The Qatari angle
Qatar is angling for a bigger political role in the region and internationally. Dina Ezzat reports
"Qatar is host of CENTCOM, a great friend of the US," US President George W Bush said while addressing a huge gathering of Qatar-based American troops late last week. The statement is a source of considerable pride among high-level Qatari officials who expressed enthusiasm about the first visit by an American president to the small but very controversial Gulf state.
Bush stopped in Qatar at the end of a Middle East tour that took him to Egypt and Jordan. The visit, Arab diplomats concede, caused jealousy in some neighbouring Arab Gulf countries who had hoped Bush would drop in on them. Other Arab capitals were unsure whether to interpret the stop over it as merely one to US troops or a sign of a new US-Qatari bond.
Arab political insiders contend that Qatar is angling for a greater political role in the region.
"We are a small state but there is no reason that this should stop us from playing a serious role," Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim has said on more than one occasion.
Today, the island country gives every sign of being heavily involved in US plans for Iraq -- particularly with respect to an interim government there. Qatar has been hosting long-time opponents of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. It is also in contact with former Ba'ath elements who are considered responsive to participating in a new Iraqi government. Late last week, US Administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer visited Qatar for talks with Bin Jassim over the future of Iraq. Doha has made no secret of its intention to continue providing the US on a long- term basis with military facilities as it did for the US invasion and occupation of the Gulf country.
But the Iraq situation is only one issue on which Qatar is cooperating with the US, being involved in matters pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israeli leaders have visited the country and it has offered to host inter-Palestinian dialogue, while advocating and maintaining ties with Israel, at a low level, in the face of wide Arab opposition. It has played long-term host to leaders of Hamas expelled by Arab countries. It has even offered to take in Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
The country's efforts to end civil strife in Sudan are also conducted in conjunction with the US. Looking to the future, Doha is positioning itself to play a central role in any plans coming out of President Bush's proposal to establish a US-Middle East free trade area by 2013.
Qatari diplomats defend their approach. "We don't understand why it's OK for other Arab countries -- that view themselves as big countries due to the size of their populations -- to maintain strategic ties with the US and significant relations with Israel when it is not OK for Qatar to do the same," said one Qatari diplomat. He added, "We've never made a secret of our ties with the US or Israel."
None of the foregoing, argue Qatari diplomats, implies disloyalty to the Arab world. As they point out, all Arab Gulf states have US military bases, a dozen Arab countries facilitated the US war against Iraq and most Arab states have some sort of relationship with Israel.
In a similar vein, one Arab diplomat commented, "There is no question that Qatar gives priority to its ties with the US over its ties with the Arab world. But then again Qatar is not the only state that acts this way. Kuwait is another good example."
Others emphasise the multifaceted nature of Qatar's foreign relations. Hesham Youssef, official spokesman and chief of the cabinet of Arab League secretary-general, pointed out that Qatar upholds its financial obligations to the Arab League and generally has been "generous" in financing various activities that serve the purposes of the Arab League. Doha, he said, has also been actively engaged in the debate on reforming the Arab League, having submitted concrete proposals that are currently being examined by Arab states. "Pursuing closer ties with the US should not be immediately seen as coming at the expense of close Arab ties," Youssef added.
But it's not just Qatar's relations with the US that have raised the ire of the country's neighbours. Home to Al-Jazeera satellite channel, the media outlet's coverage has occasioned diplomatic incidents with several Arab capitals, including some of Qatar's influential Arab Gulf neighbours, one of which accused the channel of "inciting unrest and spreading misinformation".
Qatar's foreign minister has said time and again that the government is not responsible for material aired by Al-Jazeera. The channel, too, he says has caused misunderstandings not only with its Arab neighbours, but also with the US.
During several Arab ministerial meetings ahead of the US military aggression against Iraq, Bin Jassim said Qatar would speak frankly and accept criticism provided that all Arab countries were willing to do the same. The Qatari foreign minister even offered to close the US military base in his country, impose restrictions on Al-Jazeera and suspend all relations with Israel "provided that all Arab countries agree and sign to the same". He said, "It should not just be Qatar."
