HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani with GCC leaders and officials at the summit in Riyadh yesterday.

Agencies
Riyadh


HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday urged Syrian opposition groups meeting in Saudi Arabia to close ranks and forge a common stand before planned peace talks expected by early next year.
“We urge the sides of the Syrian opposition to rise to the level of responsibility and to use this golden opportunity to unify their ranks and co-ordinate their steps beyond setting up a negotiating team,” HH the Emir said in a speech at the start of an annual Gulf Co-operation Council summit in Riyadh.
He said: “The continuation of the Syrian crisis puts the international community vis-a-vis a historical, moral and humanitarian responsibility.
“The repercussions of this crisis have extended beyond the Syrian and regional boundaries to pose a threat to the global security and stability. Accordingly, we as Arabs, and as part of the international community should act to put an end to this disaster, protect the regional and international peace and security, take all measures and actions to spare the blood of the Syrians, ease their suffering and strive in earnest to implement the decisions of Geneva (1) that fulfil the aspirations of the Syrian people and their hopes and preserve their dignity and their right to exercise their free will to determine their country’s future without coercion or compulsion by a local, or regional or an international power.”
HH Sheikh Tamim told the summit that recent attacks in several countries prove that this “odious scourge” is a threat to everybody.
“The international community must, more than ever, intensify efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms and eliminate its real causes by all means,” the Emir said.
Regarding the Yemeni situation, he said, “we reiterate our concern about the stability of Yemen, its unity and territorial integrity, and emphasise our support for the legitimacy and our rejection to all attempts to forcibly impose control by a faction over Yemen and condemn these attempts, which will fail, with the will of Allah and by the stance of the Yemeni people and solidarity of the Arab coalition.”
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia called for political solutions to the wars in Syria and Yemen, while condemning “terrorism,” at the opening of the two-day summit.
King Salman voiced “support for a political settlement which guarantees the territorial integrity of Syria,” after nearly five years of war.
On behalf of the Gulf states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - Salman also called for “a peaceful solution” in Yemen.
“Islam rejects and abhors terrorism, because it is a religion of moderation and tolerance,” said the monarch.