Britain's Hague discusses Syria war in Qatar

British Foreign Secretary William Hague discussed Syria's bloody conflict on Wednesday with Qatar's crown prince during a visit to the gas-rich Gulf country, the official QNA news agency reported. Qatar's Crown Prince Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met with Hague in Doha, where they "discussed cooperation between their countries as well as regional developments, mainly in Syria," said QNA. The meeting comes two days after European Union foreign ministers stopped short of meeting Britain's demand to lift an arms embargo on Syria but agreed to allow "non-lethal" aid and "technical assistance" to flow to the opposition. After weeks of "divisive" talk on whether to arm Syria's rebels, the ministers agreed to renew sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad until the end of May that notably bar the supply of any lethal weaponry to the country -- regime or rebel. Qatar had repeatedly voiced support for the 23-month rebellion against Assad's regime which has so far claimed nearly 70,000 lives, according to the United Nations.