“We stand by our strategy... Mediation is in our DNA”, said the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, at the 23rd Doha Forum this week. He stressed that “Qatar continues with its active mediating role as one of the pillars of its foreign policy, taking the initiative to open channels of dialogue, provide reliable negotiation platforms and facilitate understanding between conflicting parties.”
This year’s forum gathered together leaders and officials from the region and beyond, but with no notable American or Israeli presence. Present were the presidents of Syria and Somalia, the prime minister of Lebanon, former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and many foreign ministers including the Egyptian, Turkish, Spanish and Norwegian top diplomats.
Since its launch in the Qatari capital Doha in 2000, the forum has functioned as a gathering of officials and pundits where they could discuss regional and global issues. It might have looked like many other gatherings in the Gulf, like the Manama Dialogue or similar annual conferences. But, unlike those, the Doha Forum has always been more than a “talking venue”, working as a tool of Qatari foreign policy, to advance Qatar’s regional and global role.
This year’s version seemed intended to commend the Qatari mediation role – especially with militant Islamist and other militias. It was also an opportunity to soothe the impact of Qatar being attacked by both Iran in June and Israel in September.
That Qatari role is still relevant and much needed, as a veteran Western diplomat who was previously posted to the region, noted. He told Al-Ahram Weekly, “the US and the West might say, ‘we don’t negotiate with terrorists,’ but in fact they still need a back-channel to communicate with militant groups. So there need to be a sort of ‘business address’ for those maverick groups and militias. Qatar has successfully established itself as that address, even if it’s just a PO Box.”
Though the situation in Gaza dominated the speeches and sideline meetings between officials, other issues were also present at the forum. At an Iran-focused panel discussion, Zarif said, “Iran has gone through storms for almost seven millennia; we’ve been invaded, we’ve been occupied, but we never went down... We are still standing and we will continue to.” In response, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said, “nobody in the GCC wants Iran to go down.”
Another panel titled “Armenia-Azerbaijan’s Lasting Peace: The Washington Agreement and a Joint Future” included Azerbaijan Presidential Adviser Hikmet Hajiyev and Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan discussing the peace process between the two countries. Even Latin America featured in the forum with a session titled “Paths to Prosperity in Latin America: the Role of Cross-Regional Diplomacy.”
A day before the event, Qatar announced the Colombian government and the Clan del Golfo, also known by its self-designated name, Gaitanista Army or AGC armed group, signed a Commitment to Peace in Doha. In a joint statement, the Group of Facilitating States – Qatar, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland – said the signing “reflects compromise, responsibility, and commitment to alleviate the conditions for the civilian population and end armed conflict... It’s a step towards the demobilisation of the self-designated AGC and peace-building.”
Days before, Qatar was represented in the Washington ceremony to sign the historic Peace and Economic Agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, when US President Donald Trump commended its mediation efforts between the two African countries. Previously Qatar brokered the Doha Framework Peace Agreement, signed last month between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement (M23) – separatist Congolese militias said to be backed by Rwanda.
Almost all conflicts – from Asia, Africa, Latin America and even Europe, as the Ukraine war was also highlighted – featured in the Doha Forum. Yet the main focus was the Israeli war on Gaza. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman held talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan to discuss implementing the second phase of the Gaza plan.
Almost all speakers at the forum, especially the foreign ministers of Spain and Norway, condemned Israeli violations, simultaneously stressing the importance of implementing the peace plan announced by Trump in Sharm El-Sheikh. Abdelatty reiterated Egypt’s position that it “will never allow Israel to use the Rafah Crossing to transfer native Palestinians out of their homeland”. He also stressed that “the Gazans will rule themselves” at the end of the process, refuting claims of any foreign rule including occupation forces.
In fact, almost all conflicts discussed in Doha were related to Trump’s effort to be portrayed as a peace-maker. Qatar has always been a conduit for facilitating such efforts – from talks with the Taliban to talks with other groups and militias. The Qatari PM repeatedly said his country’s “relationship with Hamas started 13 years ago with a request from Washington”. Though the recently announced National Security Strategy by the White House gave little attention to the Middle East, some regional players might still be relevant – especially when Washington needs a back-channel for mediations with groups or even states it can’t deal with directly.
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