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QATAR:

UNDERCOVER SHIEK Then Israeli Premier Shimon Peres (left) is received by Sheik Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, Qatar's deputy premier, at Doha Airport, on Tuesday, April 2, 1996

The tiny emirate of Qatar has won American favor by pursuing a progressive reform agenda unequaled by any other Arab state, by donating $60 million to Hurricane Katrina relief, and, most important, by hosting a new, massive U.S. air base on its mini-peninsula that conveniently thrusts upward through the Persian Gulf like a dagger toward Iran. With this last gesture, Qatar willingly placed itself at the very top of Iran's "Places to Bomb" list in the event of a throw-down with the United States and earned the deep gratitude of President Bush. But before you become too enamored of America's new lil' buddy, there is an ugly dark side that must be considered. You might find Qatar's willingness to headquarter anti-American rabble-rousers like Al-Jazeera and firebrand cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi troublesome but not deal-breaking.

You might have more difficulty, however, looking past the 9/11 blood that seems to be on the hands of a high-ranking Qatari government official. As this website shows, Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalid Al-Thani is Qatar's Minister of Interior. In the 1990s, he routinely rolled with top Al Qaeda VIPs like Osama bin Laden and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He reportedly hooked up Mohammed with a Qatari government job and housed him at his rural compound. When a team of FBI agents was on the verge of capturing Mohammed in 1996, a Qatari government official—believed by several top U.S. officials to be Abdullah bin Khalid—tipped off Mohammed and reportedly arranged for the terrorist's narrow escape to Afghanistan, a full five years before the 9/11 attacks. While it has been suggested that Abdullah is no longer involved in the day-to-day affairs of the Qatari government, he likely retains the support of factions within Qatar displeased with the U.S. alliance, and was reappointed to his ministerial position just earlier this year.