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'Qatar still planning to host WTO talks'

Qatar is still planning to host crucial world trade talks next month despite security concerns raised by the US-led war against terrorism, a senior official said on Sunday.

"We do not think the secretariat of the World Trade Organisation is having second thoughts about the venue at present," said a senior official in the planning committee.

"We are not aware of any suggestion from any quarter to change the venue," said the official, who declined to be named. "Qatar is one of the safest places to hold such a meeting."

Trade ministers from 142 countries of the WTO are due to meet in Doha from November 9-13 for a long-planned conference aimed at chalking out an agenda for a new round of multilateral talks to liberalise world trade.

But ministers and officials holding a preparatory meeting in Singapore on Sunday voiced fears that the Gulf state of Qatar was not safe enough to host the conference, particularly after the September 11 attacks against US cities and Washington's retaliatory strikes against Afghanistan.

The ministers said they were considering alternative venues, including Singapore and Geneva, but they stopped short of ruling out Doha, adding that the decision would be left to the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, the United States' main suspect in last month's suicide attacks on New York and Washington, has warned the United States and Britain to get out of the Gulf or else suffer more violent attacks.

Bin Laden's al-Qaeda group has also threatened to hit more US and British targets unless they stop their military action against Afghanistan, where bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

Security has been tightened throughout the Gulf after the US-led strikes, but foreigners have been attacked in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Qatar, a staunch ally of Washington with US military bases, borders Saudi Arabia. It has banned anyone who is not linked to the WTO from entering the country a month before the meeting to ensure that it is not disrupted by anti-globalisation protests.

The last WTO meeting in Seattle in December 1999 fizzled out amid violent protests and sharp disagreements between rich and poor countries.

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