Qatari charities scrap humanitarian work to finance terrorists

Qatar has been instrumental in financing and backing terrorism over the past years. It backed militias and offered them backing for them to destabilize the Arab states where they are located, especially the four states now known as the “Anti-Terrorism Quartet”.

The authorities in Doha also gave Qatari passports to terrorists to help them travel freely to and from Arab states. This was why Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain stopped allowing those carrying Qatari passports to enter them. Egypt too imposed restrictions on the entry of those carrying Qatari passports.

Saudi media revealed that Qatar used its own charities following the 2006 war in Lebanon to deliver millions of dollars to the Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah. The money entered Lebanon under the pretext of reconstructing the then-war ravaged country.

The UAE news channel, Sky News, quoted Saudi media as reporting that huge containers carrying Qatari money had entered Lebanon to finance the operations of Hezbollah, especially its manufacture of rockets in the Beqaa Valley.

The same media revealed that former Qatari foreign minister, Hamad bin Jassim, had met Hezbollah officials in the southern suburb of Lebanese capital, Beirut. There were several meetings, the Saudi media said, in this regard in the presence of Iranian officials.

Cooperation between Qatar, on one hand, and Hezbollah and Iran, on the other, manifested itself strongly in the ability of Qatari authorities to secure the release of Qatari nationals who were kidnapped in Iraq. It also manifested itself in their ability to secure the release of Lebanese hostages in Syria. Qatar was also party to sectarian evacuation deals happening in Syria, ones that served Iranian interests at the end of the day.

The UAE news channel also quoted Lebanese sources as saying that Qatar’s latest decision to absolve Lebanese nationals of the entry visa requirement aimed to give the chance to Lebanese and Iranian elements carrying Lebanese passports to enter Qatar.

Qatar Charity, which is headed by Sheikh Hamad bin Nasser al-Thani, a member of the terrorist al-Qaeda organization, was founded in 1992 with the ostensible aim of raising funds from Arab countries to fight poverty and offer support to disaster-stricken individuals. The charity uses, however, the funds it raises in supporting militant organizations in the region.

The charity enters the funds to targeted countries under claims that they would be used in the development of these countries. Notorious scholar, sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, has always offered the necessary theological backing for Qatar to carry out activities in this regard.

Qaradawi also helped the charity obtain an observer status at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. He did this with the aim of helping the charity take root and grow in the largest number of Arab and Middle Eastern states possible.

The charity operates in more than 60 states in Europe, Asia and Africa. It has 16 headquarters.

Raf for Humanitarian Services, which is headed by Mohamed bin Eid al-Thani, was founded in 1995 with the aim of spreading volunteerism in society. The organization has turned, however, into a major one for sowing the seeds of sedition and war in countries. It partners with Qatar Charity.

Raf for Humanitarian Services plays a suspicious role in a number of Arab states, especially those suffering internal divisions, such as Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya. The organization raises funds that it uses in financing terrorist activities.

The same organization financed al-Nusra Front and gave millions of dollars to Tariq al-Harzi to bring in recruits to the front. The organization also offers funds to the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen and Libya.

The organization was made to operate inside Qatar only, but soon it extended its operations to other countries. In effect, it backed militant organizations in these countries, including in Iraq and Syria.

Raf for Humanitarian Services has close links with the Turkish Red Crescent, which is active in Syria, and delivers funds to it under the pretext of helping the needy and the homeless. The organization has spent $130 million so far in backing militant groups in Syria, including al-Nusra Front.