By Vivian Salama, Special for USA TODAY

DOHA, Qatar — Doha may not have New York City’s bustle or Chicago’s charm. But as the global economy gets worse, it’s becoming an affordable — if slightly unusual — college town for more American students.  

Half a dozen U.S. universities have opened branch campuses here that are thriving because of generous financial support from the government of Qatar. 

Students at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Courtesy: AP

Qatar — a tiny, gas-rich Persian Gulf nation — is offering substantial financial aid to most foreign students who need it — often chopping tuition to a quarter of what it costs at home, according to the government.

Qatar has struggled to diversify its economy away from oil and gas revenue. It sees the university sponsorships as a way to build its academic credentials — locals also attend classes — and bolster its workforce. The government offers foreign students the option of repaying each year of study with a year of work in Qatar.

“Qatar knows there aren’t enough Qataris to build the economy that they want to build, so they are delighted when people come from all over the world,” says Chuck Thorpe, dean of Carnegie Mellon’s branch here in Doha. “They are willing to offer all sorts of financial aid to get people to come here and study.”

Six American universities have branch campuses in Doha’s academic hub, a 2,500-acre campus known as Education City: Virginia Commonwealth, Weill Cornell Medical College, Georgetown, Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon and coming this fall, Northwestern.

The number of U.S. citizens attending classes at Education City is relatively low — Weill Cornell tops the list with 26 Americans among its 239 students this academic year — but the number of university applications has gone up this year and is likely to keep rising, Thorpe says.

“This is a viable option for Americans looking for a U.S.-quality education that isn’t impacted by the current economic crisis. And we expect more students to take notice of that,” Thorpe adds.

Most of the current American students opted to study in Doha before the recession began and consider themselves fortunate.

“It has certainly been a surreal experience to be overseas during (the recession), and I’m sure I will be returning to a very different climate than the one I left,” says Kristina Ricco, 24, of Miami, who is studying architecture at Carnegie Mellon in Doha.

Pro-Taliban Cleric Pulls Out of Cease-Fire, Citing Sharia Law Dispute

By VIVIAN SALAMA

ABCNews.com

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 10, 2009

A pro-Taliban cleric has pulled out of a fragile peace accord between the Pakistani government and Taliban militants in western Pakistan.

Sufi Mohammad expressed his frustration with the peace process, stating that the government’s promise to implement Islamic law, or sharia, in the Swat Valley had not been fulfilled.

The deal, brokered in February, had prompted a cease-fire, halting more than a year of bloodshed in the embattled Swat Valley, a one-time tourist haven, dubbed the Switzerland of the East by various travel guides.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has agreed to allow the practice of sharia law in Swat on the condition that law and order is first restored in the region. Muhammad, who had been camped out in the valley’s main town of Mingora with hundreds of black-turbaned supporters, uprooted Thursday in protest of Zardari’s “negative attitude.”

“From now on, President Zardari will be responsible for any situation in Swat,” the white-bearded cleric told reporters. “The provincial government is sincere, and our agreement with the provincial government is intact, but we are ending our peace camp.”

Militants rearmed and pushed into a neighboring area this week 60 miles northwest of Islamabad, where they clashed with villagers and police.

One Swat-based reporter, speaking today on the condition of anonymity, said, “There is a lot of uncertainty and fear among residents since this announcement happened,” adding, “things were much better for the past few weeks since this deal took place, so it is terrible to think that fighting may return to this area.”

The heat is now on Pakistan’s government to find a solution to its militant problem before it threatens to destabilize the nuclear-armed state.

Suspected militants ambushed a convoy in the northwest’s Kurram tribal agency this week, killing a security guard and wounding six other people, including the area’s top government official. Militants also planted a bomb in Khyber Agency that destroyed six tankers supplying fuel to NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

Calls for Sharia Law in Swat

“Right now, there are so many terrorists, al Qaeda based people, there are so many bombs and mortar holes in Swat,” said Rayat Allah Khan, the director of the Female Human Rights Organization for Swat. “There is so much ammunition in the valley that threatens to destroy the entire area.”

