By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent - Analysis Reuters
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Where the Arab League, the United Nations, France and many other go-betweens had failed, the tiny Gulf state of Qatar succeeded in cajoling Lebanese leaders into a political agreement to avert the risk of a new civil war.
This week's Doha deal was the biggest achievement so far in a bid by Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to prove his country can punch above its weight in regional diplomacy.
"Qatar is insignificant in reality, but the Qataris are emerging as leading mediators in the Middle East," said Mustafa Alani, a security analyst at Dubai's Gulf Research Centre.
Among wealthy Qatar's mediation assets is its ability to stay on good terms with almost everyone from the United States to Iran -- and now even its old Gulf rival Saudi Arabia.
"They invest a lot of time and money and they have no public opinion at home to satisfy," Alani said of a country that is home to fewer than a million people, most of them foreign workers.
Qatar disavows direct control of Al Jazeera, but the way diverse groups are allowed to express their views on the satellite channel -- from dissidents, rebels and Islamists to U.S. officials and even Israelis -- creates an impression that the state will also be even-handed when it comes to mediation, he argued.
The Qataris adopted a pragmatic, no-nonsense approach to the task of extracting an accord from their feuding Lebanese guests, unencumbered by ideological Arab baggage, delegates said.
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani worked the phones to Riyadh, Tehran, Damascus and Washington during the six days of talks, they said.
"He was very direct, fair and transparent," said one delegate closely involved in the negotiations.
Qatari mediators have sought to defuse conflicts in Yemen, Somalia, Darfur and among Palestinians, with varying success.
A deal they brokered last year to calm a revolt by Zaydi tribesmen in Yemen has since faltered. Their drive to reconcile Palestinian factions contributed to the Saudi-sponsored Mecca accord between Fatah and Hamas last year, which later collapsed.
WIDER CONFLICTS
But the Lebanon deal, achieved in a setting comparable with the Saudi-brokered Taif accord that ended the country's 1975-90 civil war, eclipses these other Qatari efforts.
"The regional and international significance of the Lebanon issue and its wider ramifications made this very important," said Neil Partrick, a Dubai-based Middle East analyst.
Lebanon's divisions are complicated by a broader conflict pitting the United States and Saudi Arabia against Iran and Syria, which all push their own influence via local factions.
Qatar, as a small country that threatens no one, can offer itself as an honest broker, widely perceived as neutral.
The Qatari prime minister never left the Doha hotel where the talks took place, not even accompanying the emir to Saudi Arabia for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
"Sometimes he was tough and flared up at one side or other, but quickly calmed down and came up with new ideas. It was clear he wanted a fair and honourable deal. Unlike previous mediators he kept equal distance from both sides," the delegate said.
Constantly engaged with rival delegates, he often stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning. On occasion he would appear in the hotel lobby in white robe and headdress to chat with a Lebanese leader, sometimes wagging a finger, sometimes all smiles.
Apart from such negotiating skills, the Qataris could also capitalise on a thaw in their ties with Saudi Arabia, which until last year had often voiced irritation with Al Jazeera television coverage of the kingdom and viewed Qatar as a gadfly.
But reconciliation efforts were crowned in December when Saudi King Abdullah attended a GCC summit in Qatar, along with a special guest -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.
"In the past, if you accepted Qatari mediation you would automatically anger the Saudis," Alani said. "Saudi acceptance of Qatar's role is a major shift and a great bonus for Qatar."
The challenge for Qatar and other Arab mediators at the Doha talks will be to ensure that the Lebanese parties do not sabotage the agreement by reneging on their commitments.
"Countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia can oversee agreements when the will for them exists," Partrick said. "What they don't have is the capacity, or even the inclination, to follow them up and engage in the active diplomacy that can keep them in play -- which was one problem of the Mecca agreement."
However, the Qataris have shown tenacity in trying to refloat the peace agreement they brokered in Yemen's sputtering conflict with tribal rebels in the northern Saada region.
And they will surely join an Arab League team due to attend a dialogue that Lebanon's new president is to convene to discuss strengthening state authority and the state's relationship with "other organisations" -- a reference to Hezbollah.
to the very,very few that are making some sort of controversy in this thread:
please be ashamed of yourselves as all of us shoud be to ourselves.
is it qatar's fault that we never agree on anything?
is it qatar's fault that we love killing each other?
is it qatar's fault that our leaders behave like kidergarten pupils?
the least we can thank qatar for is for being an honest broker and mediator among the lebanese leaders and investing their time and energy with trying to find us a way out of our stubborness.
qatar saved us civil war to say the least even though you might not see the agreement as a solution.and at least our leaders AGREED on something.a step forward.
this might not be the best of solution or the ideal solution because our leaders as ever are not sincere and dont care for their country.dont blame qatar.any fault should be blamed on us and any such sincere help should be thanked.qatar was different from the other countries and mediators who acted as the judge and jury.
thank you qatar!!!its unfortunate some cant see the point and we are finding reasons to disagree on this.if lebanese are given the chance,they may as well disagree on whom their parents should be!!!
so lets not be sha77ad w msharet!!!
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to mehdi soldier For This Useful Post:
Aoune (23rd May 2008), Dalzi (23rd May 2008), dodzi (23rd May 2008), John (23rd May 2008)
to the very,very few that are making some sort of controversy in this thread:
please be ashamed of yourselves as all of us shoud be to ourselves.
is it qatar's fault that we never agree on anything?
is it qatar's fault that we love killing each other?
is it qatar's fault that our leaders behave like kidergarten pupils?
the least we can thank qatar for is for being an honest broker and mediator among the lebanese leaders and investing their time and energy with trying to find us a way out of our stubborness.
qatar saved us civil war to say the least even though you might not see the agreement as a solution.and at least our leaders AGREED on something.a step forward.
this might not be the best of solution or the ideal solution because our leaders as ever are not sincere and dont care for their country.dont blame qatar.any fault should be blamed on us and any such sincere help should be thanked.qatar was different from the other countries and mediators who acted as the judge and jury.
thank you qatar!!!its unfortunate some cant see the point and we are finding reasons to disagree on this.if lebanese are given the chance,they may as well disagree on whom their parents should be!!!
so lets not be sha77ad w msharet!!!
to the ones that don't get it!
It is not Qatar we are criticizing, it is the Lebanese cheerleading mentality that we are after!
Cheers
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Diabolo_7 For This Useful Post:
It is not Qatar we are criticizing, it is the Lebanese cheerleading mentality that we are after!
Cheers
Then create a new thread bashing the Lebanese cheerleading mentality... Here we are thanking (which is a different thing than praising) Qatar.
Ptah asked you very fair questions about your attitude in this thread, but you provided no real answers!
If you can bash the Lebanese cheerleading mentality, then let me bash the Lebanese ungratefull mentality, the Lebanese unpragmatic mentality, the Lebanese bashing mentality, the Lebanese conspiracy theories mentality, not to mention the Lebanese mentality of prefering pride and honor to peace!!!
yep sure indeed thank uoi QATAR
amazing man that prince HAMAD.
but i still dont think much of the saudi's....
the qatari prince proved he was an exceptional man during the 2006 war.
as for the PM sheikh HAMAD he is an amazing guy.
23rd May 2008
