Qatar global security, stability conference starts in London

CAIRO – 14 September 2017: The Qatar global security and stability conference organized by exiled Qataris pressing for reform in the country kicked off in London Thursday, and comes as the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf enters its fourth month.

Lord Paddy Ashdown, Ambassador Bill Richardson, Iain Duncan Smith, John Simpson, Jamie Rubin, General Chuck Wald, Brigadier General Shlomo Brom, Dov Zakheim and MP Daniel Kawczynski joined leading Middle East commentators and members of the Qatari opposition to debate the past, present and likely future of Qatar.

The conference, organized in great secrecy due to of concerns over Qatari government’s and its supporters’ interference, has attracted a line-up of world renowned speakers, including the former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, an ex-British Cabinet Minister, advisors to the Israeli and U.S. governments and leading media and strategic commentators.

The main organizer, Qatari businessman and reformist Khalid Al-Hail, said: “The support we have received from some of the most respected and high-profile commentators on the Middle East, World Affairs and the media demonstrates the level of concern there is inside and outside Qatar about the current direction of the leadership of the country.”

Al Hail stated that the Qatari regime attempted to inhibit the conference, which stresses on the necessity of changing the regime for its support for terror, through bribes and media campaigns,
“That will not be an easy mission. The ruling regime in Qatar deprived many citizens of their citizenship and detained others,” Al Hail said describing the conference as a “turning point in the future of Qatar.”

The five following topics will be discussed in the conference:

• Political Islam and terrorist groups;

• Qatar and Iran’s foreign policy, a source of regional instability;

• Democracy, human rights and a quest for global prestige;

• Al-Jazeera – free press or voice of terror;

• Qatar’s economic and geopolitical influence.

The organizers of the conference are also publishing further exclusive research papers into the situation within Qatar.