WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama heaped praise on Qatar's ruler on Thursday, saying Washington could not have put together its Libya coalition without him and praising his role in addressing unrest across the Middle East and North Africa.
"We would not have been able, I think, to shape the kind of broad-based international coalition that includes not only our NATO members but also includes Arab states, without the emir's leadership," Obama told reporters at the end of a meeting in the Oval office with Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
"He is motivated by a belief that the Libyan people should have the rights and freedoms of all people," Obama said.
Qatar and the neighboring United Arab Emirates are the only Arab states to participate in military operations in Libya, despite the Arab League's support for the no-fly zone there.
