Qatar: Foreign worker restrictions 'to be eased'

Several hundred migrant workers are said to have died over the past few years in Qatar

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Qatar has moved to change controversial laws on foreign workers amid mounting criticism ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

The Gulf state has come under pressure to drop rules tying migrant workers to a single employer amid an influx ahead of the football tournament.

Human rights campaigners have accused Qatar's current sponsorship system of being akin to modern-day slavery.

The draft law is part of a range of proposed labour reforms but there is no timeline for their implementation.

Expatriates make up the bulk of the workforce in the country.

Human rights groups have accused of Qatar of leaving foreign workers open to exploitation and abuse

More than 180 migrant workers died in Qatar last year and a significant number are believed to have suffered injuries as a result of unsafe working practices.

There have also been complaints about the standard of accommodation many workers live in.

Reform package

Officials announced the proposed changes at a news conference in the capital Doha on Wednesday.

They said they hoped to introduce "a system based on employment contracts" as part of a reform package.

The reforms are also designed to end the longstanding requirement that foreign workers obtain their employer's consent before leaving the country.

This received global attention after a French-Algerian footballer was forced to stay in the country for nearly two years over a dispute with Qatari club El-Jaish over unpaid wages.

Qatar is reported to be spending more than $200bn on infrastructure projects ahead of the World Cup

Human rights groups have long urged Qatar to scrap the sponsorship system, saying it leaves workers open to exploitation and abuse.

In February, organisers of the 2022 World Cup published plans to improve the rights of workers after Fifa, world football's governing body, pushed them to do more.

'A small step'

UK opposition Labour MP Jim Murphy, who has campaigned for workers' rights in Qatar in his role as Shadow International Development Secretary, said the move was a "small step on a very long journey."

"It is absolutely vital that the reforms promised today are implemented quickly and fully," he added.

But Amnesty International said the proposed changes "fall far short of the fundamental changes needed to address systemic abuses against migrant workers".

Qatar is reported to be spending more than $200bn (£121bn) on a series of infrastructure projects, and says the World Cup is a catalyst for a nationwide building project.

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Iran nuclear talks resume in Vienna amid caution

The EU's Catherine Ashton and Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif are leading the negotiations

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US and Iranian officials have sounded a note of caution as the talks on Iran's nuclear programme resume in Vienna.

Negotiators were expected to officially begin trying to draft an agreement that will provide a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said a lot of effort was needed.

A senior US official meanwhile said the talks would be "very, very difficult" and there were still significant gaps between Iran and the six world powers.

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Both sides are hoping to build on an interim deal agreed in November that saw Iran curb uranium enrichment in return for sanctions relief.

The so-called P5+1 - the US, UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany - want Iran to scale back its sensitive nuclear activities permanently to ensure that it cannot assemble a nuclear weapon.

But Iran says its nuclear work, which it insists is peaceful, will continue - and wants an end to the sanctions that have crippled its economy.

'Complicated issues'

The interim accord, which took effect in January, gives negotiators until July to agree a long-term deal, although the deadline can be extended.

Although meetings have been held in Vienna since February, diplomats say nothing of substance has yet been agreed.

On Tuesday evening, both US and Iranian representatives tried to dampen expectations as they arrived in the Austrian capital for the latest round of talks.

The talks in Vienna hope to build on the interim deal which allows six months to negotiate a comprehensive solution

"If there are differences of opinion, which definitely exist, we will spend time to resolve them," Mr Zarif told Iranian media before attending a working dinner with the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.

A senior US official warned against too much optimism.

"I would caution people that just because we will be drafting it certainly does not mean an agreement is imminent or that we are certain to eventually get to a resolution."

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"There are a range of complicated issues to address and we do not know if Iran will be able to make the tough decisions they must to assure the world that they will not obtain a nuclear weapon and that their programme is for entirely peaceful purposes," the official added.

Diplomats say it will be very difficult to overcome differences on three key issues - Iran's uranium enrichment capacity, the heavy-water reactor at Arak, and questions about the "possible military dimensions" of Iran's nuclear programme.

A meeting between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran to discuss Tehran's past efforts to develop exploding bridge wire (EBW) detonators, which could be used in nuclear weapons, made little headway.

Iran has agreed provide the necessary clarification by Thursday, as part of a series of measures to allay the P5+1's concerns about its activities.

"If things were on track, the agency and Iran would have agreed, or would be on the cusp of agreeing, the next round of measures," one diplomat in Vienna told the AFP news agency.

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