[Imc-newsroom] WTO in Qatar

[Molly Stentz]

Have people heard about this?...


-----Original Message-----
From: l'o m b r e noire <lombrenoire at dojo.tao.ca>
To: ftaa-l at lists.tao.ca <ftaa-l at lists.tao.ca>
Date: Friday, January 26, 2001 8:10 AM
Subject: (ftaa-l) WSJ: Tiny Qatar Is Picked as WTO Meeting Site


>
>January 24, 2001
>Far Cry From Seattle: Tiny Qatar Is Picked as WTO Meeting Site
>By HELENE COOPER
>Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
>
>The World Trade Organization finally has found a country willing to host
>its next big meeting: Qatar.
>
>The WTO formally accepted Qatar's offer to host the follow-up to the 1999
>Seattle meeting. WTO Director-General Michael Moore said the event, which
>may launch a round of trade talks, will be held in Doha, Qatar's capital,
>Nov. 5-9.
>
>"I am very pleased about this," Mr. Moore said. "They were the first to
>make an offer."
>
>Last time, the WTO's big meeting blew up in spectacular fashion, as
>Seattle police in riot gear fired rubber bullets and canisters of tear gas
>at protesters. Some 30,000 free-trade foes closed down the meetings for a
>day, forcing the mayor to declare martial law for almost a week.
>Altogether, property damage topped $3 million, and the gathering left a
>permanent scar on Seattle's laid-back reputation.
>
>After that experience, other countries haven't been lining up to host the
>next meeting. Indeed, WTO officials at first spurned Qatar's offer, saying
>the tiny Persian Gulf emirate didn't have enough hotel rooms. But with no
>other viable alternatives, trade officials worked out a compromise:
>Delegates will stay on cruise ships in the harbor.
>
>Trade officials say Qatar has promised to allow all WTO critics who so
>desire to attend. The free-trade foes who disrupted the Seattle meeting
>were openly skeptical, however, pointing to Qatar's less-than-democratic
>record. Its people don't vote, and the same family has ruled the emirate
>since World War I.
>
>"The WTO would have a much easier time if they just bought a remote island
>and fortified its coastline to keep the pesky public away," said John
>Sellers, head of the Ruckus Society, which helped spearhead the Seattle
>protests.
>
>Mr. Sellers said he nonetheless will look into perhaps conducting a desert
>training camp for activists seeking to disrupt the Qatar meeting. "I'm
>calling around now looking for desert camouflage."
>
>
>
>---------------------------- ftaa-l -----------------------------
>resisting the FTAA and capitalist globalization
>mobilizing for Quebec City, April 2001
>creating alternatives

>