INCIDENT IN QUATTAR RE US TROOPS - Breaking

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Current News - Homefront Preparations : One Thread

Fox reporting--I think that's the right spelling, maybe not. Something to do with "an incident" in the area where US troops are staging and being housed and "some injuries" to troops. That was all, just breaking.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001

Answers

Still no additional. I'm beginning to wonder if I was hallucinating.

And I think that's meant to be Quetta.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001


OG, I just heard a bit on CNN. I believe it was in Qatar. I think they said one man, shooting at an air base? That's all I heard. My 3 year old was talking to me.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001

Yep, it was pronounced like "Catarrh" but I thought they must mean Quetta in Pakistan. Perhaps not. Do we have a staging area in Qatar? (UAE country, or close to, in Persian Gulf.)

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001

We have an Army base there http://www-qa.arcent.army.mil/

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001

Teletext

AMERICANS 'SHOT' IN QATAR

A number of Americans have been wounded in an attack on a Qatari base used by US warplanes, it has been reported.

Security forces shot dead a Qatari man who had opened fire at Udeid airbase, 60 miles south of the capital, Doha.

The US embassy in Doha is reported to have said some Americans were injured but the Pentagon has denied receiving any such information about the attack.

RECEIVED: 07/11/01 15:49:44

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001



http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011107/ts/qatar_shooting_dc_4.html

Guards Kill Gunman After Qatar Airbase Shooting By Rawhi Abeidoh

DOHA (Reuters) - Guards gunned down a Qatari on Wednesday after he opened fire at an airbase used by U.S. warplanes, triggering a security scare two days ahead of major international trade talks in the Gulf state, officials said.

A U.S. embassy official initially said some Americans were wounded in the attack, but in Washington the Pentagon (news - web sites) said there were no U.S. injuries. The U.S. embassy subsequently declined to clarify the differing account of events.

The shooting alarmed senior trade officials arriving in the tiny country from around the world for the five-day gathering of the 142- nation World Trade Organization (news - web sites), which starts on Friday.

``That is shocking news,'' said Stuart Harbinson, chairman of the WTO General Council and the WTO's Hong Kong ambassador.

``This is a very, very sad incident, but it is unrelated to the conference,'' WTO chief Mike Moore told Reuters. He said he did not believe it would affect the WTO event.

There has been concern among some member countries about security in Qatar because of the Gulf's proximity to U.S. military action in Afghanistan (news - web sites).

The White House said it saw no immediate connection between the shooting and the U.S. war on so-called terrorism.

``From all early appearances, there are no indications of a connection,'' spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) told reporters.

Qatar authorities named the attacker as Abdullah Mubarak Tashal al- Hajiri and said he had attacked the Udeid airbase at 10.35 a.m. (2:35 a.m. EST) in what appeared an isolated incident.

Qatari Attorney General Abdullah al-Mal told Qatar's al-Jazeera satellite television that the man drove a private car toward a security checkpoint at the base and started shooting at security guards there with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

They fired back and killed him.

Asked if he thought the incident was the result of ''incitement'' by Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), top suspect in the September 11 attacks, he said: ``I am not a political analyst. But for us it is a criminal investigation which we are carrying out.''

A Doha-based diplomat said al-Hajiri was a member of the air force who worked in anti-aircraft defense. That report could not immediately be confirmed.

U.S. WARPLANES

The airstrip, about 25 miles south of Doha, is being used by U.S. military aircraft under a military cooperation agreement signed last year.

The agreement provides for use of the base by U.S. warplanes in unspecified ``times of need.'' It was not immediately known if U.S. aircraft using the base are involved in Afghanistan.

The incident happened amid heightened tensions in the region after a month of U.S. strikes in Afghanistan to flush out Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities.

For many Arabs, the presence of U.S. forces in the Gulf region is a source of considerable disquiet, and bin Laden has made the issue a plank of his anti-U.S. rhetoric.

Qatar had to fight to keep the November 9-13 meeting. The tiny gas- rich state, which sticks out like a thumb into the Gulf and has a population of less than 600,000, had touted itself to the WTO as a haven of security.

Ministers from WTO member states will try in Doha to agree on an agenda for a new round of trade liberalization talks.

The last WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle two years ago faced huge demonstrations against globalization. A meeting of the world's leading industrialized nations in Genoa, Italy, last summer was also marred by violence, leaving one protester dead.

Qatar has said it will allow peaceful demonstrations but not disruption of the conference. It has limited the number of non- governmental participants to 600.

An Asian WTO ambassador told Reuters of the shooting: ``Many of us have been very worried about security. It could even make some ministers stay away but I hope not.''

Qatar has successfully hosted other international events, including the 1997 Middle East and North Africa conference and 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference summit in 2000.



-- Anonymous, November 07, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