US embassy cable - 05DOHA1474

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 001474 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2015 
TAGS: PARM, MARR, PREL, KTIA, QA 
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION UPDATE: QATAR 
 
REF: STATE 146470 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer for reasons 1.4 (d). 
 
1. (C) Post delivered reftel points, including the offer to 
meet Qatari officials at The Hague, to the MFA. Ambassador 
had previously discussed Washington's offer to send officials 
to Doha before or after Ramadan 2005 to discuss the CWC 
Challenge Inspections issue. Post has also delivered the 
draft MOU to the Qatari government. The GOQ acknowledges that 
it is aware of the issue. Despite follow-up inquiries since 
the fall of 2004, post has not been able to obtain any answer 
from the GOQ. 
 
Reasons for Stalled Action on CWC 
--------------------------------- 
 
2. (C) Post notes that bilateral relations, while excellent 
in their military-to-military aspect, are complicated and 
strained by differences over the satellite channel Al 
Jazeera. A number of worthy initiatives, including 
high-priority debt relief for Iraq, are caught up in this 
issue. The Qatari Foreign Minister, Hamad bin Jassim Al 
Thani, has told us that debt relief, for example, won't be 
announced until misunderstandings over Al Jazeera are 
resolved and relations return to a normal footing, to include 
top-level meetings in Washington. Other activities are 
similarly stalled. 
 
3. (C) Post believes that, given ongoing efforts to improve 
Al Jazeera, progress on CWC could come in late 2005 or early 
2006, when we hope to resume the bilateral Strategic 
Dialogue. In the mean time, post will continue to seek a 
response from the GOQ. 
UNTERMEYER