Until its unification with Pakistan in 1969, the Swat Valley had observed its own tribal system of governance.

Longtime calls for a return to a sharia-based system as an alternative to Pakistan’s drawn-out federal legal proceedings may have contributed to the rise of jihadist preacher Maulana Fazlullah, the son-in-law of Sufi Mohammed, and the valley’s subsequent Talibanization, mirroring that of nearby Afghanistan.

Once a hot spot for tourists from around the world, women have been banned from walking the streets of much of the region in recent years. Hundreds of girls’ schools have been blown up by militants who regard female education as un-Islamic.

Hinna Khan, 14, was among the girls forced to stay home after Taliban militants banned on female education. She claims that militants would patrol the streets of her town, threatening to throw acid in the faces of young girls who tried to attend classes. Her family fled to Islamabad last year so that she and her three younger sisters could live in safety.

“They are not scared of blood,” she said. “They kill people in open, like you would sacrifice an animal. They are not warmhearted; they fire openly and detonate bombs.”

But many say the crossfire between militants and armed forces is to blame for more than 1,500 deaths in recent years. Thousands more people have fled for their lives since fighting began in late 2007.

“Things in Swat are so bad that these people don’t have money for food or fare. Its like living life in jail,” Khan of the Female Human Rights Organization said. “The government of Pakistan has provided no help to the people of Swat.”

U.S. Worried About Pakistani Concessions to Taliban

U.S. and NATO officials have expressed concern that the Pakistani military, spread thin by the year-long offensive, is now making concessions to the Taliban.

While military operations have been widely unpopular among Pakistanis, previous efforts to broker a deal with militants diplomatically have fallen short. In 2006, a ceasefire under former military ruler Pervez Musharraf with militants in South Waziristan was blamed for giving Taliban and al Qaeda forces a stronger foothold in the region.

After a meeting with President Zardari in Islamabad Tuesday, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said that the situation in Swat had helped persuade more of Pakistan’s political elite to team up with American in its battle against extremism.

A number of attacks in recent weeks have raised concerns that the threat of extremism is now spreading beyond the beleaguered border region with Afghanistan. A deadly ambush on a police training facility outside the relatively safe city of Lahore last week sparked fears that extremists have penetrated Pakistan’s largest cities.

Pakistan’s chief justice expressed outrage last week about an online video that shows suspected Swat-based Taliban militants flogging a 17-year old girl for an alleged affair. Now under investigation for authenticity, the video sparked fresh concerns that the implementation of sharia law will embolden hardliners to carry out merciless punishments, particularly where women are concerned.

Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s former information minister and prominent member of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, said that while she holds reservations about the implementation of sharia law in Swat, it may be the only option for peace.

“I worry about sharia law because it often manifests in the extreme ways, in ways we don’t read in the Koran,” she said. “If the only way to achieve peace is through a partnership with the Taliban, then so be it. But if they are going to do anything in partnership, then there needs to be absolute clarity as to what form of law you have because it is important to have uniform laws.”

Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

Vivian Salama / Islamabad

Time.com

WARNING: Some of the images in this video may be disturbing for some

A viral video is raising an outcry in Pakistan — and highlighting the fact that in some parts of western Pakistan, the government is no longer in charge and the Taliban is. Filmed in the Swat Valley, where the government recently signed a controversial peace deal with the Taliban, the video apparently shows a 17-year old girl pinned down by as many as three men — among them her brother — while a fourth flogs her repeatedly, chastising her for having an alleged affair. She lets out a shriek with every lash, pleading for mercy. Dozens of men watch on but nobody speaks out to stop the lashing. (See the video that has raised alarms in Pakistan.)

The government’s agreement with the Taliban in Swat included the imposition of religious law in the area, a move many legal experts and women’s rights groups had cautioned against. The valley, once a prime destination for Pakistan’s honeymooners and hippies, was transformed in recent years into the frontline for Pakistan’s domestic war on terrorism. More than 1,500 people have been killed there and at least 100,000 have fled. A cease-fire is now in place in exchange for the imposition of Shari’a law. But reports of the curtailment of women’s rights and activities are now rampant; women have been banned from leaving their homes and simply walking in the streets of many towns. (See pictures from Pakistan’s tense border with Afghanistan.)

