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هى دى قطر
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Articles In Egypt: Turkey, Qatar Fund Terror, Are Responsible For Bloodshed In Arab World
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Over the past year, fellow Gulf countries Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have publicly rebuked Qatar for its support of political Islamists across the region. These countries have threatened to close land borders or suspend Qatar’s membership in the regional Gulf Cooperation Council unless the country backs down. After nearly a year of pressure, the firstAfter nearly a year of pressure, the first sign of a Qatari concession came on Sept. 13, [2014] when seven senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood figures left Doha at the request of the Doha government. “
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Qatar: Terror Financing and Support of Terrorist
Groups. January 13, 2017
B. The United Nations
Sanctions List—Qatar.
I.
The following list
concerns Qatari facilitators of terror funding of Daesh/ISIL, Al Nusrah
Front and Al Qaida in Iraq
(AQI). It was obtained from The United Nations Security Council List of
Designated Individuals”, updated June 13, 2017.
Some of the details pertaining to
the individuals below have been edited for clarity, highlighting only Qatar
national identity and/or residence, and terror-financing activity.
1.
Abdl Malik Muhammad
Yusuf Uthman abd al Salam, national identification: Qatar; National
identification no: Qatar 28940000602, issued in Qatar. Facilitator who provides
financial, material, and technological support for Al-Qaida. On INTERPOL
Special Notice. (https://www.interpol.int/en/notice/search/un/584).
2.
Ashraf Muhammad Yusif
Uthman abd al Salam. National identification no: Qatar 28440000526, issued in
Qatar. A member of Al-Qaida as of 2012 and a fighter in the Syrian Arab
Republic since early 2014. Provided financial, material, and technological
support for AlQaida, Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant and Al-Qaida
in Iraq (AQI). On INTERPOL Special Notice.https://www.interpol.int/en/notice/search/un/5843240.
II.
The following listconcerns
terrorist funding of Al Qaeda and the
Taliban was obtained from: The United Nations Security Council “Reports from Member States Pursuant to Paragraph 6 of Resolution 1455, adopted on January
17, 2003:
1. Sa'd bin Sa'd Muhammad
Shariyan al-Ka'bi was listed on September 21, 2015 pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 4
ofresolution 2161 (2014) as being associated with Al-Qaida for “participating
in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or
activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in
support of” Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant.
2. Abd al-Latif bin Abdallah
Salih Muhammad al-Kawari was listed on September 21, 2015 pursuant to paragraphs
2 and 4 of resolution 2161 (2014) as being associated with Al-Qaida for
“participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or
perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of,
on behalf of, or in support of” Al-Qaida.
3. 'Abd al-Malik Muhammad Yusuf 'Uthman
'Abd al-Salam was listed on January 23, 2015pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 4
of resolution 2161 (2014) as being associated with Al-Qaida for “participating
in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or
activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in
support of”, “supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to”,
“recruiting for” or “otherwise supporting acts or activities of” Al-Qaida
(QDe.004) and Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant
4. Khalifa Muhammad Turki
al-Subaiy was listed on October 10, 2008 pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 of resolution
1822 (2008) as being associated with Al-Qaida (QDe.004) for “participating in
the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or
activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support
of”, “recruiting for” and “otherwise supporting the acts or activities of”
Al-Qaida and its senior leadership.
C.
U.S. Department of State
1.
“Overall, Qatar’s security services workforce was reliant on manpower
from third countries to fill rank-and-file law enforcement positions. This
limitation applies across the board with all Qatari government institutions
(except for the Qatar State Security and elite units of the Ministry of
Interior’s internal security force), and is commensurate with the demographics
of the nation. Lack of capacity and to some extent the lack of advanced
training of non-Qataris contributed to a lack of effectiveness in basic police
operations”. “Qatar”: U.S.
Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism, 2015. [The year 2015 is the latest edition
available for this report].
2.
“Despite
[counterterrorism efforts], entities and individuals within Qatar continue to
serve as a source of financial support for terrorist and violent extremist
groups, particularly regional al-Qa’ida affiliates such as the Nusrah Front.
Qatar has made efforts to prosecute significant terrorist financiers.” – “Qatar”: U.S. Department of State Country Reports
on Terrorism, 2015.
D.
Think Tank Studies and
Journals: Qatar and Terror-Financing; Qatar and Support for Hamas and Muslim
Brotherhood.
“Qatar is unquestionably engaged in international terrorist financing.
