Wikileaks: Qatar asked Shell and ExxonMobil for donations

The Middle Eastern nation is one of the world's richest countries per capita on account of its oil and gas wealth.

However, it caused surprise by approaching a number of companies that work with Qatar Petroleum with a cash call in 2007.

According to the Wikileaks documents, letters signed by Abdullah al-Attiyah, the deputy prime minister, told each company how much they were expected to donate.

This ranged from $280m each for Exxon and AP Moller-Maersk to $80m for Total.

Other companies said to have been approached were ConocoPhillips, Occidental, Q-Chem, Microsoft and General Electric.