Al-Qaeda’s number one, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has called on anti-government elements in Syria to push for regime change in the country as the Arab League (AL) vows to boost support for the Syrian opposition.
In a video recording posted online on Sunday, the head of the terrorist group urged anti-regime groups in Syria to press ahead with their rebellion to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
He also called on other people in the Arab world to assist Syrian anti-government elements with all they can, their ‘life, money, opinion, as well as information.’
“Continue your revolt and anger,” he went on to say, asking the elements not to “rely on the West or the United States or Arab governments and Turkey” in their rebellion against Assad’s government.
Also on Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said during a meeting of AL officials that the grouping had to “give all forms of support” to the Syrian opposition.
The AL officials also called for a halt to ‘all forms of diplomatic cooperation’ with the Syrian government and urged ‘tighter economic sanctions’ against Damascus.
The League approved unprecedented sanctions against Syria during a session in the Egyptian capital Cairo on November 27, 2011. The sanctions included cessation of transactions with the Syrian Central Bank and a boycott of investments for projects in Syria.
Meanwhile, France and the United States have proposed a meeting of ‘Friends of Syria’ anti-government group in Tunisia on February 24.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011.
Hundreds of people, including many members of the Syrian security forces, have been killed during the violence.
Damascus blames ‘outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups’ for the violence, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad. However, the West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of generating the unrest.
The Syrian government has repeatedly held several Western and Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to blame for fueling the unrest by providing armed gangs in the country with weapons and financial resources as a means of inciting civil war and toppling the government.
—Agencies