According to the U.S. Treasury’s division for Terrorism and Financial
Intelligence, “Qatar, a longtime U.S. ally, has for many years openly financed
Hamas.”From: The Institute for
Contemporary AffairsFounded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation. September 23, 2014.
This
report continues:
·
Qatar aids
Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Jabhat al Nusra, al-Qaeda affiliates, Libyan
Islamists, and even ISIS.
·
The key
Qatari link to the Muslim Brotherhood has been Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who
broadcasts on Qatar’s al Jazeera. In 2002, his foundation was
designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
·
Through the
Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar has attempted to undermine Jordan, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and Bahrain.
·
Qatar is also
active in North Africa. The French press carried repeated reports that Qatar
was financing jihadist elements in Northern Mali, including MUJAO (the Movement
for Unity and Jihad in West Africa), Ansar Dine (affiliated with al-Qaeda), and
even secularist Tuareg separatists belonging to the MNLA (National Movement for
the Liberation of the Azawad). There were also reports quoting the French
Directorate of Intelligence (DRM) claiming that Qatar was financing AQIM (Al
Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb). Prior to the French intervention in Mali, its
northern region was emerging as an African Afghanistan. Notably, the Qatari Red
Crescent was the only humanitarian organization operating in Northern Mali
after the Islamist takeover.
·
Qatar also
has extensive ties to Islamist elements fighting in Libya since Qaddafi’s
overthrow.6Sheikh Ali
al-Salabi was a Libyan Islamist with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood who took
refuge in Qatar in 1999 but later returned to Libya, where he served as a
conduit for Qatari-supplied arms to Islamist forces. Indeed, after
Qaddafi’s fall, Libya’s transitional prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, complained
that Qatar was still arming extremist groups in Libya opposed to his
leadership.
·
The most
important Islamist connection for Qatar is the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar has
not only backed its Middle Eastern activities, but it has also emerged as one
of the largest institutional funders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe.8 Qatar has been accused of
supporting a Muslim Brotherhood terrorist cell that was discovered in the UAE
in 2012.
·
The key
player in the Qatari link to the Muslim Brotherhood has been Sheikh Yusuf
al-Qaradawi. In 1961, he was sent by al-Azhar University in Egypt to head its
Qatari branch. Since that time, he has emerged as a most important spiritual
authority in the international Muslim Brotherhood movement. He also became the
supreme religious authority for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch,
Hamas. Through his fatwas, which were featured on Hamas’ website, he supported
Hamas suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilians; he also supported
suicide attacks against US forces in Iraq. He established a global charity,
known as the Union of Good, which served as a conduit for Hamas financing.
From: The Foundation
for the Defense of Democracies: “Qatar and Terror Finance”, January 18,
2017. The following is from the Introduction
to this report, available at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/david-weinberg-qatar-and-terror-finance/
“It is particularly vital to evaluate Qatar’s record on
terror finance in light of the Nusra Front’s July 2016 decision to rebrand
itself as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), which purports to have “no relationship
with any foreign party.
According to sources cited
by Reuters, Qatar led an effort starting in 2015 to bolster the Syrian
opposition by persuading Nusra to distance itself from al-Qaeda.”
Reuters reported that
intelligence officials from Qatar and other Gulf states met several times with
Nusra’s leader around this period to suggest that his group could receive
money, arms, and supplies after stepping away from al-Qaeda.
Yet the more JFS
legitimates itself by integrating into the broader Syrian opposition, the
greater the risk of a permanent al-Qaeda army on Europe’s doorstep. This report
is Part Two of a three-part series on Qatar’s record dealing with terrorist
finance and its practitioners. Part One outlined Doha’s dismal record at
punishing funders of terror throughout Emir Hamad’s reign.
This document evaluates
the publicly available evidence on Qatar’s record since then, focusing
primarily on individuals sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2014 and
2015. All of these sanctions were imposed after Qatar agreed in September 2014,
as part of a U.S.-led initiative called the Jeddah Communiqué, to bring terror
financiers to justice. The cases should therefore be seen as a measuring stick
for recent Qatari conduct.” See: www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/david-weinberg-qatar-and-terror-finance/#sthash.iKhmZrc1.dpuf.
Elizabeth Dickerson, Foreign
Policy Magazine “The Case
Against Qatar”, September 30, 2014.
