York on
Tuesday, Ms Pillay called on the Council to refer the situation in Syria
to the International Criminal Court.
"The lack of consensus on Syria and the resulting inaction
has been disastrous and civilians on all sides have paid the price," she
said.
"We will be judged against the tragedy that has unfolded before our eyes."
On Wednesday, Russia confirmed it is still supplying arms to
Syria's government. However, Anatoly Isaikin, the head of the state arms
exporter, Rosoboronexport, said the supplies did not include attack
weapons such as planes or helicopters.
Mr Isaikin said Russia's contracted defence shipments to Syria would continue "in the absence of sanctions".
"But these aren't offensive weapons," he stressed. "We are
mostly shipping air defence systems and repair equipment intended for
various branches of the military."
Read more:
updatallnews
No comments:
Post a Comment