What does Qatari telecommunications company Ooredoo have to do with Ennahdha?

The defense of the martyrs Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi accused the Qatari communication company Ooredoo, which works in Tunisia in cooperation with Ennahdha and its leader Rached Ghannouchi, of concealment of funds and money laundering.

Defense member Ridha Radawi mentioned the file of the General Manager of the Ooredoo Telecommunications Company in Tunisia, Mansour Rashid Al-Khattar, who, since his appointment in 2019, had contacted Rached Ghannouchi and his son, Mouad, and paid them large amounts of money, as he said, indicating that an investigation was authorized for the purpose. He also indicated that Mansour Rashid Al-Khattar was placed under judicial authorization under surveillance, which revealed his relationship with many judges on espionage charges, including Bashir Al-Akrami, Al-Tayeb Rashed and others.

Radawi said that the eavesdropping, carried out at a judicial request, revealed a communication between Al-Khattar, the former State Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Tunis, Bashir Al-Akrami, and several judges. This was confirmed by documents that he said reached the presidency of the republic and the military judiciary, and that the operation was led by Tunisian military intelligence.

He stressed that the eavesdropping also revealed that Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Ennahdha Movement, met twice a month with the Director General of Ooredoo, and that these meetings were held in a hotel in the northern suburb of Tunis “Gammarth”, and that they were held bilaterally or in the presence of Ghannouchi’s son, Mouad.

During the meetings, Mansour al-Khattar was accompanied by a team of technicians who were tasked with inspecting the site, whether it contained surveillance or espionage equipment. Al-Akermi successfully halted the eavesdropping process, he said.

Mansour Rashid Al-Khattar was appointed Chief Executive of Ooredoo Tunis, replacing former Executive President Youssef Al-Masri, effective November 5, 2019.

Mansour Al-Khattar has extensive experience with Ooredoo. He has worked with the company since 2009 and, prior to his appointment as the CEO of Ooredoo Tunisia, served as the CEO of Ooredoo Group’s strategy and has a 20-year experience in engineering and business, 11 of which he spent working for Qatar Petroleum and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Asiacell Iraq (one of the companies of Ooredoo Group).