Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

New UAE Evidence on Qatar’s Support for Terrorism | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Former Emirati Muslim Brotherhood member Issa al-Suwaidi in a documentary on local UAE television. Asharq Al-Awsat


Abu Dhabi- A former Emirati Muslim Brotherhood member Issa al-Suwaidi said that Doha has become a training hub for suspicious groups with direct and indirect links to international organizations that are training youths to destabilize their states.

The documentary featured the confessions of Suwaidi, a senior member of the organization’s advisory board.

Suwaidi referred to a Qatari national, Mahmoud al-Jaidah, who acted as the Qatari government’s liaison in providing financial and moral support to the fugitives in Doha. He dismissed Jaidah’s claims that he was tortured while serving his sentence in the UAE, adding that he received excellent treatment, and was allowed to call his family and meet with the Qatari Ambassador to the UAE.

Jaidah was found guilty in the secret organization case and was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and deportation after serving his term. He was later pardoned and released, but after arriving in Doha, he alleged that he was ill-treated and was denied visits by his relatives.

Suwaidi, who is serving a 10-year jail sentence after the secret organization case, also detailed his journey with the terrorist group. In 1989 he pledged allegiance to the organization, and later on he became a member of the advisory board.

He stressed that the organization’s operations are highly secretive, and it has a structure that cascades into committees for educational, social, media, women’s and youth affairs.

Suwaidi revealed that the organization’s budget came from membership subscriptions, donations and grants, as well as investments in property and stocks. He revealed that his own residence in Qatar was used as a venue for a meeting between the Qatari terrorist group and the Emirati secret group, under the alleged umbrella of Gulf coordination.

He also noted that like other brotherhood organizations, the group in the UAE has operated under heavy secrecy and discipline and a strict hierarchy. The group had an executive bureau, an advisory board and committees.

Suwaidi noted that Doha has also provided support in the form of media, with Al Jazeera TV as its platform to promote their ideas.