Human rights activists from the region insist that the 17-year old in the video and the countless other victims in Swat, are too helpless to speak out. “Who can stop the Taliban when they claim to be working in the name of Islam?” asked Yasmine Khan, Program Coordinator for the Female Human Rights Organization (Fehro) for Swat, who recently fled to Islamabad after allegedly receiving death threats by Taliban militants. “Things are out of hand and the government cannot control things.” (See pictures of the frontline in the war against the Taliban.)

However, the Swat-based Taliban organization denies that the incident took place in the valley. Several officials and commentators have expressed skepticism that the men in the video were Taliban militants performing the punishment. One local news organization noted that were it up to the Taliban, the victim “would have been shot.” The 17-year old girl allegedly in the video now denies that she was the burqa-clad woman beaten in the footage. She failed to appear at Pakistan’s Supreme Court for a hearing on Monday. Journalists in Swat speak of an atmosphere of fear in the valley; reporters say they are fearful of speaking out as well, afraid that they will be targeted by Taliban angry at the leaking of the video. One journalist, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said “we are the prime suspects.” (Check out a story about Talibanistan.)

The Supreme Court and its Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry are not keeping silent, however. While Chaudhry says that the authenticity of the video must be established (noting that it could be part of a scheme against those in Swat “demanding the application of Shari’a law”), he voiced outrage at what the footage appeared to portray. “[This] certainly constitutes a serious violation of law and fundamental rights of the citizens of the country,” he declared on Monday during a hearing into the incident. Chaudhry reprimanded several senior officials, including Pakistan’s Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa, for failing to take immediate action: “Before the video became public, what were you doing?” Chaudhry has asked the court to reconvene following a 15-day investigation.

Pakistanis see Chaudry’s comments as his first act of political muscle flexing since his dramatic restoration to power. The Chief Justice had been dismissed two years ago by then-president Pervez Musharraf because he would not support Musharraf’s assumption of dictatorial power. When Musharraf’s successor Asif Ali Zardari reneged on an agreement to restore Chaudry to the Supreme Court, widespread demonstrations a few weeks ago led to his reinstatement. Chaudry probably has the highest reserve of moral authority in the country.

But is it enough to safeguard rights guaranteed by the country’s secular constitution? Hours after the Chief Justice’s calls for an inquiry, federal investigators were reported to have taken testimony from the alleged victim. However, she once again denied being the woman in the video. Sherry Rehman, the former information minister and member of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party beleives in Chaudhry’s commitment to pursuing the case. “If anything like this surfaces again,” she says “It will not be tolerated.” But Reddy notes that the government will proceed with caution for fear of disrupting the fragile cease-fire.

Khan, the women’s rights activist, however, is pessimistic that even Chaudhry can get anything done. She says the Supreme Court inquiry is merely smoke and mirrors, and that it will take a “miracle” to bring justice to Swat. “Until now nobody knows who murdered Benazir Bhutto,” she says. “Where is that committee? Where are those results? Do you think anyone will investigate or help the poor people of Swat?”

I’ve been a bit tunnel visioned this weekend on a project I’m working on and so I only heard in passing that Pakistani Taliban militant commander Baitullah Mehsud has claimed responsibility for the siege on the immigration office in Binghamton, New York. Accused of having masterminded the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Mehsud also claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on the police academy outside Lahore.  He attributed this violence on incessant drone attacks in Western Pakistan, which just today claimed another 13 lives.  President Barack Obama vows to continue these drone attacks — even without the blessing of the Pakistani government — so long as Taliban and Al Qaeda militants continue using the semi-autonomous border region with Afghanistan as a sanctuary.  

A report today from Bloomberg:

By Khalid Qayum

April 4 (Bloomberg) — An explosion killed six security personnel in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, about 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) from the office of President Asif Zardari.

