Rumors of an attempted coup in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar were somewhat exaggerated. There's always a coup brewing in Qatar. The trials for the 1998 coup attempt went on until 2000. Many Qataris feel they practice a more liberal form of Wahhabi Islam, but not all Qataris agree. The sheikh is a progressive fellow, but being the financial backer of cable TV news station Al Jazeera has made him a lot of enemies in the Gulf. The sheikh was out of the country when the "coup" was alleged to have taken place, but the government has denied there was any coup. But there apparently were some arrests. There are 3,000 U.S. troops in Qatar, who are manning a major air base, apparently intended for combat operations in a war with Iraq, or anyone else in the Persian Gulf.