US trade delegates to get gas masks
A US delegation attending a meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Qatar next week will be issued with gas masks, medical supplies and a radio device.
Members of Congress planning to travel to the Gulf country received classified briefings that terrorist cells may be operating there.
They were told that on landing in Doha, the capital, they will receive a respiratory device, medicine to protect them against biological weapons and a radio device for communication if people are evacuated to a ship offshore.
The briefings, also given to administration officials and some business executives, prompted several members to drop out of the meeting.
One congressional staffer told the Washington Post: "You've got to wonder if the guys making the call [about holding the meeting in Qatar] have actually read the intelligence reports."
Some of the classified briefings indicate that a suspected terrorist with expertise in truck bombing entered Qatar in recent months. Officials also cited evidence that some anti-American Islamic fundamentalists have infiltrated the military.
The meetings, on November 9-13, are aimed at global negotiations to lower trade barriers, a goal that eluded the WTO two years ago in Seattle, where anti-globalisation protests disrupted the session. One reason Qatar was chosen was that it seemed safe from disruption.