Lebanese Politician Tweets: ‘Doha Will Be Shelled’ if Qatar Enters Syria

Syrian Revolutionary Command Council in Hama via AP Video
Syrian Revolutionary Command Council in Hama via AP Video

A Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese parliamentarian has responded to the possibility of Qatar entering the Syrian Civil War, tweeting that “Doha will be shelled” if Qatar enters the conflict.

Wiam Wahhab, the Lebanese politician who is a member of a political coalition that includes the Iran-proxy terror group Hezbollah, used the popular social media platform to threaten a sovereign nation. 

“If Qatar implements its military threats in Syria, Doha is going to be shelled,” he tweeted, according to an Arabic translation by Al Arabiya. 

His tweet came in response to a statement given by Qatari foreign minister Khalid al-Attiya, who said during an interview with CNN on Wednesday that Doha would consider a military option as a solution to the conflict in Syria.

“Anything that protects the Syrian people and Syria from partition, we will not spare any effort to carry it out with our Saudi and Turkish brothers, no matter what this is,” al-Attiya told CNN. “If a military intervention will protect the Syrian people from the brutality of the regime, we will do it.” 

Wahhab’s pro-Hezbollah coalition is closely aligned with the Assad regime in Syria, which is fighting against rebels that are receiving arms and aid from Qatar.

American officials have worried that Qatar is not discriminating in determining which rebel groups receive its aid, leading some analysts to conclude that Qatari weapons are getting into the hands of al-Qaeda-aligned jihadists. 

The Assad regime has said it would counter with a “harsh response” to military intervention by Doha.

“If Qatar carries out its threat to militarily intervene in Syria, then we will consider this a direct aggression… Our response will be very harsh,” Syrian regime Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad said on Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television.

The Syrian Civil War has taken the lives of over 250,000 people since hostilities began in March 2011. Millions more have been displaced and have fled the country for other nations.

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