ISIS power declines as result of quartet boycott of Qatar

CAIRO – 25 April 2018: The Brussels International Center for Research and Human Rights conducted a study about the impact of the Arab quartet’s boycott of Qatar on terrorism, in which it revealed that ISIS’s power in Iraq and Syria has decreased as an outcome of this boycott.

According to the study, the sharp decline of the terrorist group’s power in Syria and Iraq coincided with the quartet’s boycott of Qatar. Throughout 2017, Iraqi security forces achieved great victory against ISIS.

The study added that "internal and external charges were directed to Qatar on their support of terrorist organizations secretly. Hence, the anti-terrorism states called for ending all financial, intelligence or logistical support to terrorist organizations through 13 demands to Doha.”

Moreover, the international community has imposed stricter measures on the illicit funding of terrorist organizations, and this also contributed to reducing the sources of funding for terrorism in the region, the study said.

The study recommended that the international community increase diplomatic efforts to address differences, and it called on EU member states to strengthen political dialogue with regional powers on counterterrorism.

It also called on members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to increase the exchange of information on terrorist organizations.

Qatar has been hit by its biggest diplomatic crisis in years after multiple Arab nations, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, cut ties with the emirate, accusing it of destabilizing the region with its support for Islamist groups.

The Arab quartet halted all land, air and sea traffic with Qatar, and withdrew their diplomats and ambassadors from the country. The Arab quartet issued 13 demands to Doha – then shortened to six principles – including closing Al Jazeera television, curbing relations with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base.