*Doha has a holistic approach which aims at treating the socio-economic and political roots of violent extremism by spreading hope, awareness and through promoting more inclusive policies: HE Alkhater Exclusive
HE the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lolwah Alkhater has welcomed the US State Department’s appreciation for Qatar’s contributions to the global fight against terrorism in its country reports for 2017 released on Wednesday.
Asked for her comments on the "2017 Country Reports on Terrorism Prepared by the US Department of State's Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism", HE Alkhater said the State of Qatar welcomes the findings mentioned in the US report, which highlights the significant cooperation between Qatar and the United States of America in the fields of combating terrorism and disrupting terrorism financing flows.
To a question about Qatar’s contributions to the fight against terrorism, she said the report itself has acknowledged Qatar’s contributions on a multilateral level to end terrorism in the region and worldwide. “I would also like to emphasise Qatar's holistic approach which aims at treating the socio-economic and political roots of violent extremism by spreading hope, awareness and through promoting more inclusive policies.”
Commenting on the US report that highlighted the negative impact of the Gulf crisis in the fight against terrorism, the foreign ministry spokesperson said Qatar agreed with the observation that the blockade had a negative impact on regional cooperation to fight terrorism. “The unexpected blockade has made it impossible to initiate dialogue on basic issues of mutual importance, let alone counterterrorism and security concerns,” she said.
When her attention was drawn to the problem of terrorists exploiting the informal financial system in a number of Gulf countries, she said: “ Qatar is actively working to resolve this matter and is constantly revising its regulations to ensure they are in line with international standards. However, this problem isn’t exclusive to the Gulf, as terrorists have been trying to find loopholes in the international financial system to fund their operations. For example, some private citizens in several European countries used welfare benefits they received from their respective governments to fund ISIS operations. The difference here is that the world is cooperating to resolve the issue of terror financing, while our neighbours don’t see the value of dialogue and cooperation, even though what unites us is far greater from what divides us.”
