DOHA (Reuters) - U.S. ally Qatar plans to hold landmark elections next year for the Gulf country's first parliament as part of democratic reforms.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani told a forum on democracy late on Saturday that elections laws would be ready by the summer.
"We expect they (elections) will take place by the beginning of next year," he said.
The election is likely to please Washington which is promoting political, economic and social reforms throughout the Arab world since invading Iraq and deposing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Qatar hosted a U.S. command center for the 2003 war on Iraq.
Reached for comment, Democrat party chairman Howard Dean indicated that America is losing in the middle east and Democrat Rep. Jack Murtha stated that our very presence in the middle east is doing nothing but creating more terrorists.
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