BALADI NEWS
A Qatari bank allegedly transferred large sums of money to a jihadist group in Syria, according to a claim issued at the High Court, The Times newspaper revealed Wednesday.
Two wealthy brothers are alleged in the claim to have used accounts at Doha Bank, which has a London office, to channel extensive funds to the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, during the Syrian civil war, the newspaper wrote.
A claim for damages against Doha Bank has been lodged in the High Court by eight Syrian claimants, now living in Europe, who allege that they suffered “severe physical and psychiatric injuries” at the hands of the jihadist group.
The claimants, who have been granted anonymity by the courts, are additionally claiming to have suffered “forcible displacement from their homes” in Syria and to have lost businesses “as a result of the unlawful actions of the al-Nusra Front”.
Their claim is against Doha Bank and Moutaz and Ramez al-Khayyat, described as two “prominent Syrian/Qatari businessmen”, whose assets include a global construction company.
The claim, issued last week in the Queen’s Bench division of the High Court, alleges that “the al-Khayyat brothers financed and/or assisted in financing the al-Nusra Front, including through accounts held by them and/or entities associated with them at Doha Bank”.
Large sums of money are alleged to have been sent via the bank to accounts in Turkey and Lebanon, where the cash was withdrawn and taken across the Syrian border for delivery to the jihadists. The claim states: “As a result of the defendants’ actions the al-Nusra Front was able to cause loss and damage to the claimants.”
The Times invited Doha Bank and the al-Khayyat brothers to comment on the allegations in the claim. No response has yet been received from the brothers.
Richard Whiting, the bank’s chief London representative, confirmed yesterday that he received the claim last week. He said: “The details contained in the recently received claim are limited and Doha Bank Limited is taking legal advice. However, it considers the allegations asserted against it are groundless and without merit.”
The Syrian claimants are represented by the London law firm Richard Slade and Company. He said that steps were being taken to serve the claim on the al-Khayyat brothers. It is alleged that Doha Bank and the brothers “knew (or ought to have known) that the funds that passed from them or through their accounts were intended for the al-Nusra Front”, an action that “breached international and national laws”. The claimants are inviting the court in London to apply Syrian law to decide the claim.
This week, The Times revealed that a Qatari-controlled British bank, Al Rayan, was providing financial services to numerous Islamist-linked UK organisations, including a charity that is a designated terrorist entity in America.
Source: The Times.