Qatar's emir favors Arab troops in Syria

WASHINGTON - The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, said in excerpts of an interview released on Saturday that he favored sending Arab troops to Syria to stop the violence there.

The emir became the first Arab leader to publicly suggest military intervention when he said that "For such a situation to stop the killing...some troops should go to stop the killing."

His comment was made in an interview with the CBS's "60 Minutes" program, which is scheduled to be aired at 7 pm ET on Sunday.

The emir, who once had a friendly relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has become one of his harshest critics after failing to convince him to halt the violence in his country.

Syria was plunged into turmoil in mid-March when anti- government protests broke out. The Arab League started a monitoring mission in the country on December 26 and is scheduled to make an assessment on January 21.

The mission has been criticized as ineffective in stopping the violence both from within and without.

The United Nations said last month that the violence had claimed more than 5,000 lives.