UAE TV report tells of Qatar plots and bid to recruit militants in GCC states

Qatari “plots” against the UAE and other Gulf states have been revealed in a new documentary released by UAE state television.

It is claimed that Doha attempted to recruit militants from within neighbouring Gulf states in an effort to link these countries with radicals and undermine their anti-terrorism stance on the global stage.

The television report also accuses Qatar of providing moral support to terrorist networks by offering them a safe haven.

It comes at the height of a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have boycotted Qatar over its support for extremist groups and meddling in their affairs.

The foreign ministers of the four countries will meet in Manama today to further discuss the agreement struck at their meeting in Cairo on July 5.

Quoting recorded confessions by Mahmoud Al Jaidah, a Qatari doctor jailed in the UAE for his ties with banned Islamist group Al Islah, the documentary claims Qatar “took advantage” of his conviction to dissolve the secret terrorist organisation in the UAE.

The country is accused of hosting several meetings to support Al Islah and acting as a mediator to facilitate the financing of terrorism, by providing accommodation in its hotels to fugitives and members of the illegal Islamist group.

Confessions revealed in the television report also refer to the use of Qatari “agents” to destroy the GCC structure and systems.

Doha is said to have tried to recruit militants from within GCC countries to carry out acts of terrorism inside the UAE and other Arabian Gulf countries, in what the programme said was an effort to link these nations with terrorism and turn the spotlight away from Qatar.

Testimonies in the documentary also give an insight into the organisational fabric of the Qatari Muslim Brotherhood, revealing the existence of an “executive office” and “Shura council” within its structure.

In his confessions, Al Jaidah highlighted the transformation of Qatar over the past two decades into “the preferred” and “only” mediator of banned extremist organisations. He noted that these actions and meetings resulted in the “blatant financing” of designated terrorist organisations.

The report referred to Qatar’s efforts to embrace extremist organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood to play a larger regional role, while allowing them to infiltrate its state-run facilities and become key decision-makers within Doha.

The account given by Al Jaidah, who was granted amnesty but, on his return to Qatar, attacked the UAE on state television, is further evidence of the country’s close association with the Muslim Brotherhood and the incubation of its militants.

Al Jaidah claimed the Qatari government provided material and moral support to fugitive members of the organisation.

He revealed that contact between Al Islah members began with Khalid Al Shaiba, who was jailed for 10 years for his links to the Muslim Brotherhood and setting up a branch of the organisation in the UAE.

Another Muslim Brotherhood defector, who also appears in the documentary, claimed Qatar has been widely considered the leading financier of the organisation since 1995.

The documentary cited official sources as saying Qatar’s secret files pointed to the presence of hundreds of people such as Al Jaidah in the GCC countries. It said that Qatar recruited and trained these people to destroy the GCC system.

Mahmoud Al Jaidah, a Qatari doctor has been jailed in the UAE for his ties with banned Islamist group Al Islah