Documents have shown that Qatar funds Hezbollah in Lebanon, German news outlet Die Zeit reported.
It said a German contractor, anonymously listed as “Jason G.”, has evidence that the Qatari government was aware of groups funding Hezbollah.
Jason G., who reportedly worked for various security and intelligence agencies and ran a business in Qatar, came across the information while working in Doha, according to the newspaper.
Qataris and Lebanese people sent money from Doha to Hezbollah, it said, adding that the donations have been processed with the knowledge of influential government officials through a charity organization in the Qatari capital.
The report also said that Jason G. had come across information of an arms deal from Eastern Europe that was being handled by a Qatar-based company.
Jason G. claimed he had held six meetings in Brussels with representatives from the Qatari government.
A number of times he received 10,000-euro payments and was later given another 100,000 euros to keep the report under wraps.
In July 2019, Jason G. reportedly entered a deal with Qatar, according to a contract seen by the newspaper, and which stipulated that the man would work as a consultant for Qatar and promise not to release his information in return for Doha not prosecuting him for espionage.
But the newspaper said that the agreement between Jason G. and Qatar fell through, despite an offer of 750,000 euros to keep the information quiet.
In April, Germany banned all Hezbollah activity on its soil and designated the Iran-backed group a terrorist organization.
It is also trying to push the European Union to do the same. The EU classifies Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist group, but not its political wing.
After April’s announcement, German police conducted raids on mosque associations in cities across Germany which officials believe are close to Hezbollah.
The domestic intelligence service in the German state of Bremen said last week the Al-Mustafa community center is involved in the financial support of Hezbollah.
The center was part of associations that were raided by German police in April.
