The Al Udeid Base, which has more than 10,000 US military personnel living in it, is America’s biggest such facility in the Middle East.

If indications are correct, then the US base is set to get a lot bigger.

Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs HE Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, who is visiting Washington DC, said that expansion plans were on and it would cater to 200 more housing units for officers and their families, reported Al Jazeera.

“It’ll very soon become family oriented place for our American friends there. We want more of the families to be stable and feel more comfortable in their stay,” Al Attiyah said during an event held by The Heritage Foundation, a US-based think-thank.

Al Udeid serves as one of the most important overseas US military bases, with operations throughout the Middle East launched from Qatar.

“Qatar is strategically placed. Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria — these are all hotspots in the region. I’m not exaggerating when I say 80% of aerial refuelling in the region is from Al Udeid. We’re the ones that keep your birds flying.

“It’s very important to keep this relationship going. Qatari people are very welcoming and Americans are well received in Qatar,” the Minister noted.

A 2040 vision on enhancing military co-operation between the two countries also includes plans to build ports to host the US Navy in the future, he was quoted as saying by Gulf Times.

Gulf crisis

On the ongoing illegal siege of Qatar, Al Attiyah said US President Donald Trump is the only one who can resolve the crisis with a single phone call.

“Resolving the crisis is necessary to combat terrorism, which requires coordination in the field of intelligence sharing,” he was quoted as saying by Qatar Tribune.

“Nobody is benefiting from what is happening in the GCC except for terror groups. We're open to dialogue. We can discuss anything. The only thing we don't accept is imposing conditions on us or tampering with our sovereignty.

“We're tough people. We don’t accept pre-conditions. But at the same time, we're very open to discuss issues that worry them,” he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

Qatar is not a war seeker

The minister said that was not war seeker, but had every intention of protecting its own airspace and territory.
“One Qatari is worth of a hundred. We’ve our own air academy in Qatar and they’re graduating in good numbers. We just graduated 35 pilots the day before yesterday. Last year, we graduated 30 and next year we estimate to graduate 60. So, we’ve good outcome from our air academy and I think when the systems arrive we’ll have enough numbers to operate them and all will be Qataris,” he said.