Funding might be one of the forms of Doha's support for terrorism, but it is not the only means. Qatar, as part of its endeavors to embrace extremist groups and provide shelter for them, has taken several measures, such as paying money to have those terrorists released from U.S. prisons and allowing them to obtain the Qatari nationality and appear on its media platforms, which have been launched to recruit terrorists from Arab and European countries. The confessions made by Saleh Al-Qaraawi, founder of Abdullah Azzam Brigades, are the best proof of Doha's support for extremist groups with the aim of increasing pressure on the Arab regimes and playing a greater political role in the Arab region.
During his interrogation by Saudi authorities after being extradited by Pakistan five years ago, Al-Qaraawi, who is considered one of the most dangerous leaders of Al-Qaeda and wanted by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the Interpol, unveiled Qatar's involvement in providing financial support for Al-Qaeda activities, and hosting Afghan detainees from the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp and granting them the Qatari nationality after reaching an agreement on that score with Taliban group in Afghanistan, which has diplomatic representation in the Qatari capital .
Al-Qaraawi also confessed to receiving funds from many Qatari figures in favor of Al-Qaeda terrorist group during his stay in Iran. After leaving Iran for Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan, Al-Qaraawi jointed a terrorist group and agreed with Taliban to train its fighters on how to fight against U.S. and Afghan forces. He also witnessed negotiations between Taliban and the Americans, in which the former leader of Taliban Mullah Mohammed Omar demanded that Qatar hosts negotiations with the Americans for two reasons; the first one was Qatar's support for Taliban, while the second was that Qatar had no embassy in Kabul after being destroyed in a U.S. military operation there.
Al-Qaraawi stated that the rounds of negotiations came up with a number of recommendations, including extraditing Afghans detained in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to Qatar and allowing them to obtain the Qatari nationality after Doha approved this proposal. In return, Taliban pledged to hand over a kidnapped American soldier to the U.S. after having been seized by the group for ten years.
In 2008, Qatar received Jaralla Al-Marri, a Qatari national who was detained at the Guantanamo detention camp, from the U.S. and pledged that it will keep an eye on him and inform the U.S. Administration of any updates. However, Al-Marri was seen in the same year wandering on London streets to propagate Jihadi thoughts. This move prompted the U.S. Administration to press Doha to withdraw him.
Qatar signed a deal in 2014 with U.S. President Barack Obama, upon which the Gulf statelet received five terrorists from the U.S. and pledged to keep them inside its territories. However, U.S. media personnel quoted Doha-based diplomats as saying that the five terrorists were seen living freely in Qatar shortly after the deal. At the end of the year, U.S. news websites reported that three of the five terrorists were seen fighting alongside ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria. The three fighters were named as Mohamed Fadl, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Norullah Noori.
The Qatari authorities also provided shelter for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who vanished after the U.S. agencies informed Qatar of his location. Later on, reports indicated that he was hiding inside the house of the Qatari interior minister.
