Int’l human rights memo says Qatar helps ISIS penetrate Africa

The Hague-based International Fact-Finding Team on Qatar’s Violations has published a shocking human rights memo, the first of which was published in November 2018 and then updated and released in the summer of 2019. It contained a high-profile text on incitement and hatred speech adopted by the Qatari regime and its media outlets. It also monitored Doha’s support for the transfer of ISIS members from the Levant to Africa.

The memo included five chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter gave a general background on the constitutional system of Qatar. The second chapter dealt with the international legal standards to be followed by the world’s countries to maintain international peace and security, while the third discussed Doha’s support of terrorism and the prevalence of hate speech and discrimination there.

Qatar’s arsenal of national legislation and policies restricting press freedoms, as well as its support of incitement and hate speech, were tackled in the fourth chapter, while the fifth presented several key topics surrounding Qatar’s incitement to hatred and racism.

Documented ISIS support

In the third chapter, the human rights memo documented the Qatari government’s financial and military support for the transfer of ISIS militants from Syria and Iraq to Libya and then to Africa.

The report monitored the relationship between Qatari institutions and the Al-Shabaab terrorist movement in Somalia, which is a branch of al-Qaeda in East Africa, as well as the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria since the era of its founder Mohamed Yusuf.

The memo considered that this refers to Qatar’s triangle to support terrorism in Africa from Libya in the north to Somalia in the east and Nigeria in the west.

The International Fact-Finding Team on Qatar’s Violations is an international research institution that works academically to document and prosecute the Qatari government’s violations of international peace and security.

Previous evidence of Qatar’s support for terrorism

On July 22, the New York Times published an audio recording of a call between Hassan bin Hamza bin Hashim, Qatar’s ambassador to Somalia, and businessman Khalifa Kayed al-Muhannadi, a friend of Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in which the latter said militants has carried out bombings in the Somali port of Bosaso to promote Qatar’s interests.

Muhannadi said in the call, which took place about a week after the bombing on May 18, that he knew who was behind the bombings and killings, according to the paper.

Not denying the phone call, Muhannadi said he and the Qatari ambassador spoke together as citizens rather than as officials. According to the New York Times, he did not express any dissatisfaction with the implementation of those bombings for the benefit of his country and he showed no resentment for the Qatari supervision.

Earlier US security reports confirmed that Qatar is involved in financing Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

Terrorist network to recruit young people

Earlier, the website The Crystal Eyes, which is specialized in monitoring and combating terrorism around the world, published a report confirming that Qatar has strong influence in some countries in Africa, especially Somalia and Djibouti.

The report pointed out that because of this influence, Qatar was able during the past two years to establish a terrorist network specialized in recruiting Somali and Djiboutian youth to be trained to carry out terrorist operations in various African countries. It stressed that Doha entered Somalia over the past three years, taking advantage of the situation of poverty and deteriorating security to attract a large number of youth to terrorist organizations.

On June 14, 2019, the website Africa Intelligence published an report saying that Qatar was pursuing a more offensive policy of intervening in Africa, detailing military equipment provided by Doha to the Sahel countries.

According to the report, Abdul Hadi Mani Al-Hajri, son-in-law and adviser of Tamim Al Thani and owner of Stark Motors, which converted tankers into armored vehicles, with about 24 assembled, and Qatar gave them to Burkina Faso on May 8. In addition, 24 similar vehicles were awarded to Mali in December 2018 and another 68 to Somalia in January 2019.

Warning of a Qatari incursion into Africa

On May 3, the French Financial Journal warned of Qatar’s incursion into West African countries, saying that since several Arab and African countries announced their boycott of Qatar in June 2017, they have turned to West Africa, which is known for the spread of terrorist organizations, in order to destabilize that region.

The magazine pointed out that Qatar’s emir toured West African countries after six months of the boycott. The tour included Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea and Mali.

Training of Somali intelligence agents

In mid-August, the Somali Affairs website said that the Qatari government has started a training program for the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency, headed by Fahad Yassin, who is known for his good relationship with Doha since he was a correspondent for Al-Jazeera.

The website added that the training program began on August 1 and includes 14 officers from various security services who were personally chosen by Yassin.

The website quoted an officer involved in the training, who declined to be named, as saying that the program is suspicious, adding, “Every day Qatari officials come and take with them the same officers who return only at night, but the rest of us are subjected to a simple and general training for two hours under Western officers.”

Interference in Libyan affairs

As for Libya, Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Major General Ahmed al-Mesmari said on April 16 that there is blatant interference from Qatar in his country’s internal affairs, stressing that Doha must end this matter, noting that Qatari officers trained the terrorists in Benghazi.

Mesmari pointed out that all the battles the LNA fought were with terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS cells.

In a statement earlier to Sputnik, Turkish writer and political analyst Faek Bolt said that the Qatari-Turkish relations with the Brotherhood in Libya confirm their support for groups in Tripoli.

Bolt added that the countries neighboring Libya are also disturbed by the Qatari-Turkish interventions in Libya, and it is known to all that Qatar is providing funds to groups in Libya.

Supporting Boko Haram

Following Chad’s decision to close the Qatari embassy in August 2017, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Hussein Taha said his country had made the decision because of “actions by Doha against stability in the country.”

He said in a statement to Sky News that Qatar harbors groups hostile to Chad and people with links to terrorist groups in Libya, adding, “Doha has hidden and non-hidden relations with groups in Libya carrying out hostilities in Chad.”

The foreign minister stressed that Qatar’s standing with militant groups in Libya is destabilizing the region, stressing that there is “assistance from Libya that comes to groups in Chad and Boko Haram (in Nigeria) and in the African Sahel.”

Reasons for Qatar’s presence in Africa

Africa affairs researcher Mohamed Ezzedine said that Qatar began the incursion in the Horn of Africa after the boycott by Arab countries on June 5, 2017, hiding behind the curtain of charity and human rights organizations that brought them closer to citizens.

Ezzedine said that Doha had imagined that supporting African countries would be a thorn in the throat of the Arab countries that boycotted it, especially African countries supported by terrorist groups, such as Somalia and Nigeria.

He added that Qatar found a safe haven in African countries, especially as the region is far from the eyes of security and the people of those areas suffer from a state of extreme poverty.