Qatar, US plan ‘expansion’ of Al Udeid airbase

DOHA — The US and Qatar plan to expand Al Udeid airbase, the biggest military facility used by Washington in the Gulf as it battles extremists, Qatari state media said Tuesday.

The two countries have also discussed making Al Udeid a “permanent” base, the official QNA news agency said, as Doha seeks to bolster ties with Washington at a time of tensions with its Gulf neighbours.

QNA said representatives from both countries on Tuesday “laid the foundation stone for expanding” Al Udeid.

But the Pentagon played down the development, pointing out nothing concrete had been decided.

“It is premature to discuss aspects of a potential base expansion at Al Udeid airbase in Qatar,” Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Rebarich said in a statement.

According to QNA, the project includes “the construction of barracks and service buildings to support joint security efforts, as well as improving the quality of life of the troops stationed at the airbase”.

Around 10,000 US troops are deployed in Al Udeid, the largest US base in the Gulf where Washington stocks munitions and equipment and deploys warplanes used in the battle against the Daesh group.

Other members of the US-led coalition fighting Daesh in Syria and Iraq are also deployed at Al Udeid, located 35 kilometres southwest of Doha. 

Ryan Gliha, the US charge d’affaires in Doha, highlighted US desires for bilateral cooperation at a news conference after the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the expansion of Daesh.

“We saw today the opening of a new construction project... what we hope to see in the coming years and months is [the] strengthening” of bilateral ties, he said.

“Billions of dollars have been spent already at Al Udeid over the last 15 years to support our operations... These are essential to the fight against Daesh and our ability to lead the coalition,” he said.

Gliha described Qatar as an “indispensable partner for the United States”.