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Qatari PM Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani. (Channel 10)
Last update - 20:12 07/02/2008
Qatar PM sues Kuwaiti paper which criticized his ties to Israel
By The Associated Press
Tags: Qatar, al-Watan, Israel

Qatar's prime minister has sued a Kuwaiti daily and one of its columnists for damaging his reputation because of a series of editorials criticizing his policy of opening ties with Israel, his lawyer said Thursday.

Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who is also Qatar's foreign minister, has led his tiny natural gas-rich nation's policy of developing contacts with Israel and is believed to be behind the tiny emirate's policy of carving out a prominent foreign role for itself.

The columns by writer Fouad al-Hashem in the independent Kuwaiti daily al-Watan criticize Sheik Hamad for his ties to Israel, including claims he is financing the development of an Israeli diabetes drug. Qatar is home to Israel's only diplomatic mission in the Gulf, a trade mission. In January 2007, then Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres visited Qatar and met with its ruler.
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Al-Hashem said the female anchor's welcome for Peres on Qatar's al-Jazeera satellite news channel was so effusive that one would have thought he was her long-lost husband stranded on an island before a helicopter owned by Sheik Hamad rescued him.

If the Kuwaiti civil court rules in favor of Sheik Hamad, he will be awarded a preliminary compensation of up to US$18,000, at which point further lawsuits can be filed for larger sums of money.

"It is difficult to assess the extent of damages," said Kuwaiti attorney Hussein al-Gharib, who was hired by the Qataris. "(Sheik Hamad) is a world-known personality and an international investor.

The document describing the lawsuit published in al-Watan said the daily "launched a campaign against the claimant aimed at making his policies look like ... they are based on suspicious political and financial ties with Israel," which is not true. It quoted 10 opinion pieces, the first one published in July 2006.

Al-Hashem, the columnist, maintained that what he wrote was criticism of a public personality. "He is a politician and a statesman and it is everybody's right to criticize his political behavior."

"I've been through 37 lawsuits, and this one will pass just like the others," al-Hashem said.

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      1.   qatar doesnt need ties with israel terrorists 20:15  |  (* 07/02/08
      2.   Go Quatar! 20:57  |  fiona 07/02/08
      3.   #1...But u however need to peruse an Israeli website 21:12  |  Kusamek 07/02/08
      4.   #1-You`re Right...but 21:19  |  Stephen 07/02/08
      5.   #1, you mean with PA terrorists? Saudi Terrorists? 22:11  |  David 07/02/08
      6.   curiouser and curiouser...........alice in wonderland 22:18  |  Lewis Carrol 07/02/08
      7.   normalization with Israel is like normalization with Nazi Germany 22:28  |  Kuwaiti citizen 07/02/08
      8.   Dim and Dimmer 22:39  |  Natallie Durson 07/02/08
      9.   Kuwaitis in Glass Houses 22:41  |  Michael 07/02/08
      10.   4 kuwaiti citizen 22:55  |  arabsforisrael.com 07/02/08
      11.   Maybe Kuwait shoudl be part of Iraq! 00:22  |  US Citizen 08/02/08
      12.   from what i observe jews are warmongers 00:37  |  (* 08/02/08
      13.   #1 AND #12 01:54  |  k shamash 08/02/08
      14.   12 "from what i observe..." hey pal. i think ou need glasses. 02:06  |  vision blurry 08/02/08
      15.   #13 European? Bosnian maybe? 02:15  |  not convinced 08/02/08
      16.   (* 02:22  |  alan 08/02/08
      17.   Qatar: establish full diplomatic relations with Israel 03:11  |  Conroy 08/02/08
      18.   Sheik Hamad, the Wise. 03:19  |  akiva (zionist) 08/02/08
      19.   What? He needs the Money??? 03:22  |  B`Galil 08/02/08
      20.   Kuwaiti Citizen - Your Ignorance Knows No Bounds... 03:24  |  B`Galil 08/02/08
      21.   # 3 kusamek 03:55  |  Kissokhtak 08/02/08
      22.   alan 04:00  |  Jamal 08/02/08
      23.   Quwait has short memory 04:01  |  Abu Yusuf 08/02/08
      24.   next time Kuwait is invaded 04:41  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 08/02/08
      25.   I know nothing about Qatar. Now I like them. 05:08  |  Steve Randolph 08/02/08
      26.   Bravo Sheikh Hamad 05:21  |  Noam 08/02/08
      27.   KUWAITI CITIZEN 05:33  |  Michael T 08/02/08
      28.   ENLIGHTMENT IN THE ARAB WORLD IS A RARE TRAIT 07:21  |  Jorge 08/02/08
      29.   #1 you probably aren`t an arab 09:34  |  Iz Ray Leigh 08/02/08
      30.   Arabs Intimidate Arabs who want Peace. Shame Kuwait was saved. 18:17  |  EgyptJewRefugee 06/05/08
      31.   #7 Kuwait belongs to Iraq. An artificial country 18:20  |  Laila 06/05/08
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