Lawsuit exposes Qatari spymaster

Amid all the furor of who was bribing whom in places like Ukraine, most Americans have no idea that a proxy war is being fought in our own country between rival Middle-Eastern powers. The battleground is Washington D.C. and the weapons are money, corruptible journalists and lobbyists, and politicians.

Qatar has been suffering under a Saudi blockade since June 2017, imposed after Qatar refused to end its support for Al-Jazeera, the Muslim Brotherhood, and terrorist groups across the Middle East. Trying to break the chokehold, Qatar has been desperately deploying every business relationship, lobbyist, computer hacker, and politician that money can buy. And as the struggle rages on, one of the shadowy power players in the Qatari government has been forced to enter the light.

Mohammad bin Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Masnad was once the head of Qatar’s state security service, and presently holds the official title of “Secretary to the Emir for Security Affairs.” In practice, Al-Masnad is a Qatari spymaster—and according to sources, one of his chief duties is to manipulate American politics.

Al-Masnad (also spelled in English as Al-Misned or Al-Misnad) is believed to be the cousin of the powerful Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Misned, wife of the previous emir of Qatar and mother to the current emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Al-Masnad serves as a high-level diplomatic liaison for the Qatari government, meeting with dignitaries such as EU Security Commissioner Sir Julian King, the prime minister of Iraq, and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Al-Masnad has also met with American members of Congress, including a nine-member bipartisan delegation that visited the Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar over the Fourth of July.

But it has just been revealed that Al-Masnad’s involvement with American politics goes much deeper.

Al-Masnad found himself in the news recently as a result of a lawsuit filed in Florida against the emir’s brother, Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, who allegedly ordered his American bodyguard to murder two people and also held his paramedic prisoner. Attorney Rebecca Castaneda sent a letter to the Qatari ambassador in August asking for official confirmation of a meeting that occurred in Qatar during June 2019, between Al-Masnad and Canadian businessman Alan Bender—who has deep ties with governments and royal officials across the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. According to a source with knowledge of the matter, Al-Masnad discussed the allegations against Khalid Al-Thani and stated that they were all accurate.

The source also met personally with Al-Masnad, and reported that Al-Masnad made shocking statements about his influence over American politicians and reporters. During these meetings, the Qatari spymaster claimed that he controlled a vast bribery operation targeting public figures. Al-Masnad boasted, “No Western reporter or politicians would receive a dollar without my green light.”

The Qatari influence operation in the West is becoming more widely understood, but the idea that Qatar is actively intervening in our politics is alarming. As a country, we depend on our elected officials to uphold American interests first and foremost. If there is any danger of corruption at the highest levels of government, our law-enforcement officials need to expose it to the sunlight and protect the integrity of American politics. And if credible evidence is found, the perpetrators need to be prosecuted.

Our policy toward Qatar or any other nation ought to favor the interests of the United States, and not lean toward whichever sheikh has the biggest briefcase of cash. If public figures are proven to take foreign money to influence our policies, they belong in jail, not Congress.

Dr. Oren Litwin

Researcher

Twitter: @OrenLitwin