“On one hand, Washington
hasn’t shied away from calling on Doha’s connections when it needs them. But
that same Qatari network has also played a major role in destabilizing nearly
every trouble spot in the region and in accelerating the growth of radical and
jihadi factions. The results have ranged from bad to catastrophic in the
countries that are the beneficiaries of Qatari aid: Libya is mired in a war
between proxy-funded militias, Syria’s opposition has been overwhelmed by
infightingand overtaken by extremists, and Hamas’s intransigence has arguably
helped prolong the Gaza Strip’s humanitarian plight.
For
years, U.S. officials have been willing to shrug off Doha’s proxy network — or
even take advantage of it from time to time. Qatar’s neighbors, however, have
not. Over the past year, fellow Gulf countries Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have publicly rebuked Qatar for its support of political Islamists across the region. These countries have threatened to close land borders or suspend Qatar’s membership in the regional Gulf Cooperation Council unless the country backs down. After nearly a year of pressure, the firstAfter nearly a year of pressure, the first sign of a Qatari concession came on Sept. 13, [2014] when seven senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood figures left Doha at the request of the Doha government. “
William McCants, “Islamist
Outlaws: Saudi Arabia Takes on the Brotherhood”. Foreign Affairs, The Council
on Foreign Relations, March 2014
This article stresses the terrorist threat that the
Muslim Brotherhood, supported by Qatar, poses upon Saudi Arabia—and has for
decades
“On March 7, Saudi Arabia took the
extraordinary step of declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist
organization, on par with Hezbollah and al Qaeda. The move came just two days
after the kingdom, together with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, withdrew
its ambassador from Qatar because of Qatar’s alleged support of Brotherhood
interference in internal politics. Although Saudi Arabia’s dislike of
Brotherhood political activities abroad is well known, for decades the kingdom
has tolerated (and sometimes even worked with) the local Saudi branch of the
Brotherhood. Its sudden reversal is an expression of solidarity with its
politically vulnerable allies in the region and a warning to Sunni Islamists
within its borders to tr]ad carefully” [...]
“Saudi Arabia’s moves have provoked some unhappiness at
home. Saudi Islamists, particularly the Brothers, are convinced that Morsi’s
overthrow was part of a Saudi plot to roll back Islamist political gains of the
past three years. In defiance, they festooned their social media profiles with
symbols of Brotherhood resistance and criticized their government for its
complicity. The defiance has become more muted recently, after the local press
reported that the government was contemplating declaring the Brotherhood a
terrorist organization. According to former members of the Saudi Muslim
Brotherhood I spoke with, the 25,000 or so members of the Brotherhood in Saudi
Arabia reacted to the news of the deliberations by preemptively keeping a low
profile, closing some of its gatherings so as not to further stoke the
government’s ire. Until the Saudi government actually begins making arrests,
its recent announcement is more of a shot across the Brotherhood’s bow than an
attempt to sink the ship.”
Nevertheless, person after
person I interviewed asserted that the level of Islamist anger toward the Saudi
government is higher than at any time since the early 1990s” […]
E. International
Criticism: The United Kingdom, Germany,
the European Union
1. On October 25, 2014, The Daily Telegraph(UK) reported that former Prime Minister David
Cameron had strong concerns about terror-financing in Qatar, a subject he
brought up with the state visit of former Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. The headline of the article read: “David Cameron Urged to Press Emir of Qatar
on Terror Funds”, adding: “The Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, will
arrive in Britain amid a growing furor over his country’s alleged links to the
financing of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al Qaeda”.
The newspaper
article continues:
“It is understood that the Emir will also meet with Sir
John Sawers, the head of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service. Critics of Qatar
will want that meeting to focus on why the state has not done more to stop the
fund-raisers operating from its capital Doha.”
And:
“The negotiations follow
warnings from the Obama administration last week that Qatar and Kuwait remain
fertile grounds for terrorist funders. David Cohen, the US official in charge
of terrorism and financial intelligence, said the two states were
"permissive jurisdictions for terrorist financing"[…]
“Stephen Barclay, the Tory
MP for North-East Cambridgeshire, who has repeatedly called for transparency in
Britain’s dealings with Qatar and other Gulf states, said it was
"essential" for Mr Cameron to raise the issue of terror financing
with the Emir.” […]
“[Barclay stated]: “There
is clear evidence that Qatari nationals have been instrumental in the financing
of Sunni terror groups and the Prime Minister should not avoid tackling this
issue head on with the Emir."
“Douglas Alexander,
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, said wealthy Qataris and Kuwaitis had
channelled millions of dollars to terrorists and accused the countries of
having "weak money-laundering" laws […]”.
*
The same newspaper also reported in November 2014 on
terrorist financiers “living without impunity” in Qatar despite being on U.S.
