QATAR DENIES COUP ATTEMPT
ABU DHABI Ñ Qatar has denied reports of a military coup attempt.
Qatari officials said there has not been any attempt to overthrow the
regime of Emir Hamad over the last month. They said the reports of such an
attempt are baseless and suggested that they stemmed from Iraq.
Gulf diplomats said there were no signs of tension in Doha or the
surrounding area. They said they don't have information of a coup.
The emir has been away for most of this week on a tour of North Africa.
He has not responded to the reports.
On Tuesday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns held talks
in Doha with Qatari officials. No details were reported.
A Western intelligence source said Qatar has arrested mid- and
senior-level officers earlier this month believed to have plotted to end the
U.S. military presence in the emirate. The source said the officers did not
plan a coup, rather to confront the emir and force him to abandon Doha's
alliance with the United States.
In Washington, U.S. officials acknowledged reports of the coup but
refused to confirm their veracity. The officials said Qatar has agreed to
hold a major military exercise, termed "Internal Look," at the Al Udeid air
force base in December.
U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Tommy Franks said the exercise will last
up to six weeks and begin in early December. Franks told a Pentagon briefing
on Tuesday that the exercise will take place in several countries in the
Gulf region where the military has established subordinate commands.
Franks said the exercise is meant to test the effectiveness of
deployable command and control capabilities. He said Central Command will
transfer up to 1,000 personnel from its headquarters in Tampa, Fla. and
establish a command and control complex at Al Udeid.
"The purpose of it is command, control, communications, to be sure that
we have the right bandwidth lined up, to be sure that we can talk to our
components Ñ by that I mean air component, land component, maritime
component, and special operations component," Franks said. "Does it give us
increased capability? You bet. It gives us increased
capability. How long will it be there? Well, we'll make that decision when
the time comes."
Franks did not rule out the prospect that the United States would leave
the command and control complex in Qatar. He said the military has not yet
made such a decision.
