World must act now to end Syria crisis: FM

DOHA/SINGAPORE: Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani yesterday made a passionate call to the international community to end the bloodshed in Syria, saying Bashar Al Assad has taken the international community hostage to his wishes of remaining in power, regardless of the mounting death toll. 
Giving a lecture at the Middle-East Institute in Singapore yesterday, the Foreign Minister drew attention to the developments in Aleppo “where people have been relentlessly put under siege by Assad forces for many months.”
Qatar had to close down its health centre there after it was targeted by bombs a number of times. He stressed that the international community must intervene to end the violence in Syria, “because the longer the fight goes on the more radicalised Syrian youth stuck in the crisis might get.”
The Foreign Minister warned that the so-called Islamic State group is not yet defeated, even though it has been struggling of late. And Al Assad is still in power.
The Foreign Minister said that Qatar’s foreign policy aims at encouraging peaceful resolutions to crises. Another policy goal was supporting the right to self-determination, along with avoiding interference in internal affairs of other countries and cooperating with members of the international community that promote peace. Qatar’s mediation efforts was successful in those goals because the country kept its doors open to all parties involved in a crisis. 
In his lecture, the Foreign Minister discussed the scope of peace and security in the Middle East and its relationship with development and good governance. He said Qatar was always looking to excel in working with other countries around the world and respecting diversity. 
Qatar and Singapore have ties that were bigger than trade and business relations. Both countries are emerging economies that are small in size geographically. Another similarity, the Foreign Minister said, was that both countries were committed to developing their human capital. He added that Qatar’s commitment to developing human capital extended to its foreign policies, by providing developmental assistance and mediation efforts to help avoid future struggles. 
Referring to Arab revolutions, the Foreign Minister said that counter-revolutionary forces have reversed the gains Arab people made in the first years of their revolt. The Foreign Minister concluded by saying both Qatar and Singapore were committed to developing human capital and good governance, which forms “the bedrock of our friendship and partnership.”