Qatar’s Islamist links make it an unfit host

Doha being mentioned in relation to the Manchester bombing illustrates its stunning double standards

As charm offensives go, the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad’s attempt to portray his country as a suitable venue for hosting the 2022 football World Cup has not got off to the most propitious start.

Within days of meeting Theresa May at Downing Street, Qatar found itself facing more allegations of wrongdoing relating to Fifa’s controversial decision to award Doha the games in the face of stiff opposition from the US and Australia. Far from playing by the strict rules Fifa is supposed to apply to the bidding process, including the stipulation that countries must refrain from undermining rival bids, a whistleblower involved in the Qatari campaign has accused Doha of sabotaging the rival bids of the US and Australia with a well-orchestrated “black ops” programme organised by a leading public relations firm.

The accusations published in The Sunday Times, which the Qataris have denied, are sure to reopen the fierce debate over Fifa’s decision. They may even result in the tournament being given to a more suitable host nation, with England being mentioned as a strong possibility. Nor is Qatar’s discomfiture confined solely to the world of sport.

One of the main objections to the emirate’s suitability to stage the World Cup, which surfaced during the original bidding process, was the Qataris’ well-documented ties to Islamist-inspired terror groups, such as al-qaeda. For years senior members of the Qatari royal family have been funding and supporting such groups as part of a carefully orchestrated campaign to undermine pro-western regimes in the Arab world, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

A popular joke currently doing the rounds in the Middle East is that, given the Qataris’ fondness for funding Islamic terrorism, a key fixture in 2022 could see a team from al-qaeda taking on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). As with their World Cup bid, the Qataris have lavished millions of pounds on public relations firms in their attempts to play down their ties with such groups.

But all the money in Doha will not be able to repair the damage to Qatar’s global standing if allegations continue to emerge of their ties to radical Islamist groups that have been linked to last year’s Manchester bombing, which killed 22 people and seriously injured scores of others.

The revelation that Salman Abedi, the suicide bomber responsible for carrying out the attack, had previously been evacuated from Libya on a Royal Navy warship in 2014 has refocused attention on the ties he and his family may have had with Libyan-based Islamist radicals.

Abedi’s father, Ramadan, who lived for many years in exile in Britain, was formerly a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a terrorist organisation that campaigned for the overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. LIFG, which has been disbanded following Gaddafi’s overthrow in 2011, received funding from Qatar, which supported its radical Islamist agenda. Now another senior member of LIFG, Abdul Hakim Belhaj, who is accused of receiving funding from Qatar, has emerged as a key figure in the Manchester attack following claims that he is blocking British attempts to interview a vital witness.

One of the key lines of inquiry being pursued by the investigation team into the bombing is the contact Abedi may have had with Islamist extremists in Libya prior to the attack. The terrorist is known to have travelled to Libya with his brother Hashem shortly before the bombing. Salman Abedi then returned to Manchester to carry out the attack, while his brother remained in Tripoli, where he was arrested shortly afterwards.

But attempts by Greater Manchester Police, which is heading the investigation, to interview the surviving brother, whom detectives believe has information that is crucial to the case, have been thwarted by Mr Belhaj. He controlled one of the militias now holding Hashemand his name recently appeared on a list of Islamist extremists who are funded by Qatar.

With the Abedi family, and their links to Islamist militants in Libya, now back in the spotlight, attention will inevitably focus on the possible role such groups may have had in preparing Salman Abedi to carry out his deadly mission. And, in view of Doha’s longstanding support for various radical Islamist groups based in Libya, the Qataris could find themselves facing some very awkward questions indeed if evidence does emerge that their support for such groups was in some way linked to the Manchester bombing.

Moreover, the fact that Qatar’s name is even being mentioned in relation to the Manchester bombing illustrates the stunning double standards that underpin the Qatari regime. On one level the Qataris want to portray themselves as worthy hosts of prestigious international sporting events: on another they find themselves constantly having to fend off accusations they are funding Islamist extremists.

It is not a happy predicament, and will only be resolved when Doha ends its support for Islamist-inspired terrorism.