Why Qatar is getting away with sheltering terror groups

HAMAS’ deceptive and multipronged attack on Israel on October 7 drew global attention to the alleged involvement of Iran and Qatar, which have traditionally provided it political, financial and military support. While the US, Israel’s biggest supporter, talked of Iran’s role, though admitting that it had no evidence of its direct complicity, it remained silent on Qatar’s collusion, giving it a free pass.

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It’s a paradox that Qatar, a small country of 2.69 million people, known to provide a safe haven to terror groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Al-Qaeda, Islamic State (IS), Hamas, Yemeni rebels, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Taliban and others (some quite openly), manages to obfuscate this support while maintaining friendly relations with important countries. At the same time, Qatar is also an active participant in the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the IS. Qatar’s massive oil and natural gas reserves, its view that these terror groups are resisting the ‘oppression’ of their rulers, the flexibility it gives to manoeuvre through the influence of bigger powers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran and the little political cost it pays, motivates Qatar to support these groups.

Qatar refused to withdraw its support to MB when it was designated as a terrorist organisation by Egypt in 2013 and Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain in 2014. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, MB’s spiritual leader, was frequent the guest of honour at celebrations hosted by the Qatari Emir until his death. In December 2013, the US Treasury sanctioned Qatar-based terror financier Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi for ordering the transfer of $6,00,000 to Al-Qaeda. While the US government has sanctioned specific individuals in Qatar for supporting the IS and Al-Qaeda, it has never taken action against Qatar itself.

Similarly, Qatar has supported Hamas by providing regular financial assistance to pay the salaries of its officials, fuel and humanitarian aid with Israel’s knowledge. Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh lives in Qatar. Former Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani was the first Head of State who visited Gaza after Hamas took power in 2012. Since then, Qatar has reportedly provided about $1 billion to Hamas’ rebuilding efforts in Gaza.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE broke diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017 for supporting these terrorist groups. They asked Qatar to close down government-funded media house Al Jazeera, a Turkish military base, sever ties with various terror groups and scale down relations with Iran. Qatar rejected these demands, denied links to terror groups and expanded relations with Iran. The latter responded immediately by opening its airspace and the maritime route and despatching five planeloads of food to Qatar; some food used to come from Saudi Arabia. Since then, the relations between the two countries have been on the upswing. In February 2022, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi paid an official visit to Qatar; the two countries signed 14 bilateral agreements to strengthen the economic, trade and tourism cooperation.

Another major saviour for Qatar has been the US. In the mid-1990s, when the relations between the US and Saudi Arabia got strained, the foresighted Qatari Emir invited the US to open an airbase at a forward location in the Persian Gulf. By doing this, the Emir bought the US loyalty to his continued stay in power against his deceitful family members and vengeful neighbours, who did not like Doha’s independent streak. The Al Udeid airbase is home to about 10,000 US service personnel and is a major operating base for the US Central Command. The Pentagon ran the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from this base. The US has returned the favour by downplaying Qatar’s role in supporting terror groups and highlighting its ‘efforts in fighting terrorist financing’.

Qatar has helped the US in promoting many of its foreign policy initiatives. In August 2021, when the US forces withdrew from Afghanistan and brought thousands of Afghans with them, Qatar was the first destination for many refugees. Doha has served as the main mediator between the US and the Taliban and Hamas in the past. Qatar was the mediator in a recent deal between the US and Iran on the release of five prisoners of each country and unfreezing of the Iranian funds of $6 billion in South Korea. Qatar has 13.1 per cent of the global natural gas reserves amounting to about 24.7 trillion cubic metres and has emerged as an important supplier to Europe after cutting off of supplies from Russia. Qatar hosted the FIFA Men’s World Cup in 2022 in order to improve its global image.

During the visit of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad to Washington on January 31, 2022, President Joe Biden announced the designation of Qatar as a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA). The MNNA status helps Qatar in procuring the US weapons and enhancing its standing among the regional countries.

India has close and friendly relations with Qatar; during 2021-22, the two countries had bilateral trade of $15 billion with India’s exports of $1.83 billion and imports of $13.19 billion. Recently, the arrest of eight former Indian Navy officers on the alleged charges of spying for Israel in induction of Italian stealth submarines has cast a shadow on the bilateral ties. The case, which appears to be the handiwork of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies unhappy with Qatar sourcing security personnel from India in place of Pakistan, is being quietly resolved.

The projection of its strategic location, economic heft, hedging and nimble diplomatic work have enabled Qatar to play an outsized role in external relations; and this has obscured its quiet support to certain terror groups. Its neighbours in the region and even major powers have come to terms with it as they see more benefits in cooperation with Qatar or are simply unable to restrain it.