Arab Quartet Adds Two Entities, 11 Individuals to Terror List

Figures accused by the Arab quartet of supporting and funding terrorism. Asharq Al-Awsat
Figures accused by the Arab quartet of supporting and funding terrorism. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Arab Quartet Adds Two Entities, 11 Individuals to Terror List

Figures accused by the Arab quartet of supporting and funding terrorism. Asharq Al-Awsat
Figures accused by the Arab quartet of supporting and funding terrorism. Asharq Al-Awsat

The Arab anti-terror quartet added to its terror list 11 more individuals and two entities – the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) headed by Yusuf al-Qaradawi and International Islamic Council (IIC).

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, and Bahrain declared in a statement that in light of their commitment to fighting terrorism, drying up its sources of funding, combating extremist ideology and working together to eradicate it and immunize societies against it, and in the framework of their joint efforts with active partners in fighting terrorism, they blacklisted the two entities and eleven individuals.

“The two entities listed are two terrorist organizations that promote terrorism by using Islamic rhetoric as a cover to facilitate terrorist activities,” the statement said.

Qatar-based IUMS was established in 2004 and is chaired by al-Qaradawi who is considered the Muslim Brotherhood's "godfather". The union is strongly linked to the terrorist organization and has 67 members including the president, the vice president, who is Iranian, the secretary general, and some indivudials who had been accused of terrorism.

The International Union had an effective role in creating strife in Arab and Islamic countries, backed by both Qatari and Turkish governments.

As for IIC, it aims at targeting Arab countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. Backed by the Qatari regime, it describes Saudi Arabia and UAE as two "zionist" states.

The council is affiliated with several organizations and entities on the quartet's terror list such as al-Karama organizations, Raf Institution, Qurtoba organization in UK, and Islah Association. 

Among those on the blacklist is Khaled Nazem Diab, a US citizen of Syrian origin. He is the head of Relief International Development of the Qatari Red Crescent, and funds armed militias in Syria.

Diab's activities reach countries like Yemen, Mauritania, Djibouti and Mosul city in Iraq. He is a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and a member of the board of trustees of al-Karama foundation.

He was arrested in Lebanon in 2013 on charges of funding terrorist groups in Syria and had been on UN and US blacklists since 2002.

Salem Jaber Omar Ali Sultan Fathallah Jaber, who is a Libyan preacher and a partner at "Boshra News Agency", a classified organization, is also on the list. 

He used to preach in al-Tahrir Square in Benghazi, Libya, where he was known for provoking armed militias to launch attacks against vital infrastructure spots.

Slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had banned Jaber from delivering any speech for five years. 

A close colleague of terrorist preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Jaber is also a partner in several Qatari foundations such as "Qatar Charity" and "Raf", both entities identified as terrorist.

Moyasar Ali Musa Abdullah al-Jubouri, dubbed Abu Maria al-Qahtani, was a former officer in the Iraqi Army within a group called "Fedayeen Saddam" until 2003.

After Paul Bremer restructured the army and police, Jubouri worked as a policeman in Baghdad after which he joined al-Nusra Front in Syria as the Grand Mufti and Emir of eastern area. He was then dismissed by the organization leader "Abu Mohammed al-Joulani". He is the previous assistant of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and uses a Qatari passport in his travels.

UN listed Jubouri as an international terrorist in 2014 for associating with al-Qaeda terrorist group.

The list also included Bahraini national Hassan Ali Mohammed Juma Sultan.

Sultan is a known extremist Shi’ite cleric who obtained his religious studies in Iran. He is one of the top commanders of the Islamic Dawa Party, as well as the dissolved al-Wefaq Association, and affiliated in several activities with the Lebanese Hezbollah. He is considered a fugitive in Bahrain.

An audio recording reveals a phone conversation between Sultan and the Qatari Emir’s adviser, Hamad bin Khalifah al-Attiyah, on attempts to create chaos in Bahrain.

Also on the list, Mohammed Suleiman Haidar Mohammed al-Haidar, who is a businessman from a wealthy Qatari family and accused of financing several terrorist groups active in Bahrain. He supported Bahraini terrorists trough bank transfers of over 35,000 Bahraini Dinars. He is also linked to terrorist activities in Bahrain through his financial support of the Bahraini opposition.

On the list, an Egyptian national, Mohammed Jamal Ahmed Hishmat Abdul Hamid who is accused of plotting the General Attorney’s assassination. Following the Egyptian revolution on June 30, he fled to Sudan then to Turkey.

Abdul Hamid is the key founder of the dissolved Freedom and Justice Party, the political office of the Muslim Brotherhood group, and member of the party's high committee. He is accused of inciting riots in Egypt.

Egyptian Alsayed Mahmoud Ezzat Ibrahim Eissa is also on the list for his terrorist activity. He is the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide. He has escaped Egypt and is a wanted fugitive.

Eissa is accused of several crimes including espionage and had been arrested several times.

The quartet said in the statement that through their monitoring, they discovered that Qatari authorities continued to support and finance terrorism, promotion of extremism, and dissemination of hate speech. It added that Doha not taken effective action to stop terrorist activity.

The statement reaffirmed the four countries’ commitment to strengthening all efforts to combat terrorism and establish security and stability in the region.

They stressed that they will not hesitate to pursue individuals and terrorist groups and will support all means in this regard at the regional and international levels.

The quartet assured that it will continue to combat terrorist activities and target terrorism financing regardless of its source, and will continue to work with partners around the world to effectively reduce terrorist activities and extremist organizations that should not be tolerated by any state.

The four countries concluded by thanking all the countries that support them in their fight against terrorism, extremism and violence.



With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.