Radicalization
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) labeled Qatar a “safe haven for religious extremists expelled by other countries.” CSIS cited Qatar’s history of providing refuge for Palestinian, Sudanese, and Algerian fugitives. Qatar reportedly gave refuge to Saudi militants following the 1979 takeover of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The country has also reportedly hosted members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. According to the military affairs periodical Jane’s, Qatar in the 1980s was a “waypoint for senior Salafist terrorists transiting to or from Afghanistan, utilising the homes of Qatari notables as safehouses.” David Andrew Weinberg of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies has accused Qatar of showing “one face to the international community projecting a desire to help in the fight against terrorist organizations, while providing a platform for the preaching in their own backyard of the same kind of hate-filled extremism of ISIS.” Weinberg points to a stream of Islamist imams who have addressed Qatari mosques with government support. (Sources: Center for Strategic and International Studies, New York Times, Daily Beast)
[Qatar is a] safe haven for religious extremists expelled by other countries.Center for Strategic and International Studies
The state-controlled Imam Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab Masjid Doha, a.k.a. the Grand Mosque, is Qatar’s largest mosque. It is named for the 18th century founder of Wahhabism. Analysts have accused the mosque’s religious leadership of fomenting radicalism by inviting extremist guest speakers. For example, in late January 2015, Saudi cleric Sa’ad Ateeq al Ateeq reportedly gave a sermon at the mosque calling for Allah to “destroy the Jews and whoever made them Jews, and destroy the Christians and Alawites and the Shiites.” It was reportedly al Ateeq’s sixth visit to the mosque since 2013. Qatari government officials reportedly promoted the imam’s sermon on Qatari media and Twitter. Other invited speakers to the mosque reportedly include the U.S.- and U.N.-designated Kuwaiti Hamid Abdullah al Ali, who has been accused of financing al-Qaeda, and U.S.-designated Hamid Hamad al Ali, accused of supporting the Nusra Front. (Sources: Daily Beast, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies)
Qatari officials have condemned extremism while defending designated terrorist organizations. Extremist groups claim they are defending the rights of people who feel oppressed by their governments, according to Qatar’s U.N. Permanent Representative Ambassador Alia bint Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani. The ambassador called on the international community to focus on resolving social-justice problems in order to combat terrorism. Al-Thani also called for differentiating between terrorism and legitimate resistance to oppression. (Source: Qatar News Agency)
Terrorism Financing & Material Support
On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic relations with Qatar over the country’s support for terrorism. The nations also barred Qatari citizens and closed all of their borders to Qatar. According to the official Saudi Press Agency, the kingdom broke ties with Qatar to “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism.” Saudi Arabia cited Qatari support of Iranian-backed militias in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as well as alleged Qatari support for the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda, and ISIS. Yemen, Libya’s internationally recognized eastern-based government, and the Maldives also broke diplomatic ties with Qatar later in the day. (Sources: Reuters, CNN, CNN, Saudi Press Agency, Agence France-Presse)
At the same time, the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen expelled Qatar because of its alleged support for ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Yemeni rebel militias. In response to the diplomatic break, the Qatari government denied collusion with international terrorist groups and accused other nations of trying to undermine Qatari sovereignty. (Sources: CNN, CNN, Agence France-Presse, New York Times)
On June 8, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE designated 59 people and 12 groups—all either based in or otherwise associated with Qatar—for links to terrorism. The list included Qatar-based Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Yusuf Qaradawi, as well as 18 Qatari businessmen and politicians. Qatar rejected the list. (Sources: Al Jazeera, Reuters)
On July 25, the countries issued a second sanctions list, designating an additional 18 groups and individuals with “direct and indirect ties” to the Qatari government. The new list included a Libyan television station affiliated with Al Jazeera, three Yemeni charities, three Qatari citizens, and six non-Qataris. Some of the individuals and entities on the list have previously been designated by the United States. Qatar called the new list a “disappointing surprise.” (Sources: Reuters, Al Arabiya English, Reuters)
On June 22, 2017, the four countries issued 13 demands of Qatar in order to restore relations. The demands included closing Al Jazeera, closing a Turkish military base in Qatar, and severing ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, al-Qaeda, and Hezbollah. The nations also called on Qatar to scale back relations with Iran. More generally, the nations also demanded Qatar end support for terrorism and terror-financing. Qatar rejected the demands and denied links to terrorist groups. During a meeting in Cairo on July 5, the foreign ministers of the four Arab states agreed on six core principles that Qatar must accept: commit to fighting extremism and terrorism, cease all forms of incitement to violence and hatred, and prevent terror groups from using Qatar as both safe havens and sources of financing. Qatar has rejected the demands but has modified its terrorism laws. (Sources: Associated Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera, CNN)
