Meeting’s Gulf Site in Doubt

A planned gathering of world trade ministers next month in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar might be moved to a location that is farther from the conflict in Afghanistan, trade officials said Sunday.

Ministers attending a preparatory meeting in Singapore this weekend raised the possibility of changing the venue for the World Trade Organization conference, scheduled for Nov. 9-13 in the Qatari capital of Doha.

No decision was made and no alternate site was chosen, according to a U.S. trade official who requested anonymity. There has been speculation in recent days that the meeting might be moved to Singapore or Davos, Switzerland.

If the conference is relocated, U.S. officials hope it will occur on time to usher in a new round of global trade liberalization negotiations involving all 142 member nations of the WTO.

“There have been informal discussions among ministers regarding alternate sites,” the U.S. official said. “It’s a decision that the WTO and the host government will have to make over the next few days given current uncertainties.”

The official said the possibility of moving the meeting was broached by other countries, not the United States. He said it did not signal any dissatisfaction with Qatar’s preparations for the conference or its role in the U.S.-led crackdown on terrorism following the attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

“Their questions focused on regional uncertainties, not with Qatar,” the official said. “There was universal respect for Qatar’s efforts, both in the preparations and in their recent efforts to meet the enhanced security needs.”

In Singapore, U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick told reporters that the 21 trade ministers attending this weekend’s planning meeting were responding to heightened concern about the effect of the anti-terrorism campaign on public sentiment in the Middle East.

Al Qaeda, the radical Islamic group affiliated with Osama bin Laden, has threatened to strike at U.S. and British targets unless they halt their military offensive in Afghanistan, where Bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

In Doha, a senior Qatari official told Reuters news agency that his country was still planning to host the conference.