RAF jets to guard Qatar World Cup: Country's deputy PM announces Typhoon fighters will patrol the skies in joint operation to combat terrorism

  • British airmen working with Qataris will fly Typhoon jets during world cup  
  • The mission would be carried out by a new joint operational squadron
  • Qatari minister said: 'They will be flying with us to protect the sky'

The RAF will patrol the skies above Qatar during the World Cup to protect tourists from terrorists, the country's deputy prime minister announced yesterday.

British airmen operating with Qataris will fly Typhoon fighter jets during the 2022 tournament, said Dr Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, who is also defence minister.

The mission would be carried out by a new joint operational squadron which will see the UK and Qatar combat terrorism together in the strongest co-operation in decades.

The RAF will patrol the skies above Qatar during the World Cup to protect tourists from terrorists, the country's deputy prime minister announced yesterday. Pictured: Doha in Qatar

The RAF will patrol the skies above Qatar during the World Cup to protect tourists from terrorists, the country's deputy prime minister announced yesterday. Pictured: Doha in Qatar

Last month Qatar signed a deal to buy 24 Eurofighter Typhoon jets (stock image) from the UK in a £6billion boost for post-Brexit Britain.

Last month Qatar signed a deal to buy 24 Eurofighter Typhoon jets (stock image) from the UK in a £6billion boost for post-Brexit Britain.

The minister also declared his country had poured millions into the UK since Britain voted to leave the EU and their relationship would only improve post-Brexit in a boost for the UK.

His comments were made in a briefing in London following crunch talks with Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson. He said: 'Britain has never had such co-operation at this level since the 1940s. 

Today we have a common enemy. We don't want the burden to lie only on our friends' shoulder. We have to take responsibility too so this is why we have this joint squadron.

'At the same time they will be protecting our skies during the 2022 World Cup. This is the purpose behind having an operational joint squadron. They will be flying with us to protect the sky against any terrorist act.'

Last month Qatar signed a deal to buy 24 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from the UK in a £6billion boost for post-Brexit Britain.

The new Typhoons will join with RAF Typhoons to make up a squadron of jets that will be based mainly in the UK but also in Qatar in the coming years, he said. Dr Al Attiyah said his Arab country was battling threats from terrorists all over the region and had relied on Western help for too long.

The former fighter pilot said Qatar was prepared to step up the fight. 'Every time a crisis happens in our region we pick up the phone and we call 911 or SOS,' he said. 'I think it is about time that we work hand in hand with our friend and ally to defend our country.'

He added: 'This is an unconventional enemy, you don't know where they will hit, when they will hit, where they will hit.'

British airmen operating with Qataris will fly Typhoon fighter jets during the 2022 tournament, said Dr Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, who is also defence minister. Pictured: A football game in Doha

British airmen operating with Qataris will fly Typhoon fighter jets during the 2022 tournament, said Dr Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, who is also defence minister. Pictured: A football game in Doha

The minister also declared his country had poured millions into the UK since Britain voted to leave the EU and their relationship would only improve post-Brexit in a boost for the UK. One of the stadiums being built in Doha, Qatar

The minister also declared his country had poured millions into the UK since Britain voted to leave the EU and their relationship would only improve post-Brexit in a boost for the UK. One of the stadiums being built in Doha, Qatar

He said his country was building a 'brand new base' for the squadron of Typhoons, which he hoped would be ready for operations 'very soon'.

The details were still being worked out by officials from the two nations, but he said pilots from both would fly together and the Qataris would learn from the RAF's expertise.

When the squadron is in Qatar, a Qatari pilot would be in command, and when the squadron is in the UK, it would be under British command, he said. He even suggested the Qataris could help defend British skies in the future.

'Even the Qataris will protect if anything happens, God forbid, here, because they will also be based here,' he said.

Asked about Britain's future outside the EU, he said: 'The amount of sovereign investment in the UK shows you how reliable the economic system is here.

'Nobody has pulled out, nobody has panicked. In fact, in Qatar we have increased the investment with our colleagues in the UK. We are building the relationship from better to better.'

RAF sources said any deployment was subject to more detailed planning between the RAF and the Qatari air force. An RAF spokesman said: 'As part of the UK's support to Qatar's £6billion purchase of the Typhoon, a package of training and co-operation has been agreed which will see the air forces working together more regularly.'    

TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN QATAR 

December 2010 - Qatar awarded 2022 World Cup. 

April 2011 - Qatar hosts meeting of international 'contact group' on Libya, which calls on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to quit. Qatar reportedly arms Libyan opposition. 

January 2012 - The Afghan Taliban say they are setting up a political office in Qatar to facilitate talks.

October 2012 - Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani visits Gaza, the first head of state to do so since Hamas took power there five years previously.

June 2013 - Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani takes over as emir after his father abdicates.

October 2013 - Court upholds 15-year jail sentence for poet Mohammed al-Ajami who was convicted of inciting people to overthrow government.

March 2014 - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE temporarily withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar after alleging that it has been meddling in their internal affairs.  

March 2016 - Human rights group Amnesty International, says in a new report that migrant workers employed on construction sites for the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar, face systematic abuse which sometimes amounts to forced labour.

December 2016 - Government says it is abolishing the controversial labour sponsorship system or 'kafala' that forces foreign workers to seek their employers' consent to change jobs or leave the country.

June 2017 - Diplomatic crisis as Saudi Arabia leads an air, land and sea blockade by Arab countries, in an attempt to get Qatar to cut its alleged connections with terrorism and distance itself from Iran.

October 2017 -  The Cornerstone Global says that Qatar are at 'increasing risk' of losing the right to host the 2022 World Cup.