Al Jazeera is the region’s “extremist bullhorn” while Doha is a safe haven for US and UN designated “terrorist moneymen”, the UAE’s ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post on Thursday.

Otaiba stated that while the UAE fights the extremist Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen, Qatar is offering support to Iran in various fields.

“Qatar made ransom payments of hundreds of millions of dollars directly to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other extremists to free kidnapped Qatari royals. In Yemen, Qatar’s flagship Eid Charity lavished millions on designated AQAP (al-Qaeda) ringleader Abd al-Wahhab al-Humayqani, who previously worked in Qatar’s ministry of religious affairs.” Otaiba wrote.

Otaiba went on to say that the Al Jazeera television network is the “region’s extremist bullhorn”, adding that “Qatar has showed itself as the favored benefactor of Islamic extremism.”

Otaiba commended the joint US-UAE operations in Yemen, stating that it has improved security in the country and diminished the presence of al-Qaeda.

“Just three years ago, AQAP was riding high in Yemen. It had seized a third of the country, was terrorizing Yemenis and was plotting more attacks against American and international targets. Today, AQAP is reduced to its weakest point since 2012,” he said.

Otaiba added that the biggest threat in Yemen is Iran and the Houthis, adding that the priority is ending the war in Yemen.

Source: english.alarabiya.net