Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The huge expatriate community has been alarmed by the rape and killing of a British woman in Qatar.

Western diplomats said the killing in Doha on Oct. 12 has prompted concern within Qatar’s community of Western nationals.

“There has been a slow but steady decline in security in Doha, and this has to be addressed by the authorities,” a diplomat said.

The death of Lauren Patterson was the second of a Westerner in less than a year. Ms. Patterson was believed to have left a Doha nightclub with her Qatari ex-boyfriend and was found hours later dead in a garbage dumpster. The boyfriend was believed to have fled to Saudi Arabia.

“We are aware of a British national, Lauren Patterson, reported missing in Qatar,” the British Foreign Office said. “We are providing the family with consular assistance.”

In November 2012, an American woman, Jennifer Brown, was killed in
Qatar. A Kenyan security guard faces trial in November on charges of murder.

Diplomats said Qatar, like other Gulf Cooperation Council states, was
struggling with the huge expatriate community, comprised mainly of Asians
and Africans.

They said the emirate, however, did not have a police force that was
capable of rapid and intensive investigation. Over the last two years,
Britain has been training Qatar’s police force in such skills as forensics.

“Until recently, this was a very sleepy country where most crime was
settled through clans rather than the police,” the diplomat said. “But with
the introduction of foreigners you must have a capable police or else it
gets very dangerous.”

On Oct. 16, the Interior Ministry announced the arrest of several
suspects in the killing. The ministry, which did not elaborate, said a case
against the suspects were being prepared by prosecutors.

“The security services arrested the perpetrators of the murder of a
young woman of European nationality,” the Interior Ministry said.

  British Foreign Office, Doha, Lauren Patterson, Murder of British woman spotlights security woes in Qatar’s huge expatriate community