The Arab League summit in the Qatari capital Doha has given the green light to its members to send arms to the foreign-backed militants fighting against the Syrian government.
On Tuesday, the Arab League issued a resolution at the summit, giving member states the right to offer the militants all the means of what it called self-defense, including weapons.
Syria’s foreign-backed opposition was also formally handed Syria’s seat at the summit on Tuesday.
Speaking at the meeting, the head of the so-called Syrian National Coalition (SNC), Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, called on the United Nations to follow suit and give Syria’s seat to the opposition.
Even before the seat was given to the SNC, the Syrian media outlets condemned the anticipated move harshly.
They criticized the opposition takeover of Damascus’ seat at the Arab League, calling it a legal and a moral crime.
A Syrian state television also said, “Qatar wants to bypass the rules of the Arab League by giving the seat of a founding member of the league to a coalition that obeys only the money and fuel of the [Persian] Gulf and submits to American dictates.”
The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.