Responding to accusations from various officials and media outlets that Qatar funds terrorism, the country’s foreign minister said that his nation has not supported extremists in any way, and is working like many others to help end ongoing violence in the region.
In his first opinion piece for the Huffington Post France edition, Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah said “there is no single answer” to ending sectarian violence in Iraq and Syria, but added that it was imperative to cut funds to extremist groups in the region.
He continued, as translated into English:
“In this context, and in response to uninformed comments, I would like to reiterate the position of Qatar with the greatest clarity.
Qatar does not endorse any extremist group in any way. We are shocked by their opinions, their violent methods and ambitions. The vision for the region of extremist groups is not ours and we will never support them in any way whatsoever.”
Criticism
Al Attiyah’s remarks come days after German officials said they “regretted” accusing the Gulf state of supporting extremists, and shortly after Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations called Qatar “a Club Med for terrorists” due to its ties with Palestinian faction Hamas.
Al Attiyah made no reference in his piece to either criticism, but did say:
“I know some people misunderstand our foreign policy or have only a one-sided view of the conflict. I guess it is this anger that led them to make false and frivolous accusations in order to promote their own agendas and undermine our foreign policy.
Qatar does not support the Islamic state, and to suggest otherwise obscures our efforts to promote peace, security and stability in a region that is subject to an endless cycle of conflict and tragedy. It is this cycle that Qatar wants to see end.”
Thoughts?
Qatar may not fund extreme terrorist groups directly per see, but did back Islamic groups in Egpyt, Libya, Syria, Gaza and various other places. They were not supporting a secular society with freedom to worship for all in those countries, they were backing one particular religious sect so what did they think would happen when they gave these people money and weapons?
Qatar is indirectly responsible for the success of IS and needs to hold its hand up as when you send money and weapons into a war zone you don’t know who will get hold of it.
Islamic groups in Egypt and other places are either democratically elected (Tunisia, Egypt) or part of the revolutionary movements fighting for freedom against dictatorships. It is morally and humanely unacceptable not to support them, in addition to the fact that it might be illegal under international law. Therefore Qatar did what any normal country has to do, that is supporting populations that are being massacred by governments known to everyone as dictatorial.
Now coming to IS, it is the US that created it and trained it initially, with support from Turkey and Qatar, but then discovered that many of its elements were not that moderate. Now IS is gone beyond control and the US is struggling to contain the monster they created.
Please let’s not forget that nothing happens in the GCC here without the full consent of the USA, especially when it comes to matters of security.
Let’s face it, Qatar supports only Sunni Muslim factions around the world, that is hardly inclusive of all of humanity and it didn’t work out too well for the Shias in Syria or Iraq or even the Copts in Egypt.
I agree the dictatorships across the middle east were pretty dispicable but now we have sectarian violence on a large scale. What we don’t need is more religious dictatorships like Saudi and Iran as then everyone suffers.
If you know of any shia or christian or secular groups opposing bashar with troops on the ground im sure qatar and many others would be more than happy to support them. Unfortunately the only groups fighting bashar with any hope of success are sunni. sadly the shia are not taking responsibility for the actions of bashar. Not physically or by speaking against him, this is partially due to sectarian reasons and partially because they are afraid that with bashar gone no one will protect them from groups like IS who would massacre them in a heart beat
The uprising against Bashar was originally a secular campaign, religion didn’t come into it. They were just fighting for their freedom from a dictator. Then the Islamic groups got involved and welcomed fighters from abroad and Qatar’s money. The original rebels never stood a chance against these fanatics and it changed from being a fight for freedom for all Syrians to religious fighters wanted to create an Islamic state.
well islamic groups got involved after bashar turned violent, mainly because they are the only ones willing to fight. dont confuse original rebels with original protesters
Not sure this is a point in their favour, that they were the first to go down the road of violence…
Not saying it is in their favour, just saying that’s what happened and if you believe bashar can’t be taken down accept through fighting then they are the only ones there who stand a chance. Again not that them winning necessarily means a better syria
Yup, we’re in agreement on that for sure.
The US had nothing to do with funding/training ISIS.
The US trained, funded and supplied “moderate” rebels with weapons for months. Later on, many of those “moderate” rebels joined ISIS and took with them many weapons and cash provided by the US, Turkey and Qatar. One of the reasons why ISIS has been a very tough enemy for the Syrian and recently Iraqi armies is the fact that it has many elements that are well-trained and well-equipped.
So supporting an elected government is considered aiding in the creation of terrorism??!?! In as much as there are references to Christian culture in many of the ‘great’ democracies of the west, we should not demonize elected governments if they have religious tendencies that are not similar to yours.
Egypt, Saudi, Bharain and the UAE consider the Muslim Brotherhood to be a terrorist organisation while Qatar supported them before and after they were elected. Who should I believe?
Neither you should read and form your on opinion as I’m sure your smart enough to do on any conflict. Rarely is one side completely right or completely truthful
You are right and as far as I could see the elections in Egypt were mostly free and fair, however Morsi once elected started introducing sharia through the back door. (not renewing alcohol licences for bars to operate rather than just shutting them down just one example). Egypt contains people of all different faiths and races and the government should be inclusive.
The military takeover of Egypt was illegal and they just set about murdering Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Quite disgusting.
Actually qatar funded groups that had extremist elements that later split and joined IS taking much of the resources with them. A mistake yes, short sighted yes, a willingful funding of sectarian group that wants to destory other religions and is openly against ever monarchy in the gulf No. I would add a mistake that many countries including western have made in iraq and syria
Yes can’t escape the mistakes America has made in the Middle East, they broke Iraq looking for terrorists were there were none and now there is.
we havent been able to escape mistakes in the middle east since WW1
The democratically elected Muslim brotherhood was overthrown by Egyptian military with the secret aid from US and allies. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya.. Wherever the US and allies had meddled , peace has not been restored there after. So if Qatar is responsible, US and her allies are double responsible!!
How did you know they had secret aid from the US? If you know then it doesn’t sound very secret unless you work for Mossad.
Those “racists” theory again?
Here is an interesting article and talks about the ‘moderate’ backing Qatar gives to one rebel group in Syria. However in most of the world they would hardly be described as moderate……. but maybe I’m strange, I consider killing of those of a different religion to you or forcing your version of religion on others is what is called moderate in this part of the world. After all Qatar is not home to the ‘moderate’ Tailban.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/qatar-and-the-reason-us-hostage-peter-theo-curtis-has-been-released-9690048.html
it’s like Afghanistan all over again. but now we have syria,iraq, libya in the mix
those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it-george santayana
It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people, on all sides, that have such a thirst for violence and aggression. Whether in the name of religion, out of greed, for power, real or perceived self-defense, or some other twisted reasoning.
It’s all for greed of power. Only the mask changes – Religion, Self-Defense, Freedom etc.
The uneducated and ill-informed masses will keep getting manipulated by these few. True education and cultivating the ability for masses to reason and think for themselves is the only way to really prevent it. And let’s face it – that “utopian” society is far away from reality.
I think that your reply is 100% correct but, you have to wonder how people who were educated and lived in moderate, tolerant cultures can so quickly descend in to the barbarity we are currently witnessing.
Good question. I was talking about this with a friend a few days ago, and I’m pretty sure they’re psychopaths. Why else would an educated individual living comfortably in Britain or the US fly all the way to Syria to become suicide bombers or behead journalists? I don’t know, for me that’s the only explanation.