Qatar

Resuming daily WikiLeaks notes after a two-week interruption, with Cablegate and WikiLeaks-related news published within the last two weeks having received significant coverage, ordered by date ; followed by a list of links to other Cablegate stories.

25/9 Canada paid ransom to free diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay from al-Qaeda in 2009, cables show.

24/9 An unrevised draft of Julian Assange’s memoirs, ghost-written by Andrew O’Hagan, is being distributed without Julian Assange’s consent by Canongate.
In a statement Julian describes the circumstances that lead to the unauthorized publication:

...I am not “the writer” of this book. I own the copyright of the manuscript, which was written by Andrew O’Hagan. By publishing this draft against my wishes Canongate has acted in breach of contract, in breach of confidence, in breach of my creative rights and in breach of personal assurances. The US publisher, Knopf, withdrew from the deal when it learned of Canongate’s intentions to publish without my consent. This book was meant to be about my life’s struggle for justice through access to knowledge. It has turned into something else. The events surrounding its unauthorised publication by Canongate are not about freedom of information — they are about old-fashioned opportunism and duplicity—screwing people over to make a buck.

The Telegraph: Qatar asked Shell and ExxonMobil for donations

"Qatar wrote to major international oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, to demand up to $1.7bn (£1bn) in donations for a medical centre, according to leaked diplomatic cables.

The Middle Eastern nation is one of the world's richest countries per capita on account of its oil and gas wealth. However, it caused surprise by approaching a number of companies that work with Qatar Petroleum with a cash call in 2007. According to the Wikileaks documents, letters signed by Abdullah al-Attiyah, the deputy prime minister, told each company how much they were expected to donate."

Read more

El País: Periodismo a sangre y fuego en Yemen (Journalism, blood and fire in Yemen)

Amnesty has requested urgent action be taken in the case of Qatari blogger Sultan al-Khalaifi, who was arrested on March 2 and is being held incommunicado. Amnesty is concerned that he is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Amnesty is requesting people to write

Urging the authorities to ensure that Sultan al-Khalaifi is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and is allowed prompt and regular access to a lawyer of his choosing, his family and any medical treatment he may require;

Asking for details of any charges he faces to be made public and calling on the authorities to ensure that any legal proceedings against him conform to international fair trial standards.

Human rights organization Alkarama reports the arrest of three other Qatari nationals as well and says at nine o'clock at night on March 1, "a number of state security agents" raided Khulaifi's Doha residence and car and took him away. An officer informed his wife that the agents were sent by the Attorney General, but they had no judicial warrant.

Alkarama feels the arrest is a result of Khulaifi's human rights activities. He had served as Secretary-General of the Alkarama Foundation until the beginning of 2010, before leaving to found a new organization for the defense of human rights and he had contacted them recently regarding three cases of arbitrary detention which Alkarama then appealed to Qatari authorities about. The three individuals incarcerated are: Abdullah Ghanem Mahfouz Muslim Jouar, Salim Hassan Khalifa Rashid Al Kuwari and Hamad Rashid Al-Marri.

As reported previously on WL Central, a facebook group appeared calling for a protest "against corruption" in Qatar. "Support the revolution, Qatar February 27 against corruption."

As we reported then, Neither the posted info nor the comments have issued more specific demands, than to "topple this corrupt regime" but 500 people have liked the page which has been up since around February 8. The current Emir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa took control from his father in 1995. He has been criticized in the Arab world for meeting with Israeli minister Tzipi Livni, and for supporting the Al Jazeera news network which is critical of other Arab governments and frequently airs western and Israeli views.

Now a new Facebook page is calling for protests on March 16, and twitter is divided between retweets of

"It was written by non qatari people. It was 27feb and no body react to it and then they moved it to new date."

and

"Facebook Page of #16March Revolt in Qatar Was Blocked inside #Qatar"

El País: Israel pidió a España que investigara los vínculos de sus bancos con Irán (Israel asked Spain to investigate links with Iranian banks)

"El Gobierno de EE UU no es el único que mostró su preocupación por la relación que varias empresas españolas desarrollaron con Irán. En una reunión celebrada a principios de 2009 en la embajada estadounidense en Madrid, un representante del Ministerio de Exteriores español informó de los movimientos que había hecho Israel para informarse de hasta dónde llegaba el vínculo Madrid-Teherán. (The U.S. government is not the only one who was concerned about the relationships developed between Spanish companies with Iran. At a meeting in early 2009 at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, a representative of the Spanish Foreign Ministry informed of the movements that Israel had to find out how far the link between Madrid and Tehran went.)"

Read more (Spanish) Google Translate

El País: EE UU: Los sandinistas robaron las municipales de 2008 (USA: The "Sandinists" stole the 2008 municipal elections)

A facebook group has appeared calling for a protest "against corruption" in Qatar. "Support the revolution, Qatar February 27 against corruption." Neither the posted info nor the comments have issued more specific demands, than to "topple this corrupt regime" but 500 people have liked the page which has been up since around February 8.

The current Emir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa took control from his father in 1995. He has been criticized in the Arab world for meeting with Israeli minister Tzipi Livni, and for supporting the Al Jazeera news network which is critical of other Arab governments and frequently airs western and Israeli views.

US State cable 2010-02-23 10DOHA70 details a February 14, 2010 meeting between Senator John Kerry and the Amir of Qatar. In the meeting, the Amir stresses the importance of Israel's return of the Golan Heights to Syria. Hamas "for sure," he said, will accept the 1967 border but will not say it publicly so as to lose popular Palestinian support. The Amir accuses Egypt of delaying an agreement between Israel and Palestine to extend their own role. "According to the Amir, Fatah and Hamas agreed on a memorandum of understanding, but the Egyptians wanted it changed." The Amir offers to deliver a message from the US to Iran.

Syria

US State cable 2009-02-23: 09CAIRO326 describes a February 17, 2009 meeting between US Senator Joseph Lieberman and Egyptian President Gamal Mubarak.

Gamal criticizes the Israeli government's decision not to move forward on the Gaza ceasefire without the release of Corporal Shalit. "The various Palestinian factions are due to begin reconciliation talks in Cairo "in about 10 days" and this development will make those discussions more difficult. It makes Egypt look bad, and strengthens Hamas."

Gamal discusses a split within Arab ranks between "moderates" (Egypt and Saudi Arabia) and "radicals" (Syria and Qatar). He is of the opinion that Iran has skillfully exploited the lack of movement towards peace. The best way to thwart Iranian ambitions in the region, according to Gamal, is to reinvigorate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and create a unified
Palestinian government. "The Palestinians need elections, both residential and parliamentary."

US state cable 2010-02-24: 10DOHA71 outlines Senator Kerry's meeting with Qatar's Prime Minister, Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani (HBJ) on February 13, 2010. In the meeting, HBJ stresses that it is a mistake to exclude Hamas from Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, equates Egypt to a physician with one patient, and accuses Egypt of having a vested interest in dragging out the talks for as long as possible. He also warned against a US military action against Iran.

HBJ told Senator John Kerry February 13 that "everyone in the region" seems to have a separate plan for moving ahead on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute when only one plan was needed; a plan that both the Israelis and Palestinians would accept and finalize. HBJ underscored that it is a mistake to ignore Hamas in seeking a lasting agreement. Saying this does not mean that Qatar expresses a preference for Hamas, but the Palestinian Authority (PA) cannot sign off on an agreement on behalf of the Palestinians where open divisions exist.