The United States has accused Qatar of providing financial and material support to extremist and terrorist groups. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Qatar has “openly financed” Hamas, whose political leadership is also based in Qatar. The Treasury Department has also cited press reports accusing Qatar of “supporting extremist groups operating in Syria.” Other groups, such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, have purportedly set up financial networks in the country. The U.S. government has designated several Qatari nationals for fundraising on behalf of the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda, and other groups. (Sources: New York Times, U.S. Department of the Treasury)
According to a March 2014 address by U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen, terrorist-fundraisers in Qatar “aggressively solicit donations online from supporters in other countries, notably Saudi Arabia, which have banned unauthorized fundraising campaigns for Syria.” Cohen also said that private fundraising networks in Qatar “increasingly rely upon social media to solicit donations for terrorists and to communicate with both donors and recipient radicals on the battlefield.” Cohen said Qatar “has become such a permissive terrorist financing environment, that several major Qatar-based fundraisers act as local representatives for larger terrorist fundraising networks that are based in Kuwait.” U.S. Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates have also accused Qatar of publicly supporting pro-U.S. policies while providing support for terrorist groups. Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has denied accusations that Qatar supports terrorists. (Sources: Reuters, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Wall Street Journal, CNN)
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned several Qatari nationals for financing terrorism. In December 2013, for example, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Qatar-based terror-financier Abd al-Rahman bin ‘Umayr al-Nu’aymi. According to the Treasury, al-Nu’aymi ordered the transfer of almost $600,000 to al-Qaeda in 2013 and intended to transfer almost $50,000 more. The United Nations has also sanctioned al-Nu’aymi. Qatar-based Sheikh Hajaj al-Ajmi openly raised money in the country for the Nusra Front when the Treasury designated him in August 2014. In August 2015, the Treasury sanctioned Sa’d bin Sa’d Muhammad Shariyan al-Ka’bi, another Qatari financier of the Nusra Front. At the same time, the U.S. Treasury also designated Qatari al-Qaeda facilitator ‘Abd al-Latif Bin ‘Abdallah Salih Muhammad al-Kawari. The Qatari government employed al-Qaeda financier Salim Hasan Khalifa Rashid al-Kuwari in the Ministry of the Interior, despite al-Kuwari’s designation as a terrorist by the United States. Al-Kuwari has channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars to al-Qaeda. (Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, United Nations, U.S. Department of the Treasury, New York Times, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S Department of the Treasury, Telegraph)
The U.S. Treasury designated terrorist financier and facilitator Khalifa Muhammad Turki Al-Subaiy as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in June 2008. Al-Subaiy “provided financial support to al Qaida senior leadership in Pakistan’s tribal region…[and] served as a diplomatic and communications conduit between al Qaida and third parties in the Middle East.” The United Nations designated al-Subaiy in October 2008 as a “Qatar-based terrorist financier and facilitator who has provided financial support to, and acted on behalf of, the senior leadership of Al-Qaida….” Al-Subaiy reportedly continues to freely finance and fundraise for terrorist extremist organizations while resident in Qatar. According to a Telegraph report from October 2014, al-Subaiy is “once again raising money for Islamist terrorists after being freed by the Qatari authorities.” (Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, United Nations, Telegraph)
The leaders of Iraq and Egypt have also accused Qatar of links to terrorism. In March 2014, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused Qatar and Saudi Arabia of supporting ISIS insurgents fighting in western Iraq. Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani called the Iraqi claims “inappropriate” and chastised Iraq for failing “to preserve national unity” while accusing “other Arab countries of supporting terrorism.” (Sources: Reuters, Reuters)
In February 2015, Egypt launched military strikes against neighboring Libya in response to the kidnapping and beheading of 21 Egyptian citizens by Libyan militants. Qatar condemned the Egyptian action. Egypt’s representative in the Arab League, Tareq Adel, said Qatar’s condemnation showed that it “supports terrorism.” Qatar recalled its ambassador from Egypt in response. (Source: Reuters)
Muslim Brotherhood