The blast was a suicide bomb attack, Islamabad Deputy Police Chief Bin Yamin said by telephone from the city. Eleven other troopers were injured, he said.

The explosion, at the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary in northern Islamabad, was followed by gunfire, according to eyewitnesses. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We could hear the bullets smacking into the houses around us,” Sohail Iqbal, the chief editor of Pakistan’s Online news agency, said in a telephone interview from the city. “The shooting lasted for eight to 10 minutes.”

The top commander of Pakistan’s Taliban movement, Baitullah Mehsud, vowed in a telephone interview with reporters four days ago to carry out an attack in Islamabad, as well as in the U.S., in retaliation for American missile strikes by Predator drone aircraft in the Pashtun ethnic belt of western Pakistan, near the Afghan border.

Hey everyone. I’m back in Lahore after several weeks of trotting in the Gulf. For as good as it was to get back to my stompin’ ground in the Arab world, it is equally great to be back in Pakistan with all that is going on. I have a radio report coming out in the next day on the escalating violence in the country. In the meantime, this report was released yesterday by Reuters. I found it very interesting because i am a firm believer that at the core of Pakistan’s militant problem is a growing economic crisis.  So many are pushed into lives of extremism based on a lack of opportunity in the country. While I was in Doha I attended a talk at the Brookings Doha Center where one of the speakers actually described the militants as predominantly mercenaries — hired killers involved in the so-called Jihad NOT for religious motivations, but rather, because their families financially benefit from their participation.  It is a fascinating topic.  While in the Gulf, I met Lahore native Saleem Ali, a Brookings visiting fellow. He recently wrote a book called Islam and Education: Conflict and Conformity in Pakistan’s Madrassas.  In it he argued that the problematic madrassas that tend to foster a climate of militancy are not the hardline religious schools, but rather some of the more secular madrassas where economic hardship and social disenfranchisement are an everyday reality. This report, detailed below, discusses how Pakistan biggest security threat is its economic deterioration.  I wholeheartedly agree. 

By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) – Pakistan must be central to U.S. policy on Afghanistan and needs up to $50 billion over the next five years to avoid an economic meltdown that risks turning the country over to Islamic extremists, said a report released on Thursday.

The report by a think tank with close ties to the Obama administration said Washington must also act to strengthen civilian government in Pakistan and persuade Islamabad to stop using militant groups as an instrument of foreign policy.

The Asia Society, whose chairman was Richard Holbrooke until he was appointed U.S. special envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan in January, convened a task force to compile the report: “Back from the Brink? A Strategy for Stabilizing Afghanistan-Pakistan.”

The report, made public on Thursday, was provided to President Barack Obama’s administration before he unveiled his strategy on Afghanistan last week. It closely mirrors Obama’s policy, while focusing more on politics than military issues.

The report said the global economic crisis risked further weakening Pakistan’s civilian government, which has little control over tribal areas that have become safe havens for al Qaeda, and which struggles to match the sway of the military.

“Perhaps the most urgent priority is to prevent economic collapse which could undermine state authority even in major urban areas in the next few months,” the report said.

It cited estimates that halting the economic decline in Pakistan might require a five-year package of $40 billion to $50 billion, a sum that dwarfs Pakistan’s existing $7.6 billion International Monetary Fund bailout.

It said 1 million workers joined the ranks of the urban unemployed in the past six months — a volatile source of tension in a country where 40 percent of the population live on an income of under $1.25 a day.

The report urged Washington to work with a “Friends of Pakistan” group at the United Nations to mobilize donors to provide an urgent rescue package that could involve direct budget support and or a World Bank-administered trust fund.

CENTER OF GRAVITY IS PAKISTAN

Task force co-chair Barnett Rubin said the United States and its allies had for too long focused on Afghanistan while allowing problems to fester in Pakistan.

“The regional center of gravity of the problem is not in Afghanistan,” Rubin said. The report argues that there are no al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan, but many in Pakistan, where a variety of other militant groups have long thrived on covert backing from the military and intelligence apparatus.

