SNC to be given Syria’s seat at summit

In a move that will further isolate the embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Arab League — backed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar — has taken a decision to give Syria’s seat at the Arab League to the country’s official opposition bloc a day before the crucial Arab summit kicks off in Qatar on Tuesday.
Syrian opposition leaders will address the summit for the first time. This was decided at a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers attended by Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah, deputy foreign minister, in Doha yesterday.
“The decision reflects pressure by key rebel backers and those supporting the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) for a show of Arab solidarity against Assad,” said an Arab League statement, released yesterday. The leaders of SNC will work at the summit to gather more support for the armed uprising to topple Assad. The Syrian opposition can now send an envoy to the Arab summit, said the statement.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, called on the member states of the Arab League to push the United Nations to approve the Palestinian state’s request for granting full UN membership and for restoring all legitimate Palestinian rights. “A non-member observer state in the UN is a first step on the long path of restoring the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to establish their independent state,” Prince Abdulaziz said.
Prince Abdulaziz called on the UN and the UN member states to approve the petition of “the state of Palestine for admission to full membership in the UN.”
Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, will lead the Saudi delegation at Doha the summit.
In his speech at the Arab League ministerial meeting yesterday, Prince Abdulaziz called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to transfer funds owed to the Palestinian Authority. He said the summit would discuss all key regional issues with special reference to Syria and Palestine.
Following the meeting, Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ahmad Ben Helli said the meeting discussed the proposed agenda for the 24th regular session of the Arab summit.
He said the ministers discussed a proposal to set up an Arab human rights court. The topic is likely to be taken up for discussion at the summit. The leaders are also expected to take a final decision on the plan of establishing the Greater Arab Free Trade Zone.