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U.S. talks with Qatar, confirms Riyadh not an ally against terror

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, March 12, 2002

ABU DHABI Ñ Qatar and the United States have launched efforts to boost military cooperation as the U.S. Defense Department made it clear that Saudi Arabia is not an ally in the U.S.-war against terrorism.

Pentagon officials said the department has not included Saudi Arabia as an ally against terrorism in both publicly-released documents as well as in ceremonies.

However, U.S. officials said Riyad has taken steps to stop the financing of Islamic insurgency groups. U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said Riyad and Washington are cooperating in blocking the assets of branches of the Saudi-based Al Haramain Islamic Foundation in Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The U.S.-Qatar talks seek to increase U.S. defense and military ties with Doha, which regards France as its chief ally.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld welcomed military representatives of what the Pentagon termed the countries in the worldwide coalition against terrorism. Rumsfeld invited reporters and had his photograph taken with the foreign envoys to mark six months since the suicide attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11.

"The important thing to remember is, from day one, the task was to deal with the terrorists, but also to deal with the nations that harbor terrorists," Rumsfeld said.

Saudi Arabia was not included in the meeting. In all, envoys from 27 countries attended.

The countries included such Middle East allies as Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Israel, which has been identified as a U.S. ally in other forums, was also not invited. Officials cited Arab sensitivity.

Over the weekend, a U.S. military delegation held talks with Qatari defense officials and military commanders. The delegation was led by Gen. Paul Mikolashek of U.S. Central Command, which covers the Gulf and much of the Middle East.

Mikolashek met Qatari Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Hamad Bin Ali Attiyah in a session that the official Qatari news agency said was devoted to plans to boost military cooperation. The meeting was attended by leading Qatari commanders.

Qatar has been one of several Gulf Cooperation Council states being approached to accept additional U.S. military assets. The other countries that Washington has approached are Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Gulf defense sources said the Pentagon seeks to move U.S. troops and aircraft from Saudi Arabia in wake of the kingdom's refusal to allow use of the Prince Sultan Air Base for the war in Afghanistan.

On Monday, the Netherlands and Qatar signed a military cooperation accord. The accord, details of which were not disclosed was signed by Al Attiyah and Holland's ambassador to Qatar, Hank Revis.

[In the Saudi city of Mecca, at least 18 students were killed in an explosion at a high school on Monday. Saudi authorities said the explosion stemmed from a short-circuit. One person was killed in the explosion and the rest in a stampede by hundreds of students and teachers who tried to escape the building.]

In his address, President George Bush mentioned several countries as contributing to the war in terrorism. Bush referred to Jordan and Turkey in reference to Middle East nations that have helped Washington in Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia was not included in a Pentagon list of U.S. allies in the war against terrorism. Riyad has refused to allow the United States use of the Prince Sultan Air Base in the war in Afghanistan.

On Monday, the New York Times reported that U.S. Central Command has drafted a plan to move forces out of Saudi Arabia. U.S. military officials said this would result in the relocation of a command post from Prince Sultan to another Gulf Cooperation Council state. The newspaper said the leading candidate is Qatar, whose Al Udeid Air Base contains vast hangars and 15,000-foot runways.

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