Air strikes hopeless without Iraqi national dialogue: FM


(MENAFN- Gulf Times) HE the Foreign Minister Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah said yesterday coalition air strikes in Iraq were hopeless without a real push for national reconciliation and added that the door should be left open to Syrians who left Al Qaeda's wing in the country.

"We see no hope to continue an air campaign without simultaneously having a national dialogue on the ground," Attiyah told Reuters in an interview in Paris.

Attiyah said Qatar was not supporting Al Qaeda's Syrian branch Jubhat al-Nusra.

"Qatar does not deal with Daesh (Islamic State) or Jubhat al-Nusra, but you always have to keep the door open for the Syrians who are with Jubhat al-Nusra if they decide to depart from Qaeda and go back to their own people as Syrians," he said.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister met Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs Borge Brende on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting on terrorism and the mini-ministerial meeting on Syria, which were held on Tuesday in Paris.

During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations and the means to enhance them. They also exchanged views on issues of joint interest.

He also participated in a meeting between UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and GCC foreign ministers, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting on terrorism.

The meeting discussed bilateral relations between the GCC member-states and the United Kingdom and means of enhancing them. It also reviewed the latest developments in the region, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.


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