DOHA: Qatar’s chief law officer says the country isn’t entirely corruption-free and to suggest that it is would not do any good.
“We know we have a problem, whether it is corruption or any other of its form. We should not bury our head in the sand like an ostrich,” said Attorney-General Ali bin Fetais Al Marri (Pictured).
Since 1995 Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani had been working to combat such problems and deal with them with an iron hand.
Al Marri’s comments came during his informal chat with media persons yesterday on the sidelines of a conference on the “Role of Fighting Corruption to Counter Terrorism” held by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Centre here.
He said setting up the Centre was the idea of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. It has been established in cooperation with the United Nations to promote the Rule of Law and combat corruption in the Arab world.
Earlier, Al Marri said that fighting corruption to tackle terrorism was a challenging task. He said many youth fell easy prey to terror and criminal outfits, as they became disenchanted with their homelands and escaped due to tyrannical rule, corruption and lack of social justice.
Among those who join the ranks of terrorists are university graduates as well. They are educated people and yet they take resort to such actions. The causes of such phenomena must be studied extensively to fight terrorism. Using force and weapons and missiles isn’t the answer, said the Attorney-General.
A former vice-president of Switzerland, Micheline Calmy-Rey, also spoke at a panel discussion and talked about links between terror outfits and organised crime. Empowering people and ensuring justice and equality were the solutions to the problem, she said.
The Peninsula
