Abd al-Latif Bin Abdullah Salih Muhammad al-Kawari

Abd al-Latif Bin Abdullah Salih Muhammad al-Kawari, born 1975, is a Qatar-based financier, fundraiser, and "security official" for the terror-group Al Qaeda.[1]

In Qatari army

While serving in the Qatari army reserves, al-Kawari was part of the failed 1996 counter-coup-d’état which aimed to overthrow the recently proclaimed Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and restore his father to the throne(10). This failed attempt resulted in dozens of arrests and death sentences, including the jailing of the Emir’s own cousin, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.[2][3][4][5]

In Al Qaeda

In the early 2000s, al-Kawari worked alongside two major Al Qaeda operatives: Mustafa Hajji Muhammad Khan (a.k.a. Hassan Ghul) and Ibrahim ‘Isa Hajji Muhammad al-Bakr.[1] Ghul was designated in 2011 as an Al Qaeda operative and courier, who was active "since at least 2003",[6] and al-Bakr was designated in 2014 for providing financial, material, and technological support for the terror-group.[7] Al-Kawari worked with Ghul and al-Bakr to transfer money to Al Qaeda in Pakistan, around the same time al-Kawari also obtained a fraudulent passport for Ghul.[1]

In early 2012 al-Kawari facilitated the international travel of a courier carrying tens of thousands of dollars designated for Al Qaeda. Later that same year he, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, "worked…to coordinate the delivery of funding from Qatari financiers intended to support Al Qaeda and to deliver receipts confirming that al-Qaeda received foreign donor funding from Qatar-based extremists."[1]

Al-Kawari was also involved in the online money-raising platform, Madad Ahl al-Sham. Al-Sham was a purported Qatar-based charity that worked to fund and support the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch. In August 2012 al-Sham was cited by a Nusra Front member as “one of [the group’s] preferred conduits for donations."[8]

World reactions

On August 5, 2015 al-Kawari was designated by the United States Government as a "financier responsible for supporting terrorists throughout the Middle East."[1] The U.N. followed with sanctions and a designation on September 21 of the same year.[9] Despite these designations the Qatari government has not arrested or restricted al-Kawari, and he is believed to continue to operate.

References
  1. "Treasury Designates Financial Supporters of Al-Qaida and Al-Nusrah Front". Treasury.gov. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  2. "قطر وتمويل الإرهاب... علاقة لا تنتهي". Light-dark.net. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
  3. "Books page". Arabtimes.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-11. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  4. "Life sentences for Qatari coup plotters". BBC. 2000-02-29. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
  5. "19 Sentenced to Death for Being Involved in Qatar's 1996 Coup Attempt". en.people.cn. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
  6. "Treasury Targets Three Senior Al-Qa'ida Leaders". Treasury.gov. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
  7. "Treasury Designates Twelve Foreign Terrorist Fighter Facilitators". Treasury.gov. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
  8. "Syrian conflict said to fuel sectarian tensions in Persian Gulf". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
  9. "Abd al-Latif bin Abdallah Salih Muhammad al-Kawari / United Nations Security Council Subsidiary Organs". Un.org. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
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