Qatar takes a stand against radical Islam

Qatar, which mediated the release of a US hostage held by Al-Qaeda in Syria, seeks to prove its role in confronting the Islamist radicals it has been accused of supporting, experts say.

The Qatari foreign ministry, in a statement, said the tiny gas-rich nation had “succeeded in releasing American journalist Peter Theo Curtis,” after he spent 22 months in captivity.

Doha “exerted relentless efforts” to obtain the release of the freelance journalist held by Al-Nusra Front in Syria “out of Qatar’s belief in the principles of humanity and its keenness on the lives of individuals and their right to freedom and dignity,” it said.

Curtis’s mother said the family was “repeatedly told by representatives of the Qatari government that they were mediating for Theo’s release on a humanitarian basis without the payment of money.”

And US Secretary of State John Kerry “thanked” the emirate for “the effort made to secure the release” of Curtis in a telephone call to Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah, the official QNA news agency reported.

It was not the first time that Doha has played the role of regional mediator between the West and Islamist groups.

In June, Qatar brokered a deal under which five Taliban militants were freed in return for the release of US Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by Afghan militants.

Since Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria sparked worldwide horror last week when they released a video showing their beheading of American journalist James Foley in retaliation for US air raids against them in northern Iraq, Qatar has stepped up efforts to distance itself from radical Islam.

AFT

Jordan charges 8 with anti-US, anti-Israel terror plots

Jordanian military prosecutors on Monday charged eight suspects, including a Syrian fugitive, with plotting to attack US soldiers and Israel’s embassy in the kingdom and recruiting people to join Hezbollah.

“State security court prosecutors accused the eight men with plotting to carry out terrorist acts, including attacks against US soldiers in 2006 and the Israeli embassy in Amman,” a court official told AFP.

“The suspects, seven Jordanians and a Syrian fugitive, also recruited people to join (Lebanon’s Shiite militant movement) Hezbollah,” he said, adding that the group was arrested in May last year.

The official gave no further details, but said the suspects face life imprisonment if convicted.

Jordan is home to around 600,000 Syrian refugees.

In May, the military tribunal handed jail terms of between four and 20 years to 11 people it convicted of plotting to attack the US embassy for Al-Qaeda in 2012.

AFP