AFP

PARIS PRIME Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al Thani urged the international community on Thursday to speed up its search for a solution bringing a “peaceful transfer of power” in Syria, as he met French President Francois Hollande.

“We must speed up our search for a solution to maintain the country’s stability and there must be a plan for a peaceful transfer of power,” the PM said after the talks in Paris.

A peaceful transfer of power “is really our preferred solution” he said as he condemned President Bashar al Assad’s regime for failing to follow through on United Nations-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.

“In the past the Syrian government has always agreed with the proposals that were made and then worked to make them fail,” he said.

“We need Russia and China to agree” to a solution, he said, reiterating support for invoking Chapter Seven of the UN Charter to back the Annan peace plan.

The chapter authorises member states to take “all necessary measures” to carry out specific UN Security Council decisions and can be used in some cases to authorise military action.

“This does not mean that another solution does not exist, but we must continue working to find a peaceful solution,” the PM said.

Meanwhile, the next meeting of the Friends of Syria group will take place on July 6 in Paris, the French foreign ministry said on Thursday. The ministry confirmed the date after French President Francois Hollande last month announced the next meeting of the group would take place in Paris.

“The meeting of the Friends of Syria will mobilise all states and organisations that want to support the Syrian people as the humanitarian and security situation worsens and repression continues,” French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

The meeting will be the third such gathering after one in Tunis in February and another on April 1 in Istanbul called for tougher action against the Assad regime.