QUARTET SOUNDS WARNING ON DOHA TERROR STANCE

▶ Ambassadors say Qatari prime minister’s attendance at wedding of terror suspect’s son highlights hypocrisy

Ambassadors from the Arab Quartet say the Qatari prime minister’s attendance at the wedding of a designated terror suspect’s son shows that Doha’s behaviour has not changed.

Writing in the Financial Times, the four envoys to London said that calls for the countries to ease tension before a summit hosted by United States President Donald Trump were a reflection that Qatar says one thing to western audiences but then does another.

“Following his meeting at the White House on 11 April, Qatar’s Emir Tamim told the world’s media that Qatar does ‘not tolerate people who fund and support terrorism’,” the ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain wrote.

“Just two days later, the Qatari prime minister attended a wedding hosted by Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi, an internationally designated terror financier who, according to the US Treasury, ‘oversaw the transfer of $2 million [Dh7.3m] a month’ to Al Qaeda in Iraq.

“He is one of several terror fundraisers who have operated from Qatar with impunity.”

The envoys said that Qatar’s propaganda machine had incited attacks from the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have fired Iranian-made missiles into Saudi Arabia.

“Far from seeking to improve relations with its neighbours, Qatar has used its media networks to attack us – most egregiously, broadcasting calls by Houthis for attacks on Saudi Arabia,” the letter said.

“Instead of focusing on public relations campaigns, Qatar should truly change its behaviour and then this dispute will end.” Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani attended the wedding of Abdullah Al Nuaimi.

Sheikh Abdullah is also Minister of Interior and was responsible for placing the groom’s father on the terror list just weeks earlier. Former Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal was also at the event

Dr Anwar Al Gargash, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, took to Twitter on Monday to highlight Qatar’s credibility problems. “The presence of the Qatari Prime Minister in a family wedding of Al Nuaimi’s son, a terrorist who supports Al Qaeda, has undermined the efforts of dozens of public relations firms in Washington,” Mr Gargash said on Twitter.

“It also proves that Doha supports terrorism.”

In the Sunday Telegraph, Qatar claimed for the first time that the attendance was in a “personal” capacity. The statement claimed that Mr Al Nuaimi, who was smiling broadly in images published in Al Raya newspaper, was facing new charges, even though he remains at liberty in Qatar.

“There is no hypocrisy at work here,” the statement said. “The prime minister will continue to support the good work of his employees and will not avoid a family affair because a defendant standing trial may possibly be in attendance.”

But experts in international sanctions law said there was a responsibility on host states to show that action was being taken against proscribed suspects on the UN terror list.

Mr Al Nuaimi was accused by the US Treasury of sending millions of dollars a month to Al Qaeda in Iraq in 2014.

“When it comes to the terror lists there is an expectation on a country of following through,” said Shashank Joshi, a fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute.

“It has to be a diplomatic concern for Qatar when the expectations are that it is getting tougher on terrorism.”

Pressure has mounted for legal action against Qatar in the European courts. Liesbeth Zegveld, a Dutch lawyer, has accused Doha of failing to take action to halt funding for the Syrian Al Nusra Front as she issued a demand for compensation payments to Dutch victims.

“Qatar is therefore liable for the damages suffered by the victims,” Ms Zegveld said.

Qatar denies funding extremist groups. In a letter to Sheikh Tamim, Ms Zegveld claimed that one of the victims was taken hostage by members of Al Nusra near Damascus in December 2012.

The man, whose identity was not released because of safety concerns, was repeatedly tortured, forced to watch the executions of two other hostages and subjected to a mock execution. The militants demanded up to $2m for his release.

He eventually escaped and fled Syria and has since been granted asylum in the Netherlands, Ms Zegveld said.

When it comes to the terror lists there is an expectation on a country of following through SHASHANK JOSHI Fellow, Royal United Services Institute