US accuses Gulf rights activists of financing terror

The US Department of Treasury has imposed sanctions on two prominent Gulf citizens – Abd Al-Rahman Al-Nuaymi, the Qatari head of Geneva-based rights organisation Alkarama, and Abd Al-Wahhab Al-Humayqani, the secretary-general of Yemen’s Rashad Union – accusing them of publicly working for human rights while secretly channelling finances to Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Al-Nuaymi and Al-Humayqani were both named Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 18 December; Nuaymi – a history professor who is thought to have resigned from the Alkarama foundation following the US decision – has issued a statement denying what he called “totally unfounded accusations” aimed at silencing his objections to US policies in the Arab world.