“Because it faces India, which it sees as an enemy … Pakistan has adopted formally the use of Jihadi groups as instruments of their foreign policy,” Rubin said at a panel discussion in New York on the report.

“One of the aims of our regional diplomacy should be to use all the resources we can to encourage, cajole, force, persuade Pakistan to change its policy away from using those Jihadis.”

Essential to that would be meeting Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns, the report said, and easing tensions with India. Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals were strained further by November’s attacks in Mumbai, which India says were conducted with the involvement of Pakistani state agencies. (The full report can be seen here ) (Editing by Peter Cooney)

Over the past few months, Dubai’s glittering skyscrapers have been diminished by the alarms about the emirate’s economic woes. The news has not been easy to take for the showpiece city-state, the most populous among the seven sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates. Indeed, even as the rest of the world spiraled into crisis, the U.A.E. insisted its brand-name city would not be drawn in by the downturn. In fact, the U.A.E. established a “no news is good news” policy of sorts. In January the government announced that fines ranging from $13,600 to $272,500 would be levied against any media outlet that published news considered damaging to the “country’s reputation or its economy.”

But sometimes, the bad news has to be admitted from on high. The U.A.E.’s Minister of Economy, Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri, last week acknowledged that the economy of the world’s fifth largest oil exporter is expected to shrink in 2009. He refused to give an indication of the extent of the contraction, saying simply that the U.A.E. would escape recession. The International Monetary Fund had previously said it expected the U.A.E. economy to grow only 3% this year after expanding 7.4% in 2007 and an estimated 6.9% in 2008. (See 10 things to do in Dubai.)

The towers of Dubai have been hardest hit. The large foreign banks that had been financing Dubai’s real estate boom have pulled out, leaving behind a significant burden on local banks, who have turned to the U.A.E. government for help shoring up their liquidity. To date, approximately $15 billion of federal money has been pumped into local banks. Company buyouts financed by Abu Dhabi — the capital of the U.A.E. and the only emirate with petroleum wealth — are believed to be forthcoming, though no officials will discuss details. “Any bailout from Abu Dhabi will come very privately,” says Christopher Davidson, author of Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success. ”Abu Dhabi doesn’t want the Dubai brand to suffer, even if Dubai has disgraced itself with its economic planning.” (See how Dubai placed among the top 10 architectural postponements.)

“The bubble has finally burst,” says one American expat. Some people point to mixed blessings of the financial downturn. Rents, which were at unbearable highs last summer, have now plummeted at least 25%, and property prices are down as much as 50% since August of last year. But while there is some respite from the dawn-to-dusk hammering and drilling that came with Dubai’s construction boom, some $8 billion in projects have now been either scrapped or put on hold. The city’s notoriously brutal traffic jams have eased somewhat in recent weeks since the reported exodus of thousands of expatriates, who make up more than 85% of Dubai’s population. The departures, however, could also be a sign of job losses: foreigners are generally not permitted to live in Dubai without a work visa.

But the city-state has its defenders. “Dubai-bashing is in fashion right now,” says Hassan Jarrar, head of wholesale banking for Standard Chartered Bank in Dubai. “Like most governments, the U.A.E. wants to limit the fears of not just the people inside but also external investors. Are they understating the problem? I don’t think so.” He insists that “the difference between Dubai and Singapore or Shanghai is, in Dubai, when cranes leave site here, they leave when construction is finished.” A trip down Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai’s main thruway, named after the U.A.E.’s founder and first President, reveals thousands of cranes still operating and the first line of the city’s metro on track to open this summer. (See pictures of Dubai.)

A new billboard has gone up just below Dubai’s World Trade Center. It features images of Dubai’s more recognizable landmarks, like the sail-shaped Burj al-Arab hotel and Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building. They are all adornments for the subject of the billboard: Dubai’s leader, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. The sheik has been rumored to have suffered significant health problems from the strain brought on by the emirate’s economic woes. The billboard is meant to belie those rumors; it shows the sheik, 59, looking sharp, vibrant and healthier than ever. Behind his picture is a simple caption in Arabic: “We don’t wait for things to happen, we make them happen.” And if you want to say otherwise, Dubai doesn’t want to hear it.

