Jordan Times
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Jordan recalls envoy to
Qatar for consultations
Amman ‘dismayed’ at Doha’s vote against Prince Zeid to head UN
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
with AFP dispatches
AMMAN — Jordan on Tuesday recalled its ambassador to Qatar for consultations
following a recent diplomatic row over Doha’s vote against the Kingdom’s
candidate to succeed UN chief Kofi Annan, officials said.
“The government recalled its ambassador to Doha [Omar Al Ahmad] for
consultations,” said Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh.
Judeh told The Jordan Times that a “host of issues” prompted the decision — the
last of which was Qatar’s vote for South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to
succeed Annan ahead of Jordanian UN Ambassador Prince Zeid, a widely respected
diplomat.
Judeh said the Qatari representative at the UN Nasser Al Nasser did not only
fail to vote for Prince Zeid, but “lobbied for another candidate”.
“And this was something we found inexplicable,” Judeh added.
The 62-year-old South Korean candidate won the backing of 14 of the 15 Security
Council nations at another decisive straw poll on Monday. It seems likely that
he will be picked as the next UN secretary general. The 15-member council did
not release an official tally for the poll, the fourth since July. But Nasser Al
Nasser reportedly said 14 of the council’s 15 members voted in favour of Ban,
while the 15th cast a “no opinion” vote.
“We are dismayed and surprised at Qatar’s move. This was a real opportunity for
an Arab and a Muslim candidate to assume the helm of the UN. There have been
Arab secretary generals before, but never a Muslim Arab.”
The government on Monday expressed disappointment with Doha, saying its lack of
commitment to a unanimous Arab League decision to nominate Prince Zeid for the
post was a break away from Arab ranks.
Following a September Arab League meeting in Cairo, foreign ministers urged
representatives at the UN to support the nomination of Prince Zeid.
Agence France-Presse, meanwhile, quoted a Jordanian official as saying that
there have been a series of incidents over the past year that heightened
tensions between both countries.
“Qatar has made it difficult for Jordanians [living in the Gulf country] to
renew residency permits or to obtain visas and is always acting against Arab
positions,” the official was quoted as saying. Around 15,000 Jordanians work in
Qatar, most of them in the construction industry.
Other sources also told The Jordan Times that Qatar over the past several months
stepped up its rhetoric and criticism of the Kingdom and that many of its media
outlets attacked the country.
Another official was quoted by the news agency as saying that part of the reason
“Qatar is doing everything in its power to prove its bad intentions against
Jordan,” was because of its rapprochement with Saudi Arabia.
“Qatar has always become nervous when an Arab country gets closer to Saudi
Arabia, because it thinks this is done at its expense,” the official said.
Jordan has held close consultations with Saudi Arabia and Egypt in recent weeks,
including during the monthlong Israeli offensive against Lebanon. Arab observers
said the three countries tried to seek common ground on the Lebanon crisis,
while Qatar was seen as backing Syria and Iran — Hizbollah’s staunch allies and
archrivals of Israel — in the conflict.