UK government under fire over Qatar ties

According to a report published by The Telegraph on Saturday, a number of parliamentarians are demanding the UK to get tough with Qatar over its involvement in the funding of terrorists.
 
Qatar has enjoyed closed ties with the UK in recent years. The country has invested billions of pounds in the UK during the British recession, buying landmark businesses and stakes in major companies.
 
Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith called for the British government to reconsider its relationship with Qatar.
 
“Here in the UK, we do big business with our ally Qatar, including in arms, and yet there are countless reports… of that country’s government actively courting key bankrollers of al-Qaeda and Isil,” said Goldsmith.
 
“If we are serious about countering groups like Isil, we need to fundamentally rethink the nature of our relationship with the countries that fuel them,” Goldsmith added.
 
British parliamentarians are also questioning why Britain’s black list does not include individuals who are listed in other sanction lists for funding such terrorist groups as the ISIL.
 
Stephen Barclay, a Conservative MP, said “it begs the question of why the UK authorities are setting a higher threshold and deem business with such individuals acceptable.”
 
Barclay also said there are concerns among British MPs over why Qatar and other Persian Gulf allies are not taking action against those citizens who are financing terrorist groups.
 
“There is growing concern across parties in parliament as to why there appears to be so little evidence of action by Qatar and other … allies against their own nationals who have directly funded – or facilitated the funding of – terrorist groups, including Isil,” said Barclay.
 
According to the Telegraph, wealthy individuals in the Persian Gulf region have raised a major amount of fund for terrorist groups. The report also says Arab leaders have either chosen to ignore the matter or are complicit in the funding of the terrorists in Syria and Iraq.