Homeland Security

Qatar Support in Terror War Called "Outstanding"

(State Department spokesman says "allegations about Qatar are not
new") (300)
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher praised Qatar's support in
the war on terrorism and denied allegations accusing the royal family
of harboring terrorists.
At the State Department February 10 regular briefing, Boucher said,
"Qatar is a close friend and partner in the region with whom we
consult closely and regularly on a broad array of bilateral and
regional issues. Qatar's support in the campaign against international
terrorism and terrorism financing has been outstanding, and we
continue to coordinate closely on our efforts."
"These allegations about Qatar are not new. We have never seen any
credible information to corroborate them," he added.
Following is an excerpt from the February 10 State Department briefing
containing Boucher's comments on Qatar:
(begin excerpt)
QUESTION: A somewhat related, somewhat different issue. In the war on
terrorism, one of your allies, Qatar, came under some questioning last
week in media reports about whether or not they were giving full
cooperation or whether or not some members of the government and royal
family might be harboring terrorists perhaps, or are not lending full
support.
Do you have any comment on that?  
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I think first of all, we take all reports seriously
and so we do look into them. We regularly discuss them with our
friends in the region. These allegations about Qatar are not new. We
have never seen any credible information to corroborate them.
Qatar is a close friend and partner in the region with whom we consult
closely and regularly on a broad array of bilateral and regional
issues. Qatari support in the campaign against international terrorism
and terrorism financing has been outstanding and we continue to
coordinate closely on our efforts.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)