Qatar hires ex-U.S. attorney general to rebut ‘terror’ accusations

Agencies

June 11, 2017

Doha, Jun 11: The Government of Qatar, which has been facing criticism across the world, has hired ex- U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft, in order to rebut the accusations made by U.S. President Donald Trump and its Arab neighbors that it supports terrorism.

Ashcroft was the attorney general of the United States during the Sept. 11 attack, reported the New York Time, quoting Reuters.

As per reports, Qatar will pay the Ashcroft Law Firm $2.5 million, in order to confirm its efforts to fight global terrorism and comply with financial regulations including U.S. Treasury rules.

Recently, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya's transitional government, the Republic of Maldives and the Republic of Mauritius severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in retaliation for its alleged support to terrorism and extremist ideology.

Mauritania and the Comoro Islands joined in later. Jordan and Djibouti downgraded the status of their diplomatic missions.

Some countries declared a number of other measures, including the termination of sea and air links and the expulsion of Qatari diplomats and subjects.

Iran, a close ally of Qatar, blamed the developments on U.S. President Donald Trump who recently visited the Middle East.

However, Trump unfazed by the accusation, gloated about his recent visit to the Middle east, which according to him paved the way for this move as he said in a series of tweets, "So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!"

"During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!," he said.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation with Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani reaffirmed Moscow was firmly in favor of tackling crises by political and diplomatic means through a dialogue.

The Kremlin hopes the Qatar affair will not intervene with the struggle against international terrorism.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

‘Israeli aggression has killed 70 percent of Zionist captives in Gaza’

News Network

May 17,2024

Hamas says the Israeli regime’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, which is enduring a genocidal Israeli war, has killed 70 percent of the Zionist captives, who have been held by the Palestinian resistance movement since an October operation.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas’ Political Bureau, announced the information in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Manar television network on Thursday.

“The Zionist enemy wants to recover the remaining captives by force, killing them by bombing,” he said.

Around 250 people were taken captive on October 7 last year during Al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

At least 35,272 Palestinians have died in an Israeli war of genocide that began following the operation.

Hamas released 105 of the captives during a week-long truce in late November.

Hamas recently agreed to another truce proposal enabling cessation of the Israeli aggression and release of the rest of the captives. The Israeli regime, however, rejected the proposal.

The Hamas’ official said, “The latest proposal presented to us comes very close to our demands, but the enemy has not respected the proposal or the mediators.”

Al-Hayya reiterated the movement’s demands, saying any potential truce agreement had to mandate a complete and comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression, withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, and then a captive exchange deal.

‘Victory is our ally’

The Hamas’ official pointed to the Israeli regime’s failure to realize its war goals, including defeating the resistance.

“After eight months of aggression, the enemy has failed to eradicate the resistance in Gaza despite all the actions of the occupation,” he said.

“The resistance has rebuilt itself and can adapt its capabilities to face the occupation,” the official said, asserting, “The resistance is capable of enduring for many months and will continue to defend its people as long as the battle is ongoing.”

“The resistance has the ability to continue because it is right, and victory is our ally, while the enemy will face defeat.”

Thanking regional resistance

Elsewhere in his remarks, al-Hayya expressed gratitude towards the regional resistance groups for the pro-Palestinian operations that they have been carrying out against Israeli targets and those associated with the occupying regime.

“The fronts in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq support Gaza and link the cessation of [their] operations to the end of aggression on Gaza,” he said.

“When we meet with the resistance forces in the region, we affirm that the battle is one.”

Comments