Doha: The United States hopes to move ahead with plans to name Qatar as a major, non-NATO ally, a status that provides foreign nations with benefits in defence trade and security cooperation with Washington, a senior US official said on Thursday.

"We're going to move ahead, we hope, with designating Qatar a major non-NATO ally," Timothy Lenderking, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for Gulf affairs, told reporters during a conference call.

“We talked to the Qataris about plans to expand Al Udeid Air Base and align operating procedures with NATO standards, and that we are going to move ahead, we hope, with designating Qatar a major non-NATO ally.  We also discussed ways to support humanitarian assistance through various UN agencies, including assisting refugees and other displaced populations,” he said.

Major non-NATO ally (or MNNA) status gives a country preferential access to US military equipment and technology, including free surplus material, expedited export processing and prioritised cooperation on training.

Currently, 17 countries have MNNA status.

SOURCE: THEPENINSULAQATAR