Vivian Salama

March 30, 2009

DOHA // Confident and defiant in the face of an international warrant for his arrest, Omar al Bashir, the president of Sudan, addressed the 21st regular session of the Arab League in Qatar, defending his decision to expel non-governmental organisations from Sudan and his right to resist arrest.

Mr al Bashir accused aid organisations of providing sensitive information about Sudan to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, declaring it an effort to destabilise the Sudanese government. He claimed that the humanitarian problem in Darfur has been exaggerated, particularly with regard to claims of food and water shortages.

On March 4, the ICC issued a warrant for the arrest of the Sudanese president on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

“These organisations were providing some support, but their costs were so high [and they] have started to work outside their mandate,” Mr al Bashir said. They “signed secret agreements with the ICC to provide ICC with some reports”.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki- moon, condemned the Sudanese leader for his decision to expel key international non-profit organisations, saying it resulted in the suspension of life-sustaining services for more than one million people.

Despite the efforts of Sudanese governmental organisations, UN agencies and the remaining NGOs, Mr Ban said yesterday, “the gaps cannot be filled with existing capacities”.

A number of delegates gathered in Doha expressed concern over the ICC’s decision to arrest Mr al Bashir. Several pointed to the court’s failure to issue arrest warrants for alleged war crimes of Israeli leaders. The Arab League’s secretary general, Amr Moussa, called it a double standard.

The majority of the Arab League member states are not signatories to the Rome statute that created the ICC in 1998. 

Bashar Assad, the president of Syria and host of last year’s summit, called upon the Arab leadership to show solidarity with the embattled Sudanese leader. He predicted that Sudan would descend into chaos if Mr al Bashir were arrested.

“We are to extend our full support to Sudan in order to avoid to steps in the future that might lead to the division of Sudan,” Mr Assad said. “The pretext that Sudan has made some violations is something we can discuss.”

The issuance and reaction to the ICC warrant are among the latest events to dominate pressing issues facing the League of Arab Nations. Several leaders, including the summit’s host, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, chose to avoid the issue of Sudan all together, focusing instead on the region’s economic challenges.

Other shadows were cast this year by Libya’s president, Muammar Qadafi, who accused Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah of exercising US policies to solve Arab problems. This is not the first time an outburst by Mr Qadafi grabbed significant attention at the Arab summit. In 2003, he took a shot at King Abdullah over the US military presence in the region, calling Saudi Arabia’s ties with the United States “a pact with the devil”.

In 2004, he smoked cigars on the conference floor in a show of contempt and stormed out of the assembly after the delegation’s refusal to accept his proposed Arab-Israeli peace plan. The following year in Algeria, he returned, accusing Palestinians and Israelis of being “stupid”.

Although Mr Qadafi has lured the watchful eyes of the media, he was not the only one to offer a distraction from the summit. This year, the absence of Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, drew significant attention given the recent rivalry over approaches to the Palestinian crisis. Cairo continues to mediate talks aimed at Palestinian reconciliation and forging a sustainable ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Squabbles often mar the annual Arab summits and dominate coverage, with clashes growing increasingly sharp in recent years after a series of conflicts, including the second intifada, the US-led war in Iraq, political instability in Lebanon and Israeli military operations in Lebanon and Gaza. 

Many are growing increasingly sceptical of the ability of Arab leaders to find concrete solutions to the issues facing the region.

“People now look at the Arab summits as entertainment,” said Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor in chief of Al Quds Al Arabi, a pan-Arab newspaper published in London. “They aren’t looking at resolutions; they are looking at these sideshows: who is going to clash with who; who is going to boycott, who will come; who is cross with someone. It is like a soap opera.”

Last year’s summit in Damascus was held amid a boycott by Lebanese delegates and the humiliating low-level representation by some of the Arab world’s most powerful countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

“The Arab street increasingly sees itself as interconnected and they would like to see their leaders guide them to finding solutions, but they can’t even get together for a meeting,” said Hady Amr, director of the Brookings Doha Centre. 

“The Arab world has high hopes: they want jobs, dignity, increasing opportunities to participate in society and their governments are not delivering.”

Vivian Salama

March 29. 2009 

DOHA // In the past year, the tiny Arab Gulf emirate of Qatar has brokered a historic peace deal between political opponents in Lebanon and played host to a number of Arab League summits as well as to the Doha Round of world trade talks.

However, as the host of the latest Arab League summit, scheduled to begin tomorrow, Qatar has drawn scepticism as to its ability to fairly mediate one of the Arab world’s deadliest and longest-running conflicts: Darfur.

Amnesty International has called upon Qatar and members of the League of Arab States to enforce the arrest warrant against Omar al Bashir, the Sudanese president, before this week’s meeting.

The Qatari government and the Arab League have refused to arrest the Sudanese leader, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying his arrest would further destabilise the country. Qatar, like most of the Arab League nations, is not a signatory to the ICC’s founding treaty.

The 22-nation organisation is expected to address regional issues, including the arrest warrant for Sudan’s president and Palestinian divisions.

Sudan's Al Bashir is wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity

Mr al Bashir is expected to attend the meeting. Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, who met the embattled Sudanese leader in Cairo last week, yesterday said he would not come to Doha.

Although some regional analysts said they believe the refusal to detain Mr al Bashir is no surprise, it could compromise Qatar’s credibility to serve as a regional arbitrator.

“I do not think it is in Qatar or any Arab country’s best interest to arrest President Bashir, but certainly some of the rebel groups in Darfur might see this as taking sides,” said Saleem Ali, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Centre.

Home to substantial oil and natural gas reserves, Qatar in recent years has cultivated a reputation as a friend to almost anyone. It plays host to one of the largest US military bases and, until the recent incursion on Gaza, to one of few Israeli commercial offices in the region.

Qatar is on amicable terms with Iran and has staunchly defended the interests of Hamas and Chechen separatists. In 2005, Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, bestowed a gift of US$100 million (Dh367m) to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina, while also investing $1.5 billion to build an oil refinery in Zimbabwe.

“Qatar is punching above its weight,” said James Reardon-Anderson, the dean of Georgetown University in Qatar. “So you see it in their foreign policy – the Lebanon deal, the Darfur deal, they are trying to be bigger than they are.”

The emergence of Qatar in recent years from a tiny and somewhat underdeveloped nation of one million – 75 per cent of whom are expatriates – into an international hub for sport, education, science, trade and culture, has been regarded as the emirate’s first step towards becoming a global political heavyweight.

“The leadership here really sees this as an opportunity to transfer this wealth of natural gas into human capacity and to use that momentum to affirm their culture and affirm their vision and transform their society,” Mr Reardon-Anderson said.

Once the exclusive domain of Saudi Arabia in the Gulf and Egypt in the broader Middle East, the role of political intermediary and conciliator has fit Qatar, which has invited everyone from Iranian and Israeli diplomats and provided a home base to US military personnel and Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi, a hardliner Sunni cleric.

“Qatar is generally well positioned to play a mediating roll because it has very good relations with the West and at the same time it is perceived in the Islamic establishment as having some sympathies with Islamist causes,” Mr Ali said. “Because of this rather unusual mix of circumstances, it is really a tight rope that they are walking on now particularly because of this US military base.”

In 2003, the United States announced it would pull out virtually all of its troops from its military base in Saudi Arabia, long deemed a symbol of Washington’s influence in the region. The US Central headquarters in Qatar and the Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain drew a sea of controversy for the two Gulf nations, particularly after US military operations began in Iraq in 2003.

It is, some argue, Qatar’s role as a media hub since the launch of its home-based network, Al Jazeera, in 1996 that has brought it the greatest praises and criticism. Various regional governments have condemned the Qatari government for allowing Al Jazeera to boldly criticise Arab regimes while protecting the image of Qatar. In 2002 Saudi Arabia broke diplomatic ties with Qatar over the issue, but resumed them in 2007 when Qatar promised to rein in coverage.

Vivian Salama

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