Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani's comments to CBS "60 Minutes," which will be aired Sunday, are the first statements by an Arab leader calling for the deployment of troops inside Syria.
They come amid growing claims that a team of Arab observers dispatched to the country to curb the bloodshed has failed in its mission.
Asked whether he is in favor of Arab nations intervening in Syria, Sheik Hamad said, "For such a situation to stop the killing some troops should go to stop the killing."
Excerpts of the interview were sent to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by CBS a day before it was to be aired.
Qatar, which once had close relations with Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
, has been a harsh critic of the 10-month crackdown by
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
's regime. The wealthy and influential Gulf state withdrew its ambassador to Syria in the summer to protest the killings.
Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
observers began work in Syria on Dec. 27, to verify whether the government is abiding by its agreement to end the military crackdown on dissent.
But far from bringing a halt to the violence, the mission has coincided with an apparent increase in killings. A U.N. official said Tuesday that about 400 people have been killed in the last three weeks alone, on top of an earlier estimate of more than 5,000 dead since March.