28-29
Jan 2008
On 28 January 2008, the Deputy Secretary General of NATO H.E. Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero opened in Doha the conference on: “NATO’s Role for Stability and Peace", co-organised by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and the Qatar Center for Military Strategic Studies.
“In 2004, in establishing our Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, or ICI, that opportunity to work together with NATO was opened up to the countries here in the Gulf region as well. And their response to the ICI has been very constructive and very positive. Qatar joined the initiative early on, together with Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. And we are hopeful that Saudi Arabia and Oman will also decide to take part in the ICI. Because we all benefit if we work more closely together. The security of the countries here in the Gulf region matters to NATO – but the evolving, 21st century Alliance that I have just described clearly also matters to your security”, said Ambassador Bisogniero in his keynote address.
The closing addresses of the Conference were delivered by the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Jean-François Bureau and the Assistant Foreign Minister of Qatar for Follow-Up Affairs H.E. Amb. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Rumaihi.
Participants in the conference included high-level academics, government officials, opinion leaders and journalists from Gulf countries.
During the visit, Ambassador Bisogniero also held bilateral talks with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H.E. Ahmad Bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud, the Chief of Defence of the Qatar Armed Forces Lt.Gen. Hamad Bin Ali Al-Attiah and the Assistant Foreign Minister of Qatar for Follow-Up Affairs H.E. Amb. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Rumaihi.
