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More on Qatar paying off al-Qaeda through Learned Elders of Islam
The government of Qatar is paying millions of dollars a year to Al-Qaeda in return for an undertaking to spare it from further attacks, official sources are quoted as saying by the latest edition of The Sunday Times.The money, paid to spiritual leaders sympathetic to Al-Qaeda, is believed to be helping to fund its activities in Iraq. The sources said a deal between Qatar and Al-Qaeda was first made before the 2003 invasion of Iraq amid fears that the tiny oil state could become a target. A senior Qatari government source said that the agreement was renewed in March after an Egyptian suicide bomber attacked a theatr in Doha, killing a British citizen. "We're not sure that the attack was carried out by Al-Qaeda, but we ratified our agreement just to be on the safe side," said a Qatari official. "We are a soft target and prefer to pay to secure our national and economical interests. We are not the only ones doing so." Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-05-02 |
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