With Seattle a Vivid Memory, W.T.O. Seeks a New Host City by ELIZABETH OLSON
GENEVA, Jan. 22 — The World Trade Organization's last top-level meeting, which left Seattle reeling after violent protests, scores of arrests and property damage, was not the greatest advertisement to lure countries to be the host of its next big gathering later this year.
Nonetheless, two of the W.T.O.'s 140 member countries are vying for the meeting, and the contest between Chile and the Persian Gulf state of Qatar has turned into another diplomatic wrangle. In the middle is the coming ministers' meeting, which is expected to attract thousands of representatives of governments and nongovernment groups as well as journalists.
The meeting, tentatively scheduled for next fall, will draw global attention because the W.T.O. may again try to start the round of trade talks that never got off the ground in Seattle in December 1999.
The venue, however, is looming as a problem because of unofficial worries about Qatar's ability to hold the meeting. Qatar, a nation of only 540,000 people, already had its collective feelings ruffled when Chile floated an offer last month.
Qatar's trade envoy, Fahed Awaid al-Thani, pointed out that his country had bid for the meeting as long ago as the Seattle meeting and had made an official offer. In October, however, Qatar acknowledged that it might not have enough hotel beds for the five-day meeting, and other countries were encouraged to make bids.
A team from the W.T.O. went to Qatar's capital, Doha, last year and found adequate conference facilities. An assessment team has also traveled to Santiago, however, though Chile has yet to make a formal offer.
Qatar has since sweetened its bid, saying it will rely on luxury villas and cruise ships to make up the lodging shortage.
Both countries were reviewed by the W.T.O.'s decision-making body last month, but no choice was made.
While countries typically seek out such huge international gatherings because of the prestige and money they bring, the W.T.O. has not been overwhelmed with offers since it became the target of disruptive protests. Even Geneva, the organization's home city, has been quietly reluctant.
A key sticking point for Qatar's candidacy is the admission of representatives of nongovernment organizations. Qatar has pledged free access, and an informal poll of W.T.O. representatives last week found no opposition to it.
But Human Rights Watch, based in New York, said today that a meeting in Qatar would shut down any possibilty of peaceful protest. Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said that holding the meeting in a country that limits the rights of assembly and association "would send a signal that it's O.K. to build the global economy on a foundation of repression — exactly the oppoosite message the W.T.O. should be pronouncing."
Mr. Thani, whose enthusiasm for the meeting is tempered by memories of the two days he spent shut in at his Seattle hotel room, said: "We welcome peaceful demonstrations. We have the ability to control it." [end]