[AL-AWDA-News] COUP ATTEMPT IN QATAR (fwd)

["Clement M. Henry" <chenry@mail.la.utexas.edu>]

This looks pretty believable but we will have to see whether it is
confirmed that American occupation forces now patrol the streets of Doha,
Qatar!  This is very serious if it is indeed true --CH

 ---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 20:44:50 -0400
From: Gale Courey Toensing <gale@mohawk.net>
To: gale@mohawk.net
Subject: [AL-AWDA-News] COUP ATTEMPT IN QATAR

            Coup attempt in Qatar

            uploaded 17 Oct 2002


            News reports were rumored in Cairo and several Gulf states on a
campaign of arrests which targeted scores of Qatari army officers, in which
members of the American forces deployed in Qatar took part.

            The news said that unusual movements were observed for the
American forces on Saturday evening on al-Wakra road which leads to al-Aides
airforce base where the road was blocked before the traffic. And this was
before four mosques in Doha witnessed a wave of arrests for high ranking
army officers who were said to have planned for a coupe against the Ruler of
Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khaleifah al-Thani.

            Well-informed sources said that the people involved in the coupe
are presumed to belong to the Islamic trends and that many of them have
links to al-Qaida organization. The sources said that these developments
coincided with the state of dissatisfaction in the country as a result of
the Qatari policy which the sources characterized as supporting an American
strike against Iraq.

            Diplomatic sources indicated that American personnel in civilian
costumes took part in the breaking in and detention acts which targeted
Pakistani and Yemeni recruited soldiers in the Qatari army, and that
American forces are deployed in the streets of Doha and around sensitive
areas and points.

            The sources explained that members of al-Thani ruling family
expressed recently in a statement their rejection to the practices of the
current Qatari leadership, noting that these practices alienated Qatar from
its Islamic and Arab venue. Islamic trends also expressed the same in
sermons at Friday's prayers and secret publications.

            Worthy mentioning that Qatar's relations with several Arab
states, especially Saudi Arabia and Egypt, witnessed a new deterioration in
recent months because of these states' disappointment over Doha's opening
political lines on many sides including Israel and the USA in a way that
confuses the Arab policies, and due to the critical programs broadcast by
the Qatari al-Jazeera TV on the internal affairs of these states which see
in this TV channel as a contributor to increasing tension between the Arab
states.

            The Egyptian daily al-Joumhoreyah said that the acts of arrest
covered members in al-Thani ruling family who were planning to topple the
current regime.

            Source:  Arabic News