White House warns
Qatar over terror

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The White House has delivered a private message to Qatar: Enough is enough.

The Bush administration appreciates Qatar's cooperation in allowing the U.S. to establish a military umbrella over the emirate. But at the same time, Doha has become a leading center of anti-U.S. incitement and continues to serve as a haven for terrorist funding.

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The biggest headache is Qatar's Al-Jazeera. The satellite station was established and supported by King Hamad and his regime to bolster the image of Qatar. It has since become the leading booster of al-Qaida and the voice of the Sunni insurgency against the United States.

The United States has long been tolerant of Al-Jazeera, billed as the "CNN of the Arab world," as Qatar's way of demonstrating its Arabic and Islamic credentials. But U.S. intelligence sources said Al-Jazeera has been more than just a mouth: It has served as Qatar's conduit to Al Qaida. At least one correspondent has been formally charged with using his employment at the station to relay communications from Osama Bin Laden.

What's worse is that Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida combatants in Iraq are also using Al-Jazeera to send messages and broadcast propaganda.

But for Washington, the situation has become unacceptable. The administration has sent a sharp message to Qatar that it must restrain Al-Jazeera. Officials warned that Congress is so fed up with Qatar that leading committee chairmen are ready to demand sanctions on Doha. On Saturday, President Bush telephoned King Hamad to discuss the issue.

Qatar has not ignored the U.S. threats. The king ordered Al-Jazeera to clean up its anti-U.S. incitement. So far, Al-Jazeera removed two anti-U.S. cartoons from its website. The move has prompted a confrontation between the anti-U.S. English-language staff against the more benign Arabic employees at the station.

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In August, a House intelligence subcommittee discussed Qatar in closed session. Officials who briefed the subcommittee said Qatar could become a new center for anti-U.S. incitement and Islamic terrorism, endangering the U.S. military presence in Qatar. Congressional sources advised the Pentagon to seek an alternative.

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