Qatar planned to send 1,800 militants from Libya to Iraq

CAIRO – 11 June 2017: A document made public by the Libyan National Army on Sunday revealed that Qatar planned to facilitate the transfer of 1,800 jihadi fighters from North Africa to join militant groups in Iraq in September 2012. The document was issued and signed by the former chargé d'affaires at the Qatari Embassy in Libya, Nayef bin Abdullah Al-Amad, and directed to the Arab Affairs Administration at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha.



According to the document, the Qatari Embassy planned to supervise the transfer of 1,800 militants from the Libyan camps of Zintan, Benghazi, Zawiya and Misrata to Iraq after the completion of training. It details a proposed route for three batches of fighters travelling from Libyan ports to Turkey to cross into Iraq via its autonomous northern Kurdistan Region with direct coordination from Turkey.

Libyan Armed Forces spokesman Ahmed El-Mesmari revealed that the document was obtained by the army’s security forces and cited it as proof that Qatari government is directly involved in the support of terrorist groups.