The official Qatari chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood disbanded in 1999, but Qatar has reportedly continued to support the Brotherhood through financial- and media-based pathways, as well as through public diplomacy. Other governments in the region, such as Egypt, have accused Qatari-owned satellite network Al Jazeera of biases toward the Brotherhood. Qatar is also home to prominent Brotherhood leaders such as the group’s spiritual leader, Yusuf al-Qaradawi. (Sources: Christian Science Monitor, Asharq al-Awsat, Gulf News, BBC News)
Qatar has refused to join its regional neighbors that have labeled the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
Qatar has refused to join its regional neighbors that have labeled the Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Egypt designated the Brotherhood in 2013, while Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain labeled the Brotherhood a terrorist group in 2014. Qatar is a member of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which signed an agreement in November 2013 to refuse support to “anyone threatening the security and stability” of the GCC. Fellow GCC members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar in March 2014 in protest of what they called the country’s violation of that agreement and “interference” in regional affairs, citing continued Qatari support for the Brotherhood. That November, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates announced intentions to return their ambassadors after Qatar purportedly agreed to finally expel several Brotherhood leaders from the country. Qatar had reportedly agreed to the expulsions in November 2013, and the country’s failure to follow through with the expulsions helped trigger the diplomatic row, according to the Guardian. (Sources: Guardian, BBC News, Reuters, Reuters, Guardian, Wall Street Journal)
In mid-September 2014, seven top Brotherhood members claimed that they had been “asked to leave Qatar” as the country came under pressure from neighbors to cut off support for the Brotherhood. The expulsions were reportedly meant to fulfill Qatar’s November 2013 pledge and repair the government’s regional relationships. An unnamed Qatari diplomat told the New York Times that Qatar had not forced the Brotherhood members out and that they were welcome to return. In a statement on the Brotherhood’s website, senior Brotherhood leader Amr Darrag says that members of the Brotherhood were asked to leave Qatar and would do so to “avoid causing any embarrassment for the state of Qatar.” (Sources: Guardian, New York Times)
In February 2015, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah denied Qatari support for the Muslim Brotherhood. He reportedly said that Qatar continues to host families of Brotherhood members who recently left the country after “feeling pressured by some Arab brothers.” Their families remain “our guests,” he said. (Source: Al-Monitor)
During the Brotherhood’s year in power in Egypt, Qatar loaned President Mohammed Morsi’s government approximately $7.5 billion. Qatar also reportedly aided Morsi’s regime with grants and “energy supplies,” according to Reuters. During Morsi’s presidency, funds as high as $850,000 were reportedly secretly transferred to the Brotherhood from former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani. A document dated March 28, 2013, details the allocation of funds to a “long list” of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Egyptian courts have also charged Morsi and his aides with leaking state secrets to Qatar. Qatar condemned Egypt’s decision to label the Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2014. (Sources: Reuters, Reuters, Fox News, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters)
Egypt has accused the Qatari government-supported Al Jazeera news outlet of being a mouthpiece for the Brotherhood. The Egyptian government has arrested several Al Jazeera reporters on charges of supporting the Brotherhood. Iraq banned the channel in April 2016. (Sources: Deutsche Welle, Deutsche Welle, Guardian, Washington Post)
Al-Qaeda
U.S. officials have tied members of Qatar’s royal family to al-Qaeda core as well as to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). According to U.S. officials, Qatar’s former interior minister and royal family member Abdullah bin Khalid al-Thani tipped off the 9/11 attacks mastermind, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, before he could be captured by the United States. An unnamed former CIA official told U.S. media that members of the Qatari royal family have provided safe haven for other al-Qaeda members as well. In 2010, a branch of the Qatari government made a donation to help build a $1.2 million mosque in Yemen for Sheikh Abdel Wahab al-Humayqani. The U.S. government has since designated al-Humayqani as a fundraiser for AQAP. (Sources: ABC News, New York Times, New Yorker, 9/11 Commission Report, p. 73)
A week before a March 2005 suicide bombing in a Doha suburb killed one and wounded a dozen, a top al-Qaeda operative in Saudi Arabia issued a call for attacks in Qatar and elsewhere in the Middle East. The timing of the bombing led investigators to believe al-Qaeda played a role in the terrorist act, though another group later claimed responsibility. (Source: Telegraph)
Hamas
In 2014, Time called Qatar one of Hamas’s main allies. In 2012, then-Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani became the first head of state to visit the Gaza Strip after Hamas violently took control of the coastal enclave from the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 2007. In a 2014 interview with CNN, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said Qatar supports “all Palestinian people. We believe Hamas is a very important part of the Palestinian people.” Al-Thani also said that Hamas leaders “believe in peace and they want peace. But it's for the other party to believe in peace as well and to be more realistic.” (Sources: Time, BBC News, Huffington Post, CNN)
