Qatar seeks to influence US Congress

Nahla Abdel Moneim

Qatar is applying a unique strategy for supporting terrorist groups as it is seeking to boost its influence in the West. To this end, Doha is trying to bolster ties with US policymakers.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has exposed that Qatar’s Washington embassy paid for 6 congressional Democrats to visit Doha last December, US Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif., Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich., noted the payment in financial disclosure forms.

Speakers at the Doha Forum included President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, and current Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak; Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif; and Mutlaq al-Qahtani, who told the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) last year that Hamas was not a terrorist organization. Al-Qahtani serves as Qatar’s counterterrorism envoy.

Carson and Himes sit on the House Intelligence Committee. Bera serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Norcross is on to the House Armed Services Committee.

At the forum, the officials met with Qatar’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. Qatar hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, which is home to the forward headquarters of US Central Command and the headquarters of the US Air Force Central Command.

Qatar is one of the biggest funders of the Muslim Brotherhood and is home to radical Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who has been a major force in the movement for decades. Qatari money has funded numerous terrorist groups including Hamas and al-Qaeda.

This is but one example of Qatar’s effort to buy power and influence in Washington. It spent nearly $5 million in 2017 on three Washington lobby firms seeking to improve its image. Qatari entities, including Barzan Holdings, Qatar Tourism Authority, Education Above All Foundation and Qatari businessman Hassan bin Ali spent $13 million overall for all of 2017 on behalf of the emirate, according to the watchdog site Open Secrets. They spent $9.3 million in 2018.

Pro-Qatari lobbying has been bipartisan. The Tablet reported in December that Nick Muzin, a former senior staffer for Republican Sens. Tim Scott and Ted Cruz became a lobbyist for Qatar.

Qatar also funds programs at the Brookings Institution and at US colleges and universities, including Georgetown and Northwestern. Those schools have campuses in Doha and receive funding from the Qatar Foundation, which is controlled by the emirate’s royal family.