Turki Al-Dakhil

By : Turki Aldakhil

:: Qatar belongs to a category of countries that has its own ways of setting traps and hunting preys. It finds others’ weaknesses and suddenly pounces on its prey without making it feel enslaved.

It finds a student on a scholarship who has all these rightful ambitions and who is racing against time to surpass others and gain more education and knowledge. It then sends someone to sit with him to understand his mentality. Once it realizes that his line of thought agrees with it and that he likes public appearances, it organizes a seminar in a research center and brings him to Doha after paying a hefty ticket and making expensive hotel booking. It provides him with exceptional care and then makes him the star of the seminar.

When it is time to say goodbye, it simply tells him one thing “don’t forget it was Qatar which supported it.” Of course this young man has been fascinated with money and when he returns home, he receives a research paper by an esteemed thinker and which the research center that held the seminar is asking him to evaluate. The young man is thus amazed and he wonders if he is a genius to that extent!

This is where he becomes euphoric and becomes a captive of the state that hired him as part of its agenda. His mind has now disappeared for good and he’s become the captive of exaggeration and egocentrism. He becomes a tool in Azmi Bishara’s propaganda machine and is even used against his own homeland when there’s a battle. There are countless examples to that, and to official authorities these are simply proven facts.

Direct recruitment of terrorists is clear but we must shed light on the deceitful recruiter who’s trying to lure youth to serve the Qatari project

Turki Aldakhil

Then Qatar baits a publishing house which needs money or which barely has enough money. It invites the publisher to Doha and gives it even more attention than the young man. When he meets the country’s leaders, they realize they have similar orientations and that he has the tendency to collaborate with the Qatari project.

After a lavish welcome, huge sums of money are transferred to his account. He thus becomes a pawn used against his own country and begins to view Qatar as his own country and Doha as his own capital. This is achieved via projects that purposely appear to be preaching Islamic principles, interpreting the Quran or supporting Muslims across the world.

Two distinct approaches

This shows that Qatar adopts two approaches when it comes to supporting terrorism. The first one is direct support of the establishment of organizations such as Nusra Front or ISIS or the Popular Mobilization. The support is either direct, by providing money and arms, or through fake abductions which Doha resorts to in order to provide these groups with millions of dollars. It grants members of these groups Qatari passports to enter stable countries and carry out destructive operations.

The second approach, which I think is more dangerous, is a deceitful attitude of exploiting other people’s causes and financial needs. In the leaked audio recordings between late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and former Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa and Qatari foreign affairs minister Hamad bin Jassim, they say that Qatar directs envoys and attaches to follow up on whoever has a need or requires medical cure or direct support or help in a personal matter. Hamad bin Jassim said that “these things cost nothing” considering that Qatar spends its abundant money to recruit others against their countries.

Qatar tried to attract Saudi thinkers, preachers, authors and journalists and established organizations that are allegedly intellectual, political and strategic. It also established the Academy of Change to urge young men and women to revolt. Considering their age, young men were lured by money and they became Qatar’s captives. It is haram (ill-gotten) income because the aim is to incite against Saudi Arabia and it also reflects the desire to topple the Saudi regime, as they put it!

Direct recruitment of terrorists is clear but we must shed light on the deceitful recruiter who’s trying to lure young men to serve the Qatari project. Some academics were granted Qatari citizenship and they gave up their original nationality since they ideologically agree with Qatar’s rulers who have a Brotherhood mentality.

Some Brotherhood supporters have been so naïve to the point where they denied they’ve been recruited by Qatar for ideological purposes. This is Qatar and these are its tricks.

:: Turki Aldakhil is the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. He began his career as a print journalist, covering politics and culture for the Saudi newspapers Okaz, Al-Riyadh and Al-Watan. He then moved to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat and pan-Arab news magazine Al-Majalla. Turki later became a radio correspondent for the French-owned pan-Arab Radio Monte Carlo and MBC FM. He proceeded to Elaph, an online news magazine and Alarabiya.net, the news channel’s online platform. Over a ten-year period, Dakhil’s weekly Al Arabiya talk show “Edaat” (Spotlights) provided an opportunity for proponents of Arab and Islamic social reform to make their case to a mass audience. Turki also owns Al Mesbar Studies and Research Centre and Madarek Publishing House in Dubai. He has received several awards and honors, including the America Abroad Media annual award for his role in supporting civil society, human rights and advancing women’s roles in Gulf societies. He tweets @TurkiAldakhil.

:: Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in the Column section are their own and do not reflect RiyadhVision’s point-of-view.

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