In April, QNUMX, Qatar handed over a billion dollars to terrorists

Фото: Depositphotos

Qatar paid a billion dollar ransom for members of the royal family of that country kidnapped in Iraq.

According to the commanders of the armed groups and government representatives in the region, Doha paid the money to release 26 members of the Qatari royal family in southern Iraq and 50 militants captured by jihadists in Syria, writes RIA News.

Qatar handed over money to the al-Qaeda-linked group fighting in Syria and Iranian security services; the deal took place in April 2017, it was confirmed by a source close to the Qatari government.

In December 2015, unknown persons kidnapped Qatari hunters with falcons from a camp in the Najaf desert near the border with Saudi Arabia. According to the source RIA Novosti in the Iraqi police, among the abducted were members of the ruling family of Qatar.

Negotiations for the release of the hostages between Iran, Qatar and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement lasted more than a year. In April, 26 hunters were released and handed over to the Qatari ambassador to Iraq.

Recall 4 June Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE Announced Discontinuity With Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist organizations and destabilizing the situation in the Middle East. Later, such measures were taken by the authorities in the eastern part of Libya, Yemen, as well as the Maldives and Mauritius.

The problem around Qatar has been for a long time, writes Bloomberg, but nevertheless the country still has many friends. Doha receives a significant portion of its food and equipment supplies through land deliveries through Saudi Arabia or by sea through the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai. Qatar is one of the smallest oil producers in OPEC, producing 618 thousand barrels per day. But by-products such as light oil and liquefied gas account for another 1,3 million barrels of Qatari production per day. Most likely, he will continue to comply with the OPEC agreement to reduce production. But even if not, his contribution to the common cause is small.

Qatar’s real strength is that it is the largest exporter of liquefied gas in the world. The diplomatic conflict with Saudi Arabia and the UAE should not affect Qatari supplies. Doha tankers can sail through Iranian waters, and then go through the Strait of Hormuz and the usual shipping route in the water area of ​​Oman. Or the vessel may continue to ply in Iranian waters if Oman joins the blockade. Any attempts to stop Qatari exports will cause a big crisis. And large consumers of liquefied gas, such as Japan, South Korea, China and India, will be forced to give a tangible response.

If the diplomatic conflict escalates, the most serious blow to Qatar will be the loss of gas exports to the UAE through the Dolphin pipeline. This project, which is owned by Total (24,5%), Occidental (24.5%) and the investment company Abu Dhabi Mubadala (51%), transports over 2 a billion cubic meters of gas daily, which is a quarter of the country consumed.

Becoming one of the largest exporters of liquefied gas, Qatar was able to increase 335 billions of dollars in investments worldwide through its sovereign fund. Now, a diplomatic conflict with neighboring countries may impede the ability of the Qatar Investment Authority to enter into major transactions, writes Bloomberg.

Qatar's largest investment includes a share of German automaker Volkswagen AG worth 11,6 billions of dollars, including preferred shares.

Also in December, Glencore Plc and the Qatari side jointly bought 19,5% of Russian oil producer Rosneft. The transaction value is $11 billion. QIA took ownership of 9,5% of the Russian company. It was the biggest energy deal of 2016 and came despite European and US efforts to economically isolate Russia following its military aggression against Ukraine. QIA also played a key role in the $29 billion takeover of mining company Xstrata Plc by Swiss trader Glencore. The Qatari fund owned 10% of the acquired company. As a result, he became the owner of 8,4% of Glencore. The Qatari royal family also asked the German financial regulator for permission to increase its stake in Deutsche Bank to more than 10%. Sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg about this. Former Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and former Emir Sheikh Hman bin Khalifa Al Thani have a combined stake of less than 9% in Deutsche Bank AG.

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