In what is a shocking claim, a report in a German news outlet claims that Qatar has been funding terrorist organization Hezbollah and has paid a large amount as a bribe to a consultant to keep his mouth shut.
This man, the report says, was running a business in Qatar and had also been involved in working for security agencies. He apparently has in his possession a dossier which reveals that some highly affluent people in Qatar, including some Lebanese expats, have been channeling their money to the terrorist organization.
The person claims that the money is funneled into the accounts of Hezbollah through the pipeline of a charity organization. This transfer occurs due to the connivance of senior functionaries in the government," the report in Die Zeit says.
"There were money flows from several rich (Qataris) and exiled Lebanese people from Doha to Hezbollah ... The donations are said to have been processed with the knowledge of influential government officials through a charity organization in Doha," the man referred to in the report as Jason G claims.
The reason why he has decided to let this secret out is in itself quite interesting. He claimed that he was paid, first, 10,000, and then 100,000 Euros by a diplomat of Qatar. This meeting came about through the assistance provided by one Michael Inacker, who leads a PR firm that has worked in Qatar. It was he who put Jason in contact with the Qatari government.
However, despite being offered a princely sum of 750,000 Euros, the reason he changed his mind was that he was offended by anti-semitic comments made by some Qatari officials. So, Jason G refused to hand over the dossier and shared the information with the news outlet.
He also said that the reason why the officials of Qatar wanted the dossier was not just to hide the information but also to "use the information from the dossier to remove 'shady people in their own ranks."
This latest report is very damaging to the government of Qatar which is already facing allegations of terror-funding from other countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Despite posing as a moderate and modern nation, Qatar may not be all that devoid of extremist tendencies that have ruined so many lives in West Asia.
However, this latest report is entirely based upon the word of this anonymous former consultant, though journalists from Die Zeit claim to have seen the dossier. It may end up in the hands of the Israeli government as the report says that this person has contacted the Embassy of this country in Berlin.