Washington and Doha Reach Agreement to Extend US Presence at Qatar’s Military Base

During US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's visit to Qatar last month, the Pentagon chief thanked Doha for increasing spending on Al Udeid air base.

Washington has "quietly" reached an agreement with Doha to extend the US military presence at a major base in Qatar for another ten years, an American broadcaster quoted unnamed sources as saying.

The Al Udeid air base, known as the largest US military facility in the Middle East, can accommodate more than 10,000 American troops. The US Department of Defense has yet to comment on the matter.

The reported developments come after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Al Udeid in December, where he thanked Qatar for its increased spending on the base. Qatar had previously reportedly pledged billions of dollars of its own money to upgrade facilities for US airmen at the base.

Austin remained mum on extending the Al Udeid deal during the visit, while pledging that the US and Qatar "will formally take steps to expand and reinforce our bilateral defense relationship."

"We’ll do this through Qatar’s commitment to contribute significant resources to increase capabilities here at Al Udeid Air Base, and that will support both of our forces for years to come,” the Pentagon chief pointed out.

In 2003, Al Udeid became the main U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) air base in the Middle East when American forces and assets were moved from Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. According to the US broadcaster, the deployment of American troops at Prince Sultan was sensitive and controversial.

As for Al Udeid, a reported agreement between Washington and Doha to expand the base comes amid the ongoing escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict following the October 7 surprise large-scale attack on the Jewish state orchestrated by the Palestinian militant group Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

Qatar played a key role in mediating talks between Israeli officials and Hamas in November that led to a brief cease-fire and the release of a number of hostages taken by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack, as well as a number of Palestinian prisoners.