Qatar faces lawsuit and US federal investigation for supporting terrorism
Qatar’s corruption is resurfacing as relatives of American journalist Steven Sotloff, who was killed by ISIS years ago, have filed a lawsuit accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. At the same time, a separate federal investigation is also under way regarding a member of the ruling family.
Lawsuit
Last Friday, the Sotloff family said in a lawsuit that prominent Qatari institutions had transferred some $800,000 to an ISIS judge who ordered the killing of Sotloff and another American journalist, James Foley.
“We want to do everything we can to make sure that no other family is suffering from what we have suffered”, the Sotloff family, who was beheaded by the terrorist group ISIS in 2014 and filmed the killing and posted it on videos at the time, said in a press statement.
Lawyers for the Sotloff family said Qatari officials either knew or recklessly ignored the fact that ISIS terrorists they allegedly funded would target Americans with kidnapping, torture, and murder.
Khalid bin Hamad Terrorism Link
In addition to the lawsuit against Qatar, documents and informed sources told the Associated Press that federal prosecutors are investigating possible ties between terrorist groups and Khaled bin Hamad Al Thani, the half-brother of the emir of Qatar.
A grand jury investigation, at the Southern District Court in New York, partly focuses on whether or not Khaled al-Thani provided money and supplies to Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria, the sources said.
US laws do not allow for the prosecution of foreign countries or government officials in US courts, but US counterterrorism law allows victims to seek compensation from entities associated with foreign governments.
Qatar Charity involvement
The Sotloff family says the defendants are the Qatar Charity and Qatar National Bank. The letters of invitation say the two institutions provided $800,000 to Fadel al-Salem, who became a sharia judge in ISIS after he arrived in Syria via Turkey.
According to the newspapers, Al-Salem signed a decree killing Foley and Sotloff. He was heading a convoy that took them from a prison in Raqqa, Syria, to the city where they were killed.
Qatar response
In response, the Qatari embassy told AP that it needs more information before it can comment on the ongoing investigation. Qatar Charity and the Qatar National Bank did not respond to requests for comment.
Qatar has been one of the strongest international supporters of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and has long faced criticism from U.S. officials for allowing or encouraging the funding of extremist groups in Syria, not to mention its direct and indirect support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, according to AP.
Qatar says it condemns terrorism, but officials have acknowledged that its efforts may have helped the wrong people.
“In Syria, everyone made mistakes, including” the United States, Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s former prime minister and foreign minister, said in a 2017 interview, adding that Qatar had never intentionally funded extremist groups in Syria and cut off funding to any group it knew had other agendas.
