Qatar has long maintained that is assisting Libyan rebels in overthrowing Col. Moammer Gaddafi’s regime for humanitarian reasons.

But Reuters reports that the desire to alleviate human suffering may not be the tiny desert country’s only motivation:

“The reasons as laid out as to why Qatar is acting do not quite seem to account for the huge risks and extraordinarily bold actions that Qatar is taking,” said David Roberts, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute based in Doha.

“I can only account for this apparent discrepancy by suggesting that this policy is being heavily pushed by Qatar’s elite.”

Rumours abound in Doha that the real reason for Qatar’s interest in Libya is that al-Thani’s wife Sheikha Mozah has close personal ties there, although her representatives declined to comment…

Some analysts say that Qatar, which hosts the largest US airbase in the Middle East, could also be working as a proxy for the superpower.

But even though Qatar has gain widespread support for its actions in Libya from the West, its neighbors are becoming uneasy, Reuters reports.

“The Qatari risk profile is changing significantly now due to Libya, whereas before they had been simply viewed as a stable and wealthy partner,” (a) London-based British diplomat said. “No doubt that foreign majors are taking notice of that.

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