Saturday, July 30, 2011

Israeli Jet Fighters in Qatar

From Arutz Sheva, 29 July 2011, by Elad Benari, Canada:
Israeli-Qatari relations warming up? Hizbullah television says IAF fighter jets landed in Qatar.

IAF F-16 fighter jet (archive)
IAF F-16 fighter jet (archive) Israel news photo: IDF
 
Fighter jets belonging to the Israeli Air Force landed last weekend in military bases in Qatar, Hizbullah’s Al Manar television network reported on Friday.

The report, which was attributed to “informed sources,” has not been confirmed elsewhere. According to Al Manar, the sources pointed out that this is “a most dangerous development and one which was planned in advance between Qatar and Israel and the United States.”

The Lebanese news network claimed that Qatar and Israel have had close military coordination for a long time and added that “officials from both countries hold meetings to promote relations between the two countries in many fields, be it politically, militarily, or economically.”

Despite being an Arab country, Qatar has tried to brand itself as a peaceful neutral world power.
In recent months, Qatar has been one of the countries that tried to broker a deal to ease Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh from power. It is also reportedly mediating talks between the Taliban and the United States, as well as between the Taliban and the Karzai government in Afghanistan.

Qatar has also taken what can be seen as bold moves against other Arab countries. These include joining the international allied effort against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and indefinitely closing its embassy in Damascus, after it was attacked by pro-Assad demonstrators.

No comments: