Cheque used by Qatar to fund terrorism leaked online

Manama : An image of a cheque allegedly used by the Qatari intelligence to fund terrorist activities in Bahrain has been leaked online. 

The image, which has been doing rounds on the social media, appears to show a cheque used by the Qatari intelligence to pay one of the top Al Wefaq officials in Bahrain. 

“The BD1,000 cheque was paid to former MP Hassan Marzooq of the dissolved Al Wefaq Society on January 23, 2011,” a report by Al Ayam daily said yesterday. 

The ex-MP was arrested in 2015 following his arrival from Iran at the Bahrain International Airport. He is serving a 10-year jail term on charges of financing terrorism.

The report further claims that the cheque was paid by the Qatari intelligence to Marzooq for financing terrorist activities in the Kingdom. 

Marzooq had revealed during interrogations that he raised funds both from inside and outside of Bahrain to finance terrorist groups. He also confessed that the group responsible for the deadly Sitra attack, on July 28, 2015, which killed two policemen and injured six others was also funded by him.

The attack, which resulted in the death of on-duty policemen Naweed Ahmed Nazar and Hamid Rasool Arif, drew worldwide condemnation.

At least eight suspects were arrested, who confessed Marzooq’s pivotal role in financing their activities.

Documents revealing Qatar’s attempts in undermining the security of the Kingdom have been released earlier too.

A former television anchorman with Al Jazeera revealed recently that the Qatari channel was involved in the dramatic incidents that unfolded in Bahrain.

Bassam Al Qadiri told Saudi newspaper Okaz that inciting against Arab rulers was among the priorities of the Qatari channel, stressing that it was involved in the events in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.

An analysis of the reports posted by Al Jazeera online from 2011 until mid-2017 shows there were 985 reports on Bahrain that included 889 reports (90.2 per cent of the total number) supporting sectarian groups and terrorists or highlighting their activities.

Addressing the Arab League in Cairo, Information Minister Ali Al Romaihi said that Bahrain had suffered the most from the hostile and antagonistic onslaughts by Al Jazeera in a blatant breach of all principles and values shared by two neighbours.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt launched an economic and diplomatic blockage on Qatar on June 3, for its role in funding terrorism across the Middle East. 

“We reiterate the importance of Qatar’s compliance with the 13 demands outlined by the four states,” said a joint statement released by foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, who met in the Bahraini capital last month. 

They said we’re open to talks with Qatar on condition it “stops its support and financing of terrorism”.

The United Arab Emirates, in a statement, earlier accused that Qatar has been willfully ignoring the Riyadh Agreements of 2013 and 2014 signed to stop disrupting security in neighbouring countries through its funding of rogue groups. 

The understanding, according to UAE, and published by leading news papers around the globe, also specified ending support for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and rebels in Yemen. Another agreement alludes to Al Jazeera’s incendiary role in Egyptian politics. The details of the deals were kept secret considering its sensitivity.