The issue of terrorist financing has been at the heart of the Gulf crisis since late June 5th. In the eye of the storm, Qatar has been criticized in recent years for its benevolent policy towards radical Sunni groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. What exactly are these accusations based on? To clarify things, Qatar Observatory offers this analysis, initially published on the orientxxi website, by providing precise answers to this crucial issue in international relations.

Since the series of attacks that hit several Western countries from January 2015, many analysts and politicians have felt obliged to attribute the proliferation of jihadist-inspired terrorism to Qatar. Although regularly placed on the list of suspects, Saudi Arabia has taken over this story to justify the ground and air embargo and the multiple sanctions against his little neighbor.

This article is a translation from the published analysis last week on our website.

For weeks now, several political figures have spread rumors about Qatar’s alleged links to the financing of terrorists groups, and especially the Islamic State. The Observatory of Qatar makes a point to those allegations by answering the following questions :

1°/Does Qatar fund the Islamic State (ISIS group)?

No, Qatar does not fund the Islamic State, and here are the reasons:

First, Qatar is part of the coalition against ISIS group. The country provides logistical support via the US base established in its territory, Al Udeid Air Base, south of Doha. This base is the largest stock of the US military overseas. Unless the emir is schizophrenic, it would be hard to believe that Qatar could fund and fight a group in the same time.

1/ Les frappes de la coalition conduites par les Etats-Unis ont-elles une chance d’éradiquer la présence de l'organisation jihadiste “EI” en Irak et en Syrie ?

Personne n’y croit vraiment. La portée de frappes aériennes sur un “ennemi” implanté notamment dans une ville de plus de deux millions d’habitants est déjà en train de montrer ses limites. Les cibles feraient même, semble-t-il, défaut aux Rafales français. La lutte va se jouer ailleurs. L’entrée en guerre de la Turquie apporte une dimension nouvelle relativement importante. Car, hormis les Turcs, seuls des combattants kurdes irakiens (peu désireux semble-t-il de faire plus que d’assurer la défense de leur territoire et certainement pas de conquérir le “sunnistan” arabe irakien) ou alors des chiites, irakiens ou même iraniens, sont susceptibles de contrer militairement l’EI sur le terrain.