Qatar Minister - Abdulaziz bin Khalifa al-Attiyah - family ties to terror

First of many

Al-Attiyah’s conviction, in June, brings the funding of terrorism closer to the heart of the Qatari government and will increase the growing pressure on the country to end its role as a centre for the funding of global jihad.


Qatar Minister - Abdulaziz bin Khalifa al-Attiyah - family ties to terror

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/qatar/11203140/Ministers-family-ties-to-terror.html

The cousin of Qatar’s foreign minister has been convicted of funding international terrorism and is believed to be linked to an alleged terrorist known as the “Wolf of al-Qaeda”. Abdulaziz bin Khalifa al-Attiyah was found guilty in absentia by a Lebanese court of channelling financial support to al-Qaeda. He was detained in Lebanon – apparently following a tip-off by British and American intelligence – but was allowed to leave the country before his trial after intense pressure by Qatar on the Lebanese government. On social media, al-Attiyah appears to have energetically supported Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda’s Syria franchise, the al-Nusra Front.

He also appears to have tweeted support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil.) The al-Nusra Front last year instructed donors to channel money to it through an organisation closely linked to al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah is also associated with Umar al-Qatari, known as the “Wolf of al-Qaeda”. Al-Qatari was named last month by the United States government as a designated terrorist. In a brief statement, lawyers for al-Attiyah insisted that he had not funded terrorism. However, they repeatedly refused to deny that he had been arrested and convicted for doing so in Lebanon or that he had written pro-terrorist messages on social media. The lawyers declined to respond to any further questions about him, despite repeated requests over several days.