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Fight against Islamic State 'will fail if Assad stays'

DOHA, September 27, 2014

Qatari Amir Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has warned that the US-led fight against Islamic State (IS) militants will not succeed as long as Syrian President Bashar Al Assad remains in power.

"We have to counter terrorism, yes. But I believe the main cause of all this is the regime in Syria, and this regime should be punished," Shaikh Tamim said in an interview with CNN.

"If we think we're going to get through the terrorist movements and leave those regimes doing what they're doing - this regime especially - then terrorist movements will come back again," he said.

IS fighters have exploited the chaos of Syria's three-year-old civil war, which pits Assad and his allies against Sunni Muslim rebels and Islamist militants, to carve out territory in the country's eastern provinces.

Qatar, which has sent cash and arms to rebels fighting Assad, also supported the US strikes against IS, contributing one plane on the first night of attacks.

Other US allies - Jordan, Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia - have joined the air strikes. All are ruled by Sunni Muslims and are opponents of Assad, a member of a Shi'ite-derived sect, and his main regional ally, Shi'ite Iran.

The air raids follow growing alarm in Western and Arab capitals after IS proclaimed a "caliphate" ruling over all Muslims, slaughtered prisoners and ordered Shi'ites and non-Muslims to convert or die.-Reuters




Tags: assad | fight | Islamic State |

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