Qatar has objected to an article published in FoxNews.com which it says contains numerous false allegations against the country and has accused FoxNews.com and the article’s authors of trying to use the tragedy in Lebanon to advance false narratives.
The article, written by Benjamin Weinthal and Spyer, is poorly sourced and the two individuals have an established anti-Qatar agenda, Qatar’s embassy in Washington said in a statement.
“Benjamin Weinthal of “Foundation for Defense of Democracies” (FDD) has previously made distorted claims against Qatar. His aim is to undermine Qatar’s hosting of the American military at Al Udeid Air Base and have it relocated elsewhere in the region. This is not surprising since it was revealed by the Associated Press that FDD worked at the direction of the United Arab Emirates to publish slanderous articles and organise anti-Qatar events,” the embassy said.
His so-called research is undermined by Qatar’s work for decades at the forefront of the fight against extremism and terror financing. Qatar was the first country in the region to sign a comprehensive MU with the United States to combat terror financing and currently, Qatar has some of the strictest domestic laws to prosecute those associated with terror financing, the embassy added.
Also, Qatar has invested significantly in Al Udeid Air Base, making it one of the most advanced military bases in the world and an invaluable hub in the global fight against terrorism and extremism.
It further stated that it was “disturbing that the authors and FoxNews.com are using the tragedy in Lebanon to advance false narratives. The focus should be on supporting the Lebanese people. To that end, the State of Qatar is already working to assist those impacted, by sending planeloads of urgent medical aid, field hospitals, along with search and rescue teams to Beirut.”
It is time to ignore biased organisations with narrow self-interest working to tarnish reputations by spreading disinformation and falsehoods. It is beneath the standards of FoxNews.com to give a platform to such actors, the embassy said.