...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
stressed the need for a change in military balance to "end the impasse".
UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, however, insisted on the need for a "political solution" to the conflict, urging an "end to the supply of arms to all parties".
The head of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmed Jarba, repeated calls on the international community to supply rebels with "sophisticated weapons".
Saudi Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Abdulaziz, whose country is a major supporter of the Syrian rebellion against
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
, accused the world of "betraying" the opposition by failing to arm them and leaving them as "easy prey".
Salman urged support for the rebels, insisting that a solution to the conflict, in which regime forces have recently made significant advances, required a "change in the balance on the ground to end the impasse".
The conflict in Syria, which in mid-March entered a fourth year, has killed more than 140,000 people and displaced millions.
Jarba told the summit that a decision not to hand over Syria's seat in the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
to the opposition sends a wrong message to Assad, telling him to continue "to kill".
The Syria government's brutal repression of protests which erupted in March 2011 resulted in its suspension from the Cairo-based Arab League.
Its seat was allocated to the National Coalition at the last summit, in Doha in 2013, but has not been handed over because, according to Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, the oppossition has yet to meet the legal requirements.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, in his address to the gathering, accused the Syrian government of lying in "pretending to accept a political solution" but was in fact "buying time".
Brahimi urged a revival of peace talks.
"I call upon Europe, the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
and the United States to take clear steps to reactivate the Geneva talks," whose last round broke off on February 15 without setting a date for further negotiations.
"There is no military solution," stressed Brahimi.