Qatar: financial transactions to Kuwait and Saudi opposition

CAIRO – 14 June 2017: Cheques for millions of Qatari riyals were transferred from the bank account of Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned to elements of the political opposition in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the Qatari opposition coalition led by Sheikha Nouf bint Ahmed Al-Thani revealed on Tuesday.

Sheikha Moza is one of the wives of Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, former ruler of Qatar and father to the current emir, Tamim.

Sheikha Nouf’s official Twitter page published a photograph on Monday of a cheque for 25 million Qatari riyals made out to Abdel Hamid Dashti. Dashti, a former opposition parliamentarian in the Kuwaiti National Assembly, was sentenced to two years imprisonment on charges of illegal fundraising without a license in 2015.

A Twitter page by the name ‘Tasreebat Qatari’ (‘Qatari Leaks’) has also published information linking the Qatari royal to further dissident elements in the region.

A recent photograph on their page shows a 75 million Qatari riyal cheque from Sheikha Moza’s bank account issued to Saudi politician Saad Al-Faqih, founder of the Islamic Movement for Reform in Arabia, a U.K-based organization in opposition to the Riyadh government.

The page also published a photograph of anti-government Saudi activist Loujain Al-Hathloul’s bank account, stating that she received 9 million Qatari riyals on October 4, 2016 from accounts belonging to Sheikha Moza.

Tasreebat Qatari also displayed the log of a WhatsApp conversation purported to be between Sheikha Moza and a employee from the bank responsible for her accounts. During the exchange, the unnamed employee expresses his fears regarding an investigation into the bank’s actions, to which Moza advises him to “flee to Amman” and she will handle the situation.