Qatari PM Calls to ‘Speed up search’ for Syria Solution

Qatar's prime minister urged the international community 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 equally there must be a plan for a peaceful transfer of power," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani told reporters after the talks in Paris.

A peaceful transfer of power "is really our preferred solution" Sheikh Hamad 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 for Russia and China to agree" to a solution, he said, reiterating support for invoking Chapter Seven of the U.N. Charter to back the Annan peace plan.

The chapter authorizes member states to take "all necessary measures" to carry out specific U.N. Security Council decisions and can be used in some cases to authorize military action.

"This does not mean that another solution does not exist, but we must continue working to find a peaceful solution," Sheikh Hamad said.