The Guardian | Charlotte Denny
The World Trade Organisation is pressing ahead with plans to hold a crucial meeting of trade negotiators next month in the Gulf state of Qatar, despite warnings from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organisation that the region is no longer safe for westerners.
Mike Moore, the WTO's director-general, said yesterday that the gathering to discuss a new round of global trade talks would go ahead in the Qatari capital, Doha, "unless something seismic or catastrophic happens".
Speaking at a news conference in Doha, Mr Moore expressed confidence that Qatar was fully prepared for the meetings. Trade negotiations have been stalled since the collapse of the WTO's last ministerial meeting in Seattle two years ago amid clashes between anti-globalisation protesters and police. After protesters threatened to besiege any new talks, Qatar was the only one of the WTO's 142 members prepared to host a gathering.
But with tensions in the region growing as US attacks on Afghanistan have intensified, trade negotiators have expressed concerns about the risks of meeting in the Middle East. Earlier this month, a spokesman for al-Qaida warned westerners against remaining in the Gulf, saying: "the land will burn with fire under their feet, God willing."
The EU's trade commissioner, Pascal Lamy, said last week that it was no secret that Qatar was "in the vicinity of a war zone," while fellow WTO member Singapore volunteered to hold the talks if they had to be moved.
Press reports over the weekend said the decision was finally made to stick with Doha after the US vice-president Dick Cheney rang the emir of Qatar and assured him that the US was prepared to send an official delegation unless security in the region took a turn for the worse.The Guardian:
