In a Tuesday press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani claimed that Qatar started supporting the Syrian rebels after it became "frustrated" and gave up hope of reforms by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But, Merkel stressed that Germany will not arm the militants in Syria.

''We want a political solution. We, the German Federal Republic, will not deliver arms to the rebels. Also, we are not gally allowed to send arms into areas of conflict'', Merkel explained.

Merkel also reiterated the need for a solution and above all for political talks. She said her meeting with the visiting prime minister had covered how to achieve conditions for that.

"The issues are anything but simple, the possibility of the destabilization of a whole region is however a given," she warned.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government has said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals. Qatar, Turkey and a number of western and Arab countries are supporting and arming the militants.
 

Several international human rights organizations have accused the foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.