Qatar’s foreign minister denied his country is supplying Syrian rebels with arms or funds to buy weapons, but said the United Nations should approve such support and consider creating a no-fly zone to protect civilians.
Khalid Bin Mohammad al-Attiyah said today during a visit to Tokyo that Qatar is providing rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad with food and medicine, but the arms they need to fight Assad’s well-equipped military would require UN approval and a no-fly or buffer zone.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia have led Arab calls for an international effort to arm and assist the rebels in the escalating civil war and both are believed to have channels through which they could funnel weapons to the rebels. But al-Attiyah said Qatar is not doing so.