Qatar moves toward democracy

DOHA, Qatar, March 27 (UPI) -- The ruler of this small, natural gas-rich country on the Arabian Gulf has promised to introduce a sort of Western-styled democracy to the sheikhdom by this summer.

Sheih Hammad bin Khalifa al Thani, the emir of Qatar, announced his plan Tuesday to initiate general elections and a parliamentary system no later than July 2002. He stressed that the future of the gulf region depends largely on success in establishing democracy and the principles of political and economic freedom to his nation.

The emir stated that for several years Qatar has been witnessing a process of democracy that, he added, "We are trying to enhance and develop."

"The democracy we are talking about and endeavoring to establish as a basis of governance in our country draws its foundation and elements from the legacy of firmly established democracies in the world," he said. This will make Qatar -- a tiny nation jutting out on the eastern flank of a giant and ultra-conservative Wahabi neighbor, Saudi Arabia -- the only sheikhdom to adopt a democratic parliamentary system.

Kuwait, another oil-rich emirate further to the north, had introduced a parliamentary system some years prior to the Iraqi invasion of 1990, but its emir dissolved the parliament.

Qatar will become a constitutional monarchy, although the exact model is yet to be determined, explained a U.S. diplomat speaking on background. Qataris are studying the American Constitution and other examples of democratic governance. However, any changes will take into account local and regional culture, including Arab and Islamic traditions.

Qatar will take the democratic experiment a step further than Kuwait had by giving its women the right to vote. This is a major development; Saudi women Saudi are not even allowed to drive a car.

Qatar already has set an example in the Arab world by introducing far more press freedom than typically found in the region. Al Jazeera, its satellite television station, angered Bush administration officials when it aired an interview of Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. The U.S. government has accused Bin Laden of masterminding the attacks.

Al Jazeera also came under heavy criticism in the United States for its reporting from Kabul while the Taliban still controlled Afghanistan. Mohamed Jasem al Ali, the network's managing director, said he believed the shelling of Al Jazeera's office in Kabul was intentional.

Taysir Alouni, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul at the time, was accused of frequently referring to American forces as "the enemy." Nevertheless, Qatar remains an important American ally in the Arabian Gulf and is currently host to the largest "pre-positioning" brigade-size military base outside the United States, according to diplomats in the area.

The U.S. Embassy refused to allow journalists, including this reporter, to visit the base.

The American base in Qatar would play an important role should the Bush administration decide to launch an attack against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. The impressive array of military arsenal stockpiled in the desert just a short distance from the capital, Doha, would allow American troops rapid deployment to the theater of operations, and would save valuable time for the planners of a potential offensive.

Qatar and the United States have recently signed a 10-year military agreement.

Qatari soldiers assisted by U.S. Marines were among the first units to engage Iraqi troops in the first battle of Desert Storm a decade ago, in the Saudi town of Khafji.

"The Qataris don't like Saddam Hussein. They want to see him gone, yet don't want to see Iraq divided," said a diplomat here. Speaking at the Qatar Conference on Democracy and Free Trade, U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., emphasized America's determination to tackle the threat posed by the Iraqi leader's desire to acquire weapons of mass destruction: "We cannot permit Saddam to remain in power," he stated.

But change, when it comes to the 150,000 people of Qatar, will be gradual. The rest of the country's 600,000 inhabitants are guest workers, mostly from the Indian subcontinent.

"They are doing it at their own pace because it is an Islamic society," said a senior U.S. official, speaking on background to a group of visiting members of Congress, businessmen and intellectuals. "Qatar," explained an American diplomat in Doha," is a traditional Islamic society in transition."