In 2014, Time called Qatar one of Hamas’s main allies
Qatar has also hosted Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal since the Hamas leadership abandoned its base in Syria in 2012. Since then, various media reports have surfaced that Qatar intended to expel Meshaal, but the Hamas leader continues to freely move around the country. For example, Meshaal called a press conference at Doha’s Four Seasons Hotel in September 2015. In May 2017, the Sheraton hotel in Doha hosted a Hamas press conference during which the group revealed a new guiding political document. After Ismail Haniyeh replaced Meshaal as head of Hamas’s political bureau in May 2017, Hamas announced that Haniyeh would divide his time between Gaza and Qatar. (Sources: BBC News, Al-Monitor, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Washington Free Beacon, Guardian)
Qatar has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Gaza. For example, the government pledged $400 million to reconstruction efforts in Gaza in 2012. Israeli leaders such as former President Shimon Peres have accused Qatar of funding Hamas terrorism. Qatar has continued to offer financial support despite condemnation by the U.S. government. After Hamas and rival faction Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement in April 2014, the PA refused to pay the salaries of Hamas civil servants in Gaza. In response, Qatar attempted to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas to pay the salaries of 44,000 civil servants. The United States reportedly blocked the transfers. In July 2016, Israel and the PA approved a Qatari plan to pay $31,000,000 for the July salaries of Hamas’s public-sector employees in Gaza. At the end of the month, Hamas’s then-deputy leader Ismail Haniyeh reportedly called for using the money to pay Hamas’s “military personnel” as well as civil servants. (Sources: Agence France-Presse, Times of Israel, Times of Israel, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel)
In June 2017, Qatar reportedly expelled several Hamas officials, including Saleh al-Arouri, allegedly the founder of the West Bank branch of Hamas’s military wing. The expulsions reportedly coincided with several Arab countries breaking diplomatic ties with Qatar. (Source: Times of Israel)
ISIS
Qatar is reportedly on alert for an ISIS attack following attacks on Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia in 2015. Policy analyst Andrew Hammond of the European Council on Foreign Relations dismissed the risk to the country, though “there is definitely reason for a country like Qatar to be on guard.” Hammond told Qatar’s state-sponsored Doha News in December 2015 that Qatar is rarely mentioned in ISIS’s lists of targets. According to Hammond, the country is not a primary ISIS target because Qatar “has kept a low profile” in the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS. (Source: Doha News)
In July 2014, ISIS reportedly threatened to attack Qatar if international soccer organization FIFA did not relocate the 2022 World Cup, scheduled to take place in the country. In a message to then-FIFA president Joseph Sepp Blatter reportedly posted on an online ISIS forum, ISIS promised that by 2022 Qatar would be part of its caliphate headed by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, “who doesn't allow corruption and diversion from Islam in the land of the Muslims.” That November, al-Baghdadi claimed the group’s caliphate had spread to Qatar, among other Arab countries. (Sources: International Business Times, MSNBC)
Taliban
Taliban officials have had an increasing presence in Qatar since approximately 2010. High-level Taliban officials and their families have reportedly moved to the country. Afghan diplomats in Doha have reported running into Taliban members on the street. For example, Mullah Abdual Salam Zaif, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner and Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, reportedly moved from Afghanistan to Qatar in 2011. Sometime after 2010, the Taliban also reportedly maintained a diplomatic office in Doha until 2014. It was the only such office in the world. (Sources: BBC News, Daily Mail, New York Times)
Foreign Fighters
The Qatari government is “concerned” that foreign fighters could use Doha’s international airport as a hub to and from Syria, according to the U.S. State Department. Qatar has not been a major source of foreign fighters abroad. As of December 2015, the Soufan Group estimated that fewer than a dozen Qataris had joined the fighting in Syria and Iraq. According to the Institute for Economics & Peace’s 2015 Terrorism Index, only 15 Qatari nationals had joined the fighting in Syria and Iraq. (Sources: U.S. Department of State, Soufan Group, Institute for Economics and Peace, Jamestown Foundation)
Individual Qataris have been tied to terrorist plots abroad. For example, a Saudi court sentenced a Qatari man to 30 years in prison in 2014 for heading a group of 13 alleged terrorists, including 11 Saudis and one Afghan. According to the court, the group used Saudi territory “to form a terrorist cell seeking to carry out a terrorist operation in the state of Qatar against American forces….” The court ordered the Qatari to be deported back to Qatar after his prison sentence. (Source: Reuters)