Qatar and state-sponsored terrorism

Qatar has been accused of allowing terror financiers to operate within its borders, which has been one of the justifications for the Qatar diplomatic crisis that started in 2017 and ended in 2021. In 2014, David S. Cohen, then United States Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, accused Qatari authorities of allowing financiers who were on international blacklists to live freely in the country: "There are U.S.- and UN-designated terrorist financiers in Qatar that have not been acted against under Qatari law."[1] Accusations come from a wide variety of sources including intelligence reports, government officials, and journalists.

In response to these allegations, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in September 2014 went on US television to defend his government against claims that it harbors terrorist financiers. In an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN, the Emir stated he does not consider those organizations to be terrorists.[2][clarification needed]

The Qatari government has a designated terrorist list.[3] According to The Telegraph, the list contained no names in 2014.[4] In July 2021, the list contained more than 550 people and 240 entities.[3] Qatar uses it to vet passengers flying internationally.[5] Despite Qatar's efforts to arraign prominent terrorist financiers, some designated terrorists and terrorist financiers lived with impunity in Qatar[4] until 2015.[5]

Qatar has been accused of supporting Hamas, the Palestinian group designated as a terrorist organization by the US and western European countries.[6] Qatar denies these allegations, stating that it does not support Hamas' political position, and that its policy is to help facilitate constructive engagement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.[7]

In 2004, 2010, 2014, and 2017, the Qatari government introduced new anti-terror laws to combat terrorism, terrorism financing and related crimes.[5][8] In 2019 the Qatari government introduced a new anti-money laundering and counter terror financing laws.[9]

  1. ^ Dettmer, Jamie (December 10, 2014). "U.S. Ally Qatar Shelters Jihadi Moneymen". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "Qatar's Emir: We don't fund terrorists". CNN. September 25, 2014. Archived from the original on May 19, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Unified Record of Persons and Entities designated on Sanction List". National Counter Terrorism Committee. Archived from the original on 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  4. ^ a b "Terror financiers are living freely in Qatar, US discloses". The Telegraph. November 16, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference statedept1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Congress Goes After 'Frenemies' Turkey, Qatar". U.S. News & World Report. September 10, 2014. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  7. ^ "Analysts: Qatar supports Gaza not Hamas". Al Jazeera. 7 June 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  8. ^ Josua, Maria (2021-03-01). "What Drives Diffusion? Anti-Terrorism Legislation in the Arab Middle East and North Africa". Journal of Global Security Studies. 6 (3). doi:10.1093/jogss/ogaa049. ISSN 2057-3170. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
  9. ^ "Qatar". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-07-17.

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