Screen Watch, the English Edition Ofqatar the Pape Book:Rs Chesnot Malbrunot
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SCREEN SCREEN HIDDEN FUNDING: WATCH WATCH Swiss foundations escape transparency While Switzerland adopted a law on EXCLUSIVE the automatic international exchange of information in tax matters in 2017, foundations continue to derogate from the rule. The Confederation has more than 13,000 of them, each more opaque than the next. GEOSTRATEGIC FORSIGHT GEOSTRATEGIC FORSIGHT e careful, Switzerland is no In fact, fraudsters no longer open ac- longer a tax haven in the counts in Switzerland, it’s too risky, and SECURITY MONITORING SECURITY MONITORING eyes of the European Union therefore too old-fashioned. They are COUNTER-TERRORISM COUNTER-TERRORISM since October 2019. Since setting up foundations (301 new ones in RESISTANCE TO EXTREMISM RESISTANCE TO EXTREMISM January 1, 2017, Berne has 2018, 54 of them in Geneva). The Confe- Bapplied the international standard gover- deration has more than 13,000 of them. ning the automatic exchange of informa- It’s simple, to hide your money, just ask #05 - DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020 tion relating to financial accounts in tax a lawyer to imagine a foundation for Pa- matters (AEOI). Clearly, it is (theoreti- lestinian seal pups, battered women or cally) no longer possible to defraud in the orphans. Your name does not appear and land of cows, lakes and chocolate. Doha you do not pay taxes. SUMMARY will therefore no longer be able to use According to the Centre for Philan- the financial centres of Geneva, Lugano thropic Studies at the University of Ba- 02 EDITORIAL : Why the elimination of general or Zurich to water Europe, as Christian sel, the assets of these foundations ex- Qassim Soleimani is (in fact) a relief to the Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot say in ceed 70 billion Swiss francs (63 billion Iranian regime! «Qatar Papers» whose English version, euros). But there is still no directory of 02 CONFIDENTIAL : The “Swiss Bin Laden” published by Global Watch Analysis, is foundations, no public data. The majority reduced to making the quest at the Zurich included as a free supplement to this is- of them do not even appear on the Web. Central Station! sue of Sceen watch. They are under no obligation to disclose 03 When Israel supplies Iran with sensitive However, to wash it whiter than white, information and therefore to respond to nuclear equipment! Switzerland still has to admit its defeat at the press. In short, a wonderful black 07 EXPERTISES : Night in Paris, lights on the the Global Forum on Transparency and hole for organized crime and terrorism. Orient By Martine Gozlan Exchange of Information for Tax Pur- A few years ago, the think tank Ave- poses, an OECD initiative. This Forum nir Suisse asked that these foundations 10 IRAN-USA: Towards confrontation? BY Christian Malard must ensure that there are no loopholes should have at least “the obligation to that can be used to circumvent the stan- devote at least 5% of their capital annual- 11 Orangutans, bears and Jews dard of automatic information exchange. ly to the achievement of their statutory BY Jean-Marie Montali The Federal Council (Swiss govern- purpose”. As we have understood, the 12 Muslim Brotherhood: the forgotten archives of ment) has therefore presented a preli- owners of foundations (and in particular Gamal al-Banna BY Ian Hamel minary project extending the automatic many Swiss bankers) are not really great 13 Where does jihadist violence come from? exchange of information to foundations philanthropists. Their primary purpose is By Hamid Zanaz that flourish in the Confederation. not to help the widow and orphan, but to But, bang! On the sly, on 20 November hide undeclared money. 14 INTERVIEW : Abdul Rahman al-Suwaidi: 35 years in the hell of the Muslim Brotherhood 2019, the Federal Council decided not to Some of these foundations will still be lift this exception. In a statement, he said used for years as vehicles to supply the 18 DOCUMENT: Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian it was “too early to implement the World Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. But also Pasdaran: a secret alliance? Forum’s recommendations in this area”. the actions of the Diyanet, the presidency 20 PROFILE: Abdelhakim Belhaj: Ex-jihadist, The subject “must be the subject of fur- of religious affairs in Turkey, which is in- future Turkish proconsul in Libya! ther international debate”. creasingly active on the old continent. Christian Georges As a free supplement to this issue of Screen Watch, the English edition ofQatar the PaPE book:rs CHESNOT MALBRUNOT HAUVIN How Doha finances T the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe The “Qatar papers” reveal the mapping of proselytism in France and Europe led HOTO: © MATHIEU © MATHIEU HOTO: by Qatar Charity, the most powerful Qatari NGO. These confidential documents, P disclosed for the first time, detail 140 projects to finance mosques, schools and Is- OVER C lamic centres, for the benefit of associations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. They also reveal the salary paid to Tariq Ramadan, a figure of political Islam that NALYSIs - NALYSIs Doha sponsors outside its borders. A At the end of a survey in six European countries and a dozen cities in France, the Qatar authors expose the concealment, sometimes the double language, of Muslim associ- ations on their foreign funding, as well as the ostrich policy followed by many may- ors, out of electoralism or ignorance. They point out the absurdity of the situation: with the faithful’s money alone as a subsidy, how could mosques in France deprive QATAR PAPERS themselves of aid from abroad? A journey behind-the-scenes of a wealthy and opaque NGO linked to the top of the Qatari PaPErs PHOTO OF THE AUTHORS: © GLOBAL WATCH WATCH © GLOBAL THE OF AUTHORS: PHOTO state, as revealed by its funding by several members of the ruling family, the Al Thani. Malbrunot Christian Georges Chesnot How Doha finances s the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe How Doha finances the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe r CHRISTIAN CHESNOT is a major reporter for the international editorial staff of Radio France, GEORGES MALBRUNOT, for PE Le Figaro. Specialists in a the Middle East, they have co-authored many books, including the latest Our Dearest Emirs - Are they By CHRISTIAN CHESNOT and GEORGES MALBRUNOT really our friends? www.global-watch-analysis.com Qatar P Qatar ISBN: 978-2-491667-00-9 PUBLISHED BY GLOBAL WATCH ANALYSIS EