US embassy cable - 05DOHA993

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 000993 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ECON, KISL, KDEM, ELAB, PHUM, EINV, QA, INL 
SUBJECT: QATAR NEWS AND RUMORS 
 
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 Seeds of Democracy 
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1. (U) Some schools in Doha have established a forum called 
"small parliament" to discuss children's issues such as the 
Child's Rights Convention. Several young sheiks have 
participated in these small parliaments, which have held 
several meetings. The views expressed in these parliaments 
have been carried in local newspapers. 
 
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Recognizing a Child's Right to Nationality 
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2. (U) The rights of children of Qatari women married to 
foreigners are expected to be addressed in the new 
citizenship law currently under consideration. Present laws 
constrain Qatari women from marrying foreigners. Qatari women 
tend to avoid such unions because of the discrimination 
against children of such unions, for instance they do not 
obtain Qatari nationality as nationality is passed down from 
the father. Some women and children have long complained 
about this and see this proposed new law, which is expected 
to provide nationality to these children, as long overdue. 
 
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Promoting Inter-faith Dialogue 
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3. (U) The Third Conference of Freedom of Religions is 
scheduled for the 29-30 of June in Doha. For the first time 
in Qatar representatives from the three monotheistic 
religions -Christianity, Islam, and Judaism- have been 
invited. Invitations have been extended to the Anglican 
Church, Coptic Church, Middle East Churches Council, Orthodox 
Church, the Vatican, and Jewish Rabbis, among others. Dr. 
Aisha Al-Mannai, president of the planning committee, said 
that moderate Jewish Rabbis outside of Israel had been 
invited to the Conference. Rabbis in Israel were not invited, 
according to Dr. Aisha, because Qatar disagreed with the 
occupation policy in Palestine. Dr. Al-Mannai also mentioned 
that Dr. Yousef Al-Qaradawi, the reknowned Islamic scholar 
expressed reservations about inviting Jews to the conference 
and declined to attend. The topic of this year's conference 
is "The Role of Religions in Blessing Mankind." All sessions 
are open to the public. Discussion of the individual faiths 
or specific religious practices, as well as political issues, 
however, is off-limits. 
 
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Equal Death Compensation... or not 
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4. (U) Recent articles in the local press have highlighted 
the split among Islamic scholars over the issue of death 
compensation or blood money (deyah). Qatari law stipulates 
that the legal heirs of women murdered or killed in road 
accidents are entitled to half of the blood money as the 
heirs of men. However, some scholars, among them Dr. Yousef 
Al-Qaradawi, argue that the heirs of women should get equal 
death compensation as those of men. According to Al-Qaradawi 
there is no reference in the Quran that shows that women are 
not equal with men in the matter of death compensation. Other 
scholars challenge this view and assert that since a man is 
the bread earner of the family, Islamic laws specify that his 
relatives get double the compensation as those of a woman. 
Further, they argue, "this is not the right time to debate 
the issue as Islam is being targeted by other cultures and 
civilizations." 
 
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Unrest at the Central Municipal Council 
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5. (U) Sixteen out of 29 members of Qatar's elected body, the 
Central Municipal Council (CMC), have signed a petition 
calling for the resignation of the council chairman, Ibrahim 
al-Haidous. The reasons given in the petition were not made 
public, but we understand that one issue was favoritism by 
Haidous in selecting council members for official CMC travel. 
Other members have been dissatisfied with al-Haidous, 
believing him to be too conservative in asserting the 
council's authority. In the latest twists, the CMC vice-chair 
refused to accept a related memo on the grounds that it was 
not drafted on CMC letterhead, and the Minister of Municipal 
Affairs and Agriculture met with the dissidents in an attempt 
to bring about reconciliation. The Minister may be trying to 
retain a CMC chairman who avoids rocking the boat. 
 
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The Social is Political 
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6. (U) It is not surprising to find thousands of Asian 
workers milling about in groups in downtown Doha during the 
weekends. Indeed, male expatriate laborers take advantage of 
their weekends to leave their crowded housing accommodations 
to socialize with each other. However, recently the nature of 
these weekend gatherings has changed for some. What used to 
be a simple social activity has turned into opportunities for 
expatriate laborers to discuss openly their sufferings (bad 
living conditions, delayed salary payment, sponsorship 
system, maltreatment, etc.). Shopowners, however, are 
protesting these gatherings and are asking that the workers 
find another place to convene. They complain that the workers 
are blocking their stores and preventing would-be customers 
from shopping. According to the shopowners, this has led to a 
decrease in business during the weekends. 
 
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Labor Contracts Mischief 
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7. (U) Poloff recently brought to the attention of the 
Ministry of Civil Service Affairs and Housing the issuance of 
new labor contracts, which obstruct civil service laws. The 
new contracts which were issued by the Ministry of Municipal 
Affairs and Agriculture and which were published in local 
Arabic newspapers, do not meet the mandatory guidelines and 
requirements. Nor did the Ministry of Civil Service Affairs 
and Housing approve them as mandated. Among others, the new 
contracts omit the end of service remuneration and exempt the 
employer from providing housing and transportation allowance 
for the employee. The Ministry of Civil Service Affairs and 
Housing reports to Poloff that it is following up on the 
contracts issue. According to the Ministry, which is 
reviewing the new contracts, the end of service gratuity is 
an irrevocable labor right and must be included in all 
government labor contracts. 
 
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More Labor Woes... 
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8. (U) In a related matter, the recent restructuring of the 
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture has led to a 
large number of terminations. Those most affected are 
expatriate laborers. Unlike Qatari workers, expatriate 
laborers will not receive job re-training, which would enable 
them to qualify for jobs at other departments and ministries. 
Among the questions that remain unanswered are: What will 
happen to these expatriate laborers? Will they be allowed to 
change their sponsorship or will they be deported? 
 
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Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth 
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9. (U) Visiting speaker and well-known American economist 
Edward Graham discussed the topic of foreign direct 
investment (FDI) at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce on 
May 19. Referring to a variety of economic studies, Graham 
argued that FDI leads to economic growth in cases where the 
target population is educated and when the target country 
also adopts a liberal trade regime. He also argued that Qatar 
should focus on establishing strong property rights. The 
lecture was well received, getting coverage in the local 
English-language press. An audience of about 70 government 
officials and private-sector business leaders engaged Graham 
in discussion about the degree of Qatar's openness, most 
agreeing that the country is "not open, but not closed." 
Business representatives said the government should do more 
to include the local private sector in emerging investment 
opportunities that seemed to be steered toward foreign firms. 
 
 
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Software Piracy in Qatar Higher than Average 
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10. (SBU) On May 17, the Business Software Alliance and the 
Ministry of Economy and Commerce hosted a workshop on the 
protection of intellectual property. The workshop was not as 
well attended as in previous years (two dozen compared to 
70-odd) and overall preparation was unexceptional. Most 
participants were government employees (Commerce and Justice 
ministries), and the level of discussion centered on basic 
IPR principles and the economic damage of piracy. However, 
Microsoft's new point person on IPR protection was 
knowledgeable and energetic. He characterized Qatar's rate of 
software piracy as above the Middle Eastern average of 48%, 
partly due to a lack of attention from western software 
firms. With Qatar's rapid economic growth, companies are 
paying more attention in order to stay ahead of the curve. 
Qatari laws are adequate, but there are not enough resources 
devoted to the protection of intellectual property. A British 
lawyer did note that Qatar's attention to IPR matters had 
increased as a result of TIFA talks. 
 
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Commercialbank Negotiates with National Bank of Oman 
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10. (U) Commercialbank, the second largest bank in Qatar in 
terms of assets as of December 2004, is set to begin 
negotiations with National Bank of Oman for a possible 
strategic shareholding with the latter. According to a report 
issued by Kuwait-based Global Investment House (Global) on 
April 22 of this year, Commercialbank has an impressive track 
record of profitable operations for 30 years of existence, 
which has been supported by diversified revenue structure, 
good asset quality, diversified funding sources and strong 
capital base. Global lauded Commercialbank for improved 
quality of loan portfolio, substantial improvement in 
non-interest revenues and lower NPL (non-performing loans) 
provisions. Commercialbank's net profit grew by 32 per cent 
in 2004 to reach approximately $90 million dollars. 
 
UNTERMEYER