Amira Howeidy looks at Qatar's regional profile after its successful mediation of the Lebanese crisis other Arab states failed to resolve On 9 May, Hizbullah embarked on what seemed like a risky political adventure that put Lebanon's future at stake when it seized west Beirut and other parts of the country. The unexpected move came in response to a government decision to dismantle Hizbullah's private communications network and replace Beirut airport's security chief -- both considered attempts to undermine the resistance movement. This escalation between Hizbullah and the US-backed government was the last straw in the country's two-year long political deadlock that could easily have slipped into civil war. Qatar saved the day. In less than a week, Lebanon's rival factions agreed to end the two-year crisis in a dialogue hosted by Doha. Despite mediation efforts by an Arab League committee prior to and during the dialogue, the small state of Qatar that brokered the "Doha deal" took the credit, making its mark in the modern history of this region. Because the Lebanese crisis had dragged on for 18 months and because the country's volatile political balances were also crucial for regional and international governments, as they were for the Lebanese themselves, resolving the conflict was more than a domestic affair. That Doha, not the historic "leader capitals" of Cairo or Riyadh, helped make it happen remains a talking point in Arab media eight days after the signing of the agreement on 21 May. In Egypt, a sense of regret over the "leading role" Cairo relinquished, "giving leeway to Qatar", dominated many opinion articles (on 23 May, Al-Dostour ran a column entitled "Qatar succeeded and Egypt failed"). Such was the impact of Qatar's success with Lebanon that members of a Hamas delegation visiting Cairo last week for faltering truce with Israel talks were quoted as saying that Qatari mediation in delicate inter-Palestinian relations, and regarding ending the siege of Gaza, was desirable. Ten years since it launched the controversial and influential Al-Jazeera satellite news channel, not only has Qatar positioned itself as a powerful public-opinion shaping force across the Arab world (Al-Jazeera being the most viewed Arab satellite channel), its diplomacy stands uniquely independent in the region. What distinguishes Qatar from its neighbours is that while it hosts the most important US military outpost in the Gulf, enjoys warm relations with Israel and openly hosts Israeli officials to lecture Arabs on the threat Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hizbullah pose, Doha has no qualms whatsoever in opposing US and Israeli policies in the region. In May 2007, Qatar -- the only Arab country in the UN Security Council (UNSC) -- abstained from voting for UNSC Resolution 1757 that approved the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's premier Rafik Al-Hariri. Because UN investigators have suggested that Damascus was behind Al-Hariri's murder, the tribunal is expected to try Syrian officials. In similar fashion, unlike most Arab and Gulf states, Qatar refrained from condemning Hamas's takeover of Gaza in 2007. During Israel's war on Lebanon in 2006, Doha distanced itself from Arab states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia who justified the Israeli aggression when Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jasem bin Jabr Al-Thani openly criticised their stand, though without naming them. Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, was the first Arab leader to visit Lebanon after the war while his government vowed to rebuild the southern town of Bent Jbeil -- a resistance stronghold -- that was destroyed because of Israeli shelling. Further, in December 2007, Qatar invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Doha for the first time in the council's history, despite Saudi Arabia's open hostility towards Tehran. And last February, Qatar brokered a reconciliation agreement in Yemen between Houthi fighters and the government after a peace deal collapsed. The agreement didn't hold for long, but Doha remains active in mediation efforts in the hope of ending the insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives. Qatari pundits, like Mohamed Al-Musfir, associate professor of modern and political history at Qatar University, attribute the Doha diplomacy phenomena to the oil-rich country's domestic stability. "Qatar resolved all its regional disputes, enjoys economic, political and social stability and extended its diplomatic relations with all world countries. It's now in a position to extend its hand to Arab countries to help resolve their internal conflicts," Al-Musfir told Al-Ahram Weekly in telephone interview from Doha. This is how it sought mediation in Yemen and between the Palestinians in 2006, although both have not been successful, he said. "Qatar stepped in for Lebanon after influential capitals like Cairo and Riyadh stepped out," Al-Musfir added. Doha was an ideal candidate to host the Lebanese dialogue given its good relations with all parties and its solidarity with Lebanon during the 2006 war, he said. "This allowed for a Qatari role in the Lebanese crisis and no body seemed to object." Doha might appear to be assuming a leading role in the Arab world, others argue, but only because it's being permitted to. "Qatar, which maintains good relations with everyone, poses no threat to anyone," said Mohamed El-Said Idris, an expert on Gulf politics in Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, "and its diplomacy, politics and role will not have the kind of profound impact an Arabic capital like Cairo can have should it play a similar, independent role." Idris added: "Egypt is a big country. When it abandons its leadership role, it means the collapse of the Arab nation. Any Qatari policy has no effect on the region. The scope of this small country, with its Al-Jazeera channel, is that of a catalyst." But having said that, "Qatar succeeded with Lebanon because unlike Riyadh and Cairo it wasn't biased to any party, nor did it play on or exacerbate sectarianism," Idris argued. In fact, he said, Lebanon's factions wouldn't have gone to either Cairo or Riyadh to resolve the conflict. Sunni Saudi Arabia had openly attacked Shia Hizbullah and tried, unsuccessfully, to undermine it. Egypt, which is less interested in the sectarian aspect, towed the US line. Doha, says Idris, shouldn't be viewed as the "main hero" in resolving the Lebanese crisis. "Hizbullah's power and firmness in responding to the two government decrees played the main role that forced the pro-government 14 March side to accept what was offered later on." And during the dialogue hosted by Doha, the Hizbullah-led opposition was equally firm when the issue of disarming the movement was brought up by the 14 March group, he added. Yet despite the "limitedness" of Qatar's regional influence, Idris believes Doha's diplomacy taught Egypt a lesson. "Today Cairo realises that taking sides, and biases, only belittle Egypt's role and that the more neutral the policy, the more acceptable it is," he said. "Today, Qatar is the only country that adopts a fair policy towards the resistance, which gives it popularity in the Arab world," said Idris, "while Egypt deals with the resistance as if it's a threat to its national security, because the resistance exposes the failure of Egypt's choice of peace and subservience." The odd combination of embracing forces or policies resistant to Israel whilst maintaining solid relations with Tel Aviv remains one of Qatar's most controversial achievements. To Idris, this is simply a "survival" necessity. Qatari politics, says Al-Musfir, is shaped by the emir and a team of seasoned figures "headed" by foreign minister and premier Bin Jasem. The emir is often quoted as referring to himself as a "Nasserist", although he never went on record with this statement. "He grew up in nationalist household... He belongs to that school," says Al-Musfir. In 1995, the prince ousted his father in a bloodless coup and became Qatar's ruler. Meanwhile, the neo-liberal stream in Qatari politics is often regarded as the making of the emir's wife, Sheikha Muza bint Nasser Al-Masnad, an attractive high cheek-boned daughter of an opposition figure who left Qatar for Kuwait in protest at the previous regime. The Westernised Al-Jazeera English Channel, sources in the station say, is her brainchild.
