Qatar pays US$2.5m to hire US law firm
Print Edition
QATAR has paid US$2.5 million to the law firm of a former attorney general under US President George W. Bush to audit its efforts at stopping terrorism funding, a matter at the heart of the Gulf diplomatic crisis.
John Ashcroft will lead his Washington-based firm’s efforts “to evaluate, verify and as necessary, strengthen the client’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing” compliance and potentially lobby lawmakers and the media, according to documents filed to the US Justice Department.
Qatar hiring Ashcroft, who was attorney general during the September 11 attacks and then helped push through the Patriot Act, appeared aimed at appeasing Washington as several Gulf nations try to isolate it. Officials in Qatar, home to a major US military base, and Ashcroft’s firm did not respond to a request for comment.
At the heart of the dispute are the long-standing allegations linking Qatar to regional Islamist and militant groups.
The Ashcroft Law Firm filed the paperwork with the Justice Department’s National Security Division on Friday. Such reports are required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, first put in place over concerns about Nazi propagandists in the US ahead of World War II.
The filed reports show Ashcroft’s firm “may engage in outreach efforts to US government officials and/or communicate with the media.”
The contract filed by the firm was signed by Ahmad al-Hammadi, secretary-general of Qatar’s foreign ministry.
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