Financing and arming, Qatar’s dangerous support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Houthis in Yemen

Islam Mohammed

Despite the previous Qatari participation in Operation Decisive Storm launched by the Arab Alliance led by Saudi Arabia in March 2015, it stands today with the opposition. Qatar promotes Houthis through its media platforms – most famous of which is Aljazeera, as well as the Brotherhood Chanel Balqis in Yemen. The Qatari support has not only been limited to media, but even more dangerous, it provided logistical support for supplies, assistance and funding, as well as arming Houthi militias from the Qatari treasury, according to local security reports in Yemen.

The role of Al-Islah Party, the Brotherhood’s arm in Yemen, has shifted from fighting the Houthis to collaborating with them after that change in Qatar’s position, as it provides them with political support and funding, according to many international reports.

The Arab boycott of Qatar last year and removing it from the Arab alliance led to the discovery of Doha’s relations with the Iranian-backed militias after they remained out of the limelight for a long time. At that time, Al-Houthi Group announced their stand with Doha. Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the so-called Revolutionary Committee, showed that his group is willing to cooperate with the Qataris, describing them as «loyal».

Leader of the General People’s Congress and the head of the Yemeni media front, Ahmed Al-Makash, pointed out that Doha has recently increased its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and the Houthi terrorist organizations. He revealed the arrival of aid ships sent by Doha to the militias. He added that the largest financier of Houthis is Qatar, even larger than what Tehran itself offers to the Houthis.

The leader of the Popular Congress told Almarjee, that he accuses Doha for paying generous funds to international organizations; so as to fake reports on the situation in Yemen. He pointed out that by doing this, the  Qatari system put himself on the list of Shiite supporters in the Arab region and working for an Iranian agenda.

He added that the Qatari support also includes military equipment. There are tons of aid and weapons and millions of dollars that have already reached the group and the militias. This support has been going on for years, but it became now more shameless.

He pointed out that the Houthis, after the death of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in December, allied with the Muslim Brotherhood members who are supported by Qatar. On the other side, the Brotherhood welcomed this partnership after having lost the confidence of Saudi Arabia, so they fell into the arms of Iran and the Houthis.

But the Qatari support for the Iranian-backed Houthi militias is not new. It dates back to the last decade, when the Qatari intervention was the rescuer for the Houthis, as their situation became more and more strained, during the period of the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Qatar mediated between the two parties at the beginning  to stop the progress of the Yemeni army, in return for the brother of the founder of the Houthi movement Yahya and his father Badr al-Din al-Houthi and his uncle Abdul Karim resides temporarily in Doha. Qatar also offered to pay aid and reconstruction of war-ravaged areas. This tempt the Yemeni government to accept Qatar’s arrangements.

Doha has once again pressed the Sana’a government to conclude another deal to stop the fourth war with a new agreement; the Houthis have rejected it, although the government reluctantly accepted him. Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Emir of Qatar, visited Sana’a and provided $500 million in aid to the country and was able to persuade Saleh to sit down and renegotiate with the Iranian-backed militias.

As a result of Qatar’s intervention, the military capabilities of the militias grew so that they were able to threaten Saudi Arabia with the Houthi rebels – and even to storm the border and kill the Saudi soldiers stationed there during the sixth war that broke out in 2009.

After the boycott with the four Arab countries (Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain) last year, Qatar resumed its old role in supporting the militias, after the development of its relations with Iran.

After ending Doha’s membership in the Arab Alliance, Al-Jazeera followed the Al-Masira channel which is belong to Houthis, and it provided media support to the militias, and replaced – in their programs and interviews – the leaders of the Arab Alliance with militia elements who appear almost daily on their screens.