Powell meets with Qatar's peer, complains against al-Jazeera TV

The US secretary of state Colin Powell yesterday met in Washington with his Qatari counterpart Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jaber al-Thani and complained against al-Jazeera TV in Qatar in that it forms a "nagging " element in the relations between the two countries.

In a press conference with his Qatari counterpart on the occasion of starting the "strategic dialogue between the two countries," Powell said that "the friendship between our two countries is that strong to that we can also talks on a difficult issue like the news coverage of al-Jazeera."

When he was asked what Washington wants in particular from Qatar concerning al-Jazeera, Powell was confined to saying that the discussions will continue during the coming days, while Sheikh Hamad avoided to answer the question. Powell stressed that Qatar stood by the side of the USA since September 11 attacks " and all trends we had taken since then concerning Afghanistan, and Iraq, Qatar was a strong partner." For his part the Qatari minister said that discussions dealt with Iraq and Palestine. He considered that there are certain positive aspects " in Sharon's plan, though it includes " several matters we so far do not understand."