Charity boss's links to online hate

A charity handing out millions of pounds to mosques and other organisations in Britain is run by a former Qatari official who founded a website that instructed Muslims to hate Jews and Christians, The Telegraph can disclose.

Yousef al-Kuwari is the chief executive of Qatar Charity UK, whose work includes the construction of a new mosque in the north of England.

He previously founded Islamweb, a website that issued edicts stating that it is “forbidden” to swear an oath to gain British citizenship. In June, it warned of Jews and Christians: “It is incumbent to hate them for the sake of Allah.”

Qatar Charity UK is the British arm of Qatar Charity, a Doha charity which has been designated a proscribed organisation by neighbouring Gulf states.

The disclosures come after the Telegraph revealed in June how the charity was bankrolling the construction of a mosque in Sheffield being overseen by a Kuwaiti official who claimed Jews orchestrated the Sept 11 attacks.

Mr al-Kuwari was previously head of information technology at the Qatari Ministry of Endowments, and set up Islamweb, which issues religious edicts, or fatwas.

The ministry is listed as “registrant” and administrator of the site. In a 2007 posting, Mr Al-Kuwari is referred to as chairman of its board of directors, a role he held until 2010.

Between 1998 and 2010 fatwas posted on the website included ones calling on all citizens to “wage jihad by every means against the Zionist occupation and aggression” and stating that “living in non-Muslim countries is forbidden expect for a dire need”.

Qatar Charity said that during Mr al-Kuwari’s time as Islamweb chairman “he was not involved in the development or moderation of the website’s content or in its daily management.

“The views and contents expressed in the website do not reflect the views of Mr al-Kawari and cannot be attributed to him. They certainly do not reflect the views of and cannot be attributed in any way to QCUK.”