Qatar was cited yesterday for its active role on partnership for peace and security initiatives in the Middle East during the Nato workshop on cooperation in the framework of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel yesterday Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero, Nato Deputy Secretary General, said Qatar has been very active participant in several steps in ICI that Nato has been keen on working with the country and its partners in the Gulf. The top Nato official has underscored Qatar’s significant role in the implementation of ICI with a similar vision and shared interests to bring peace and stability in the Gulf region. “We share the same risks and threats that increasingly affect the nations as whole,” Bisogniero said in his opening speech at the ICI workshop. For his part, Major General Pilot Ghanim bin Shaheen Al Ghanim, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations and Training-Qatar, said his country has given much attention to the ICI particularly on working for peace dialogues noting that the main reason of instability is the failure of peace agreement. Nato has lauded Qatar its increasing cooperative activities since it become part of ICI. The country is among the four countries including Bahrain, Kuwait and UEA which participated in the ICI since it was launched at the Alliance Summit in 2004. Qatar’s active participation was bolstered when the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, visited Nato Headquarters and met with Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer late last year, the first ever done by a head of state from ICI member countries. Bisogniero has pointed out in his speech about the common and shared interests in helping the countryside of Afghanistan restore peace and stability and making sure on efforts against the nuclear weapon build up in Iran that can cause domino effect. In calling for ICI member countries to be more active in cooperative activities, the NATO official has given emphasis to three points to achieve these ends. He said partnership plays a crucial role in areas with common interests, enhancing political consultations that would go beyond the original agenda and the need for more focus on bilateral consultations. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=February2010&file=Local_News2010020964340.xml

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