Department of the Treasury and United Nations designated persons/sanctions
lists. (“Terror Financiers Are Living Freely in Qatar, U.S.
Discloses”, The Daily Telegraph (UK),
November 16, 2014)
2.
“Two of
al-Qaeda’s most senior financiers are living with impunity in Qatar despite
being on a worldwide terrorism blacklist, [an] American official in charge of
sanctions has disclosed. The two Qataris —Khalifa Muhammad Turki al Subaiy and
Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi--are living in Doha, the country’s capital,
and are free to go as they please, according to David Cohen, the US Treasury
under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
Mr Cohen has accused Qatar and its near neighbour Kuwait
of being “permissive jurisdictions for terrorist financing” but until now the
fate of a number of money men — identified as Specially Designated Global
Terrorists by the US government — has not been known.
Qatar has refused to say what has happened to al-Subaiy,
al-Nuaymi and others on US and United Nations terrorism sanctions lists.
The Telegraph has asked over a number of weeks about
the status of the men and Qatar has refused to answer.
But during a question and answer session following a
keynote speech in Washington, a transcript of which has been obtained by The Telegraph, Mr Cohen said: “There are
US- and UN-designated terrorist financiers in Qatar that have not been acted
against under Qatari law. There’s Khalifa al-Subaiy — and more recently, Abd
al-Nuaymi, who we designated last December, the UN designated in August.” Mr
Cohen added that both men were residents in Qatar.
Al-Subaiy, 49, a former Qatari Central Bank employee, was
blacklisted as a terrorist fundraiser as long ago as 2008 but still appears to
be heavily involved in a jihadist network. According to the official American
report, al-Subaiy was identified as “a Qatar-based terrorist financier and
facilitator who has provided financial support to, and acted on behalf of,
al-Qaeda senior leadership, including senior al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed (KSM) prior to KSM’s capture in March 2003”.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been named as the “principal
architect of the 9/11 attacks” and is being held in Guantánamo Bay
Al-Nuaymi, a former president of the Qatar Football
Association, is accused of being one of the world’s most prolific terrorist
fundraisers, accused of sending more than £1.25 million a month to
al-Qaeda jihadists in Iraq and hundreds of thousands of pounds to Syria. He was
designated a terrorist in the US last December and added to a British sanctions
list only in October this year.
It is alleged that both men’s links to senior figures in
Qatar has helped keep them out of jail in recent years and off Qatar’s own
terrorist sanctions list. The country introduced a designated terrorist list
but to date not a single individual has been put on it.
F.
Conclusion: General Overview Statements on
Qatar.
From:Qatar: Governance,
Security and U.S. Policy; Kenneth Katzman, Specialist Middle Eastern Affairs,
June 9, 2017.
“Qatar’s policies – particularly its support for regional
Muslim Brotherhood organizations as a positive example of “political Islam” -
continue to plague relations between Qatar and some other GCC members. Saudi
Arabia and the UAE assert that the Brotherhood is a threat to regional and
domestic security and have taken generally opposed engaging Iran
diplomatically.” (Intro)
“[R]adical Islamist organizations profess ideologies that
are attractive to some Qatari citizens, and there have been repeated
accusations by international observers that wealthy Qataris have contributed
funds and services to these groups. Members of Congress generally have taken
into account these and all the other aspects of Qatar’s policies in
consideration of U.S. arms sales to Qatar.”
(Intro)
“[S]ome groups that the United States considers as
terrorist organizations - such as Hamas - are considered by Qatar to be
legitimate Arab movements pursuing goals with which Qatari officials and
citizens often agree” (p. 16)
“Some experts have noted that the government has violated a
pledge to the United States not to allow Qatari preachers to conduct what some
consider religious incitement in mosques in Education City, where several U.S.
universities have branches” (p. 16)
“In the past, perhaps before the global threat from the Al-Qaida
organization was acute, at least one high-ranking Qatari official provided
support to Al-Qaida figures residing in or transiting Qatar, including
suspected September 11, 2001, attacks mastermind Khalid Shaykh Mohammad” (p.
16)
[A]ccording to U.S. officials, “entities and individuals
within Qatar continue to serve as a source of financial support for terrorist and
violent extremist groups, particularly regional Al Qa’ida affiliates such as
the Nusrah Front” (p. 17)
“The United States
has imposed sanctions on several persons living in Qatar, including Qatari
nationals, for allegedly raising funds or making donations to both Al-Qaida and
the Islamic State.” (p.17)
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