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Qatar's foreign minister denies paying ransoms to militant groups

PRINCETON, N.J. - Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiya defended on Monday his government's connections with armed militant groups in the Middle East and its involvement in negotiating the release of hostages but denied ever paying ransoms to secure their freedom.

 

"No, Qatar does not pay ransoms. Again, Qatar will not apologize for any soul or life we saved in Syria. If we can mediate to save another life we will do so," al-Attiya said in response to a question from Reuters after giving a speech at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

 

The energy-rich Gulf Arab state, which does back some rebel factions fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has mediated the release of foreign and Syrian captives on several occasions in the course of Syria's three-year-old civil war.

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.30.14, 07:49