Qatar counter-terrorism strategy

In the mid-1990s, Qatar adopted a more independent foreign policy and took diplomatic role of a mediator in conflicts within Arab states and increasingly plays active roles in global anti-terrorism campaigns and peacemaking. Its counterterrorism policy involves a combination of enactment of anti-terrorism laws for home land security and mediation between designated international terrorist groups and states using its “Open-door Policy”, to facilitate peace talks. Its position in the Middle East and close links with terrorist groups is seen as a great asset to western intelligence community. During the 2014 Gaza war, US secretary of state John Kerry aligned with Qatar and Turkey to use their relationships with Hamas to pressure the group to end the conflict with Israel. Qatar was the only Arab state with diplomatic ties with Israel. Qatar was involved in mediations in Lebanon, Sudan, Yemen and in border conflict between Djibouti and Eritrea in 2008. Qatar mediated a prisoners’ swap for the release of a US soldier Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl held by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five senior Taliban leaders held in Guantanamo Bay by the United States. The released leaders were handed to Qatar to be held in Doha for continued security watch according to the prisoners’ swap agreement between Qatari and the United States Governments. Afghan government opposed the transfer of the released Taliban leaders to Qatar describing it as illegal and a breach of international laws and accused Qatar of colluding with the US in its operations in the Middle East. Months following the release of the US soldier, Qatar mediated the release of 45 Fijian United Nations peacekeepers who were abducted in Golan Heights by an Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al-Nusra in Syria in September 2014. This sparked suspicion and allegations of terrorism and terror financing against Qatar. These allegations climaxed with the 2017 diplomatic crisis in which all members of GCC severed diplomatic ties with Qatar.