A German official has openly accused the government of Qatar with financing the Islamic State terror group.
Germany’s development aid minister, Gerd Mueller, said Wednesday from Berlin: “A story like this always has a history. Who is financing these troops? Hint: Qatar.”
Another German official said this week that the his country must “debate” over who has been arming the Islamic State, without mentioning any specific actors. Berlin’s government is also currently debating whether or not to finance and possibly arm Kurdish forces in Iraq that are fighting the Islamic State jihadis. Since World War II, Germany has been extremely hesitant when it comes to getting involved in foreign conflicts.
Separately, A Palestinian Authority official said in an interview with Al-Hayat that Qatar threatened Hamas Chairman Khaled Mashaal status in their country if he dared to agree to peace terms with Israel. According to the official, Mashaal was threatened with exiled from Doha if he agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Qatar has also been accused of financing Muslim Brotherhood terror group Hamas, the jihadi outfit that rules the Gaza Strip. In July, former Israeli President Shimon Peres said Qatar was fast becoming “the world’s largest funder of terror.”
In recent months, five Taliban commanders that were freed from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for American soldier Bowe Bergdahl were welcomed with open arms in the Gulf Emirate, inviting controversy and debate over the United States’ ties with Doha.
In July, the United States signed a massive $11 billion dollar arms deal with the government of Qatar, sending Apache helicopters, Patriot missile systems, and Javelin portable launchers to the Muslim Brotherhood-friendly regime.
Qatar controls Al Jazeera Media Network, which now has a 24-hour english language channel in the United States, called Al Jazeera America. The Doha-based network has been accused of rabid anti-Semitism and extreme bias in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood. In July of 2013, 22 members of Al Jazeera’s staff in Egypt resigned, accusing the network of forcing its employees to conform to their pro-Muslim Brotherhood biases.