Tiny Qatar flexes muscles in no-fly Libya campaign
SOUDA BAY AIR BASE, Greece (AP) — In Libya's skies, Qatar is punching above its weight.
From an air base in Crete, the tiny Persian Gulf nation has started its biggest, farthest combat deployment — including a third of its fighter-jet fleet — and given the first Arab face to the Western-led coalition hoping to protect Libyan civilians from Moammar Gadhafi's firepower.
For the oil- and gas-rich country that brought the world Al-Jazeera TV and recently won the right to host the 2022 World Cup, the effort marks Qatar's latest push onto the world stage.
Punishing air strikes by dozens of coalition aircraft have altered Libya's combat landscape in recent days, allowing the rebel forces to push Monday toward Gadhafi's hometown, Sirte, and along the way to the capital, Tripoli.
"We felt it was important for an Arab country to join and because other Arab countries were not involved militarily, we felt we should," Gen. Mubarak al-Khayanin, the Qatari Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview Sunday at Souda.
"We are physically small country, but with leadership comes responsibility," he said. "Certain countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt haven't taken leadership for the last three years. So we wanted to step up and express ourselves, and see if others will follow."
The 22-member Arab League was a driving force behind the U.N. Security Council decision to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. But among members, only Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — which has offered 12 planes to the effort — have committed muscle to enforce the motion.
While Libya and many other Arab countries are facing upheaval in the streets as people demand greater democracy and freedom, Qatar's joining the no-fly campaign amounts to a visible show of self-confidence.
Since Friday, the start of their participation, Qatari Mirage jets have flown wing-to-wing with the French in four-plane patrols over northeastern Libya, an area controlled by the rebels. Military commanders said the zone was selected for its relative proximity to Crete, and their jets have tallied no strikes or air combat — so far.
The French government, a key proponent of action against Gadhafi's forces, is eager to highlight Qatar's participation to stress that it's not a Western-only intervention. Associated Press journalists accompanied the heads of the Qatari and French air forces and other military officials aboard a French state-owned business jet Sunday for a visit to the joint operation on the Mediterranean base at Souda.
"This is really an exceptional event, a turning point in history," said Gen. Jean-Paul Palomeros, the French Air Force chief of staff. "It really shows the courage (of Qatar) to enlist at our sides."
The decisions by Qatar and UAE to join the coalition in Libya reflect their strong traditional ties to the United States and their desires to play a more active role internationally.
"The Gulf countries are beginning ... to be more assertive and pursue their own policies," said Theodore Karasik of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai. "They feel they can go out more on their own, diversify their interests, but still keep their Western allies."
