The Globe and Mail						February 9, 2001

WTO finds a haven: Qatar

	Kingdom far from Seattle will be site of protest-plagued group's 
	next meeting

	By Mark MacKinnon

OTTAWA -- After shopping around the world only to learn no city 
wants to be the next Seattle, the World Trade Organization finally 
found a host for its next meeting -- a place where dissent is illegal 
and people have no right to freedom of assembly.
	Still trembling in the wake of protests that shut down its meeting 
in Seattle two years ago, the WTO quietly announced yesterday 
that its next biennial ministerial meeting will take place this 
November in the Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar.
	A tiny, oil-rich state with a population of 600,000, Qatar would 
normally not even be in the running to hold such a major event. But 
with protesters promising a repeat of the "battle in Seattle" there 
were few volunteers.
	"Nobody wanted to hold this [next] meeting," said Stephen 
Benedict, director of the international department of the Canadian 
Labour Congress. "They knew people were going to protest again."
	The circumstances in Qatar's capital city of Doha should be 
almost perfect for the WTO: access will be tightly controlled, and 
strict Islamic law should deter many would-be protesters.  Only 500 
people from non-governmental organizations will be permitted to 
enter the country for the meeting.
	Tens of thousands of people -- a hodge-podge of anarchists, 
nationalists and anti-free-traders -- took to the streets in Seattle to 
protest against what they see as an organization with too much 
power and not enough accountability. Many feel the WTO's agenda 
of rapid trade liberalization has led to a widening gap between the 
world's wealthy and poor.
	By the time the protests were over, 600 people had been 
arrested and rioters had caused $3-million in damage to 
businesses in the city.
	Those who attended the Seattle protests said yesterday that the 
choice of Qatar only affirms their opinion that the WTO is an 
institution uninterested in hearing from critics.
	"Next to going up on a spaceship, or going out on an ocean 
liner, they couldn't make it much harder to stage legitimate protests 
. . . and the WTO knows that," said Maude Barlow, national 
chairwoman of the Council of Canadians.
	"This says more about the WTO than we could ever say."
	The announcement of Qatar as the host was just a few lines 
tucked in the WTO's regular weekly notice of coming speeches and 
trade symposiums. No rationale was given for the choice. WTO 
officials did not return calls yesterday.
	Ms. Barlow said talks were already under way about how the 
global "civil society" movement -- as the group that has protested 
against the WTO in Seattle and aganst the International Monetary 
Fund in Prague last year refers to itself -- would respond. She said 
the 500 allowed into Qatar will go, and will link up with an emerging 
human-rights movement there and in neighbouring countries.
	There will likely also be simultaneous protests at WTO 
headquarters in Geneva, she said, as well as in capitals of member 
nations.
	Many of those who protested in Seattle said the cost of 
travelling to Qatar may keep them home this time. The cost of a 
return flight from Ottawa to Doha is $6,800, Mr. Benedict said. 
From Seattle to Doha and back costs $8,500.
	Peter Tabuns, executive director of Greenpeace Canada, called 
the limits imposed on the number of non-governmental people 
attending "a major clampdown on democratic expression." He said 
that despite the fact the violence of Seattle and Prague grabbed the 
headlines, most of the protesters there were interested in peaceful 
reform of the institutions.
	However, others saw the WTO's withdrawal to Qatar as a 
victory for those who have opposed the trade body. "As far as I'm 
concerned, any organization composed of democratically elected 
representatives that has to meet in one of the most oppressive 
regimes on Earth -- that's an organization in a crisis of legitimacy," 
said Robin Round of the Halifax Initiative, a Canadian non-
governmental organization that pushes for international financial 
reform.