Qatar Hands Syria Embassy to Opposition as Russia Reveals Supplying Regime with Arms

Qatar has handed the Syrian embassy building in Doha to the National Coalition, Syria's main opposition group, a statement said on Wednesday.

"Qatar has decided to hand over the Syrian embassy building in Doha to Mr Nizar al-Haraki after his appointment as ambassador to Doha for the National Coalition," the Coalition statement said.

"Qatar has acted faster than the Friends of Syria coalition," the opposition statement said, in reference to a string of Western and Arab states, along with Turkey, which support the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"The flag of the revolution will be raised above the building," the Syrian National Coalition added.

Speaking to Agence France Presse by phone, Haraki said the Qatari authorities had accepted his appointment.

"A formal decision has been made to accept my appointment as ambassador," he said.

"I will start work along with two other diplomats," said Haraki.

"Depending on whether they support the revolution, we will decide which former embassy staff members we will keep, and who we will lay off."

The National Coalition was formed in the Qatari capital on November 11.

A day later, Qatar and other Gulf countries recognized the group as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

And a week after that, the European Union followed suit and recognized the coalition.

The Coalition in November named ambassadors to Paris and London but neither France nor Britain have yet handed over embassy buildings to the opposition.

Meanwhile, Russia said Wednesday it was delivering military hardware and light weapons to the Syrian regime.

The head of the Rosoboronexport arms exporter said Russian deliveries to the Syrian President Assad included air defense systems but not the advanced Iskander missiles sought by Damascus.

"We are continuing to fulfill our obligations on contracts for the delivery of military hardware," Anatoly Isaikin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

He also rejected reports that Russia was planning to supply advanced MiG29-M fighters to Damascus while confirming it had a deal outstanding for Yak-130 light attack jets.

Isaikin said Syria currently ranked "13th or 14th in terms of volume" on the list of nations receiving Russian arms supplies.

Russia has been repeatedly condemned by Western and Arab nations for keeping ties to the Syrian government despite violence that U.N. estimates show has claimed more than 70,000 lives.

Its shipment this year of repaired attack helicopters to the regime was disclosed by the media and drew a furious response from former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

But some Moscow officials counter that Russia's sales are legitimate because Syria's armed opposition has received both covert and open financial and military support from some Arab world governments.

Russia is the world's second-largest arms exporter after the United States and has its biggest contracts with India and China.

Isaikin put the value of exports last year at $12.9 billion (9.57 billion euros) with the largest orders going to southern Asian nations.

But he added that Russia was also building arms links with strife-torn Mali and other countries in North Africa and the Middle East.