AL QAEDA-LINKED MILITANTS GREW IN POWER, THANKS TO QATARIS’ RANSOM

▶ Experts say Hayat Tahrir Al Sham has strengthened since Doha handed over $275m for return of hostages

Qatari hostage payments bankrolled what has become the most powerful extremist faction in Syria, one that has kidnapped an American journalist, wealthy Gulf royals, UN peacekeepers and even a group of nuns.

In at least one of those cases – the abduction of nine Qatari royals and 16 nationals in southern Iraq – Doha paid hundreds of millions to Al Qaeda-linked Jabhat Al Nusra, which now leads a militia alliance called Hayat Tahrir Al Sham.

Exchanges leaked in the US press on Saturday showed how Qatar sent at least $275 million (Dh1.01bn) to various parties across sectarian lines in return for its nationals.

Qatar’s willingness to hand millions to extremists could not only spread chaos across the region but also the West. Doha appears to care little about that fact, regional observers say.

“They have zero risk of blowback internally. They do not get suicide operations in Qatar,”said Mohammed Alyahya, senior fellow at the Gulf Research Centre told The National. “There is no Al Qaeda contingent in Qatar. There is total security.

“They are treating the region as some sort of playground. It is this adventurism that is really killing people.”

Hayat Tahrir has boosted its ranks and presence in northwest Syria as the seven-year civil war progressed, becoming the most dangerous militant group in Syria and bankrolled at least indirectly by Doha.

The group’s coffers, inflated by the Qatari millions and those of some western governments, has allowed it to spend on its terrorist infrastructure, such as propaganda and consolidating its military positions in Idlib.

“One of the key resources for any violent extremist group is cash,” said Jason Burke, an expert on extremism and author of books on the group. “These groups need a lot of money and the more money they have, the more capable they are.”

It is unknown how many of Doha’s millions have entered the hands of its fighters and its leader, Abu Muhammad Al Jolani, who has appeared several times on Qatari state broadcaster Al Jazeera.

But the US-proscribed terrorist organisation has now become Syria’s most active militant group, entrenching itself across Idlib and beating back western-supported rebel groups.

It now has its own religious police force and is battling the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad on several fronts in the country’s north-west.

Al Jolani has pledged to spread its hardline interpretations of Sharia across Syria.

That it has yet to direct attacks outside of Syria belies the danger this group and its extremist ideology poses, analysts say.

“Al Qaeda have benefited significantly from the focus of the West on ISIS and the focus of the Russians and the Assad regime on other groups,” Burke said.

“That has allowed them a breathing space that they almost certainly would not have had otherwise. They are a massive potential threat.

“You’ve got a lot of people who are very experienced, who have shown themselves committed to an extremist agenda and who have shown themselves ready to use violence.”

It is not only security officials from the West and the Gulf who fear the group, but also residents living under its rule. Growing local resistance to the group’s domination of Idlib is evident in increasingly frequent protests against Al Jolani.

Protesters chant slogans personally targeting Al Jolani in scenes reminiscent of the earliest protests against Al Assad.

“One of the common phrases going around at the moment is, ‘Assad is ruining the hospitals from the air, Al Jolani is ruining them from the ground’,” a western intelligence source said. “They are starting to be seen as two sides of the same coin.

“The demonstrations are increasing in confidence and size. If you see the videos coming out of Idlib at the moment, it’s a real tinder box.”

Assassinations by unknown parties in recent weeks have also rocked the group.

“It’s not just one entity doing it, there are a lot of groups that have an interest in doing this,” the intelligence source said. “One is definitely Turkish intelligence. We know that for a fact in terms of their foreign policy of containing HTS.”

Hayat Tahrir has not fully recovered from the resignation of cleric Abdullah Al Muhaysini in September last year, which security officials say weakened the group’s authority among locals and rebels in Idlib.

Mr Al Muhaysini’s unwillingness to fully endorse Hayat Tahrir had irked some senior figures within the group.

This week he survived an attempt on his life.

There is no Al Qaeda in Qatar. They’re treating the region as some sort of playground MOHAMMED ALYAHYA Gulf Research Centre