Saudi Paper: Qatari Extremist Finances Terrorist Groups In Yemen

In light of the escalation in political tensions between Qatar and the Gulf states, the Saudi media outlet Al Arabiya has claimed that one man serves as “the Qatari engineer of the financing” of terror in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries recently published a list of groups and individuals considered terrorists within the framework of the severing of relations with Qatar over accusations the country supports terrorism and has been attempting to destabilize Gulf states.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt announced two weeks ago that they were cutting ties with Qatar, claiming that the small kingdom supports terrorist groups and poses a security threat.

According to the Al Arabiya report, number 12 on the Saudi list of terrorists is a man responsible for the funding of terrorist organizations in Yemen. The man is Abdel-Wahab al-Humayqani, a senior figure in a Qatari charity named after Sheikh Id Althani, a member of Qatar’s ruling family. The charity was also included on the list as an entity that supports terror.

According to Al Arabiya, Humayqani is a veteran terrorist and was placed on an American terror watch list in 2013, where he was described as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for his role as a recruiter and financier for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The Saudi report names Humayqani as head of Qatar’s Alkarama network in Yemen and the head of Al Rashad, a Salafi party he founded. He also worked as a lecturer at Aliman University, which was headed by Abdelmajid Alzandani, who also appears on U.S. lists of terrorist supporters.

Al Arabiya claimed that Humayqani “finances the terrorists and the armed organizations in Yemen under the cover of charity.”

The report also cited officials in Yemen who denied claims that Humayqani serves as an adviser to the president of Yemen, but said sources in Yemen claim Humayqani presents himself as a supporter of the president in order to legitimize his secret activities “exactly like Qatar’s double game serving part of the Arab coalition in Yemen while maintaining a secret agenda in Yemen.”

The source noted that Humayqani’s inclusion on the Saudi terror list is proof that Saudi Arabia, which created the coalition to support Yemen’s legal government and combat terror, “won’t make it easy for those proved to be involved in supporting and financing terror. And those who continue to do so must cease immediately all suspicious actions, because this list as published (in the Arab countries’ announcement against Qatar) is expected to shake things up.”