4 countries list Qatar-linked terrorists, organisations

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain designated on Friday 59 individuals and 12 institutions that have financed terrorist organisations and received support from Qatar.

The step was taken days after several nations severed diplomatic ties with Qatar for allegations that it was supporting terrorist and extremist groups in the region, which Qatar called "unjustified" and "baseless".

The list was drawn up in the light of the shared commitment of the four countries to the fight against terrorism and its funding sources, Al Arabiya cited a statement posted by the Bahrain News Agency.

The list was also a result of "the continued violation by the authorities in Doha of its signed commitments and agreements that included a pledge not to support or harbour elements or organisations that threatened the security of states", it said.

The majority of those entities sanctioned were linked to Qatar and were a manifestation of a Qatari government policy of duplicity, the statement read.

"Such attitudes put the national security of the four countries at risk as targets for acts of sabotage and chaos by members of terrorist organisations that Qatar either hosts or supports."

It criticised Qatar's "double standard policy", saying that the country announced it is fighting terrorism while financing, supporting and harbouring various terrorist organisations.

The four countries reaffirmed in the statement their commitment to consolidating all efforts to combat terrorism and to relentlessly pursue the individuals and groups on the list.

Most of the blacklisted individuals in the list are Qataris along with Qatari charitable organisations. A Libyan extremist group and four Bahraini groups were also listed as terrorist cells.

--IANS

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