(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-20 10:10

NEW YORK - Doha's success in holding the 2006 Asian Games proves Qatar can become the first Middle East Olympic host, according to 2016 bid chairman Hassan Ali Bin Ali.

"This is the first bid from the Arab world," Bin Ali told Reuters in a recent interview. "By hosting the Olympics in an Arab state you would have inspired the whole region.

"We have a vision behind it; to create hope, understanding and a dialogue and also show our Arab hospitality and a different place than it is perceived now.

"We want to bring the Olympic ideals to the hearts and minds of millions of Arab people and youths."

Qatar, which has a population of fewer than a million people yet the financial clout that comes from the world's third largest natural gas reserves, is competing against Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Madrid, Prague and Baku in Azerbaijan.

"We have a story to tell," said Bin Ali. "We have a vision to tell and I think that bringing the Olympics to the Middle East for the first time will be good for the Olympics.

"That's something that the Olympics will have to consider. The Olympics is not only for the experienced."

Bin Ali said Doha, which hosted athletes from 45 countries in 39 sports for the Asian Games, already had 70 percent of the venues and facilities in place for the Olympics.

OLYMPIC PLANS

Qatar spent nearly $3 billion on facilities for the Asian Games, including an upgrade to the 50,000-seat Khalifa Stadium and construction of the Aspire indoor sports complex, the world's largest multi-sports dome.

Plans are in place to build an Olympic village and a media village within walking distance of the media centre in a centralised Games, where 92 percent of the athletes would be housed within 10 km (six miles) of their venues.

Bin Ali acknowledged there were hurdles to clear to bring the Olympics to the Middle East, starting with scheduling the Games to avoid the blistering heat of summer in the desert.

"The biggest challenge is we picked the date of the 14th of October to begin - that would be good for the athletes and the spectators," said Bin Ali, pointing to average high temperatures of 34 Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) during those dates.

"That is outside maybe the proscribed dates for the bid, but there is a precedent. Hopefully October 14 will be a date that can be accepted," he added, noting that the 1968 Mexico City Olympics began on October 12 and the 1964 Tokyo Games started on October 10.

Bin Ali also said Qatar was confident in its ability to provide security for the event.

"Security is an issue for every country in the world," he said. "If you look at the Asian Games we did not have one incident. That comes from the hard work of the security forces. Our security is as good as any state in the world. We take it very, very seriously."

EMPTY SEATS

On the question of whether a state of fewer than one million people could fill the seats for an Olympics, Bin Ali said: "There are perceptions of empty seats, but as part of the Arab world we are 30 minutes from Saudi Arabia, we are 35 minutes from the United Arab Emirates.

"We are three hours from any Arab city, six hours from Europe and six hours from Asia.

"The Olympics attracts so many spectators so I'm sure that perception will go and we'll have good number of spectators at the Games."

The state already hosts several international sporting events on an annual basis, such as the Qatar Open tennis tournament, Golf Masters, Qatar Motor Rally and an athletics Grand Prix. It will also host the 2011 Asian Cup soccer tournament.

But Bin Ali said a Doha Olympics would be special.

"As the first Arab bid, this would create hope and understanding and dialogue between all the countries there and will give a true picture of what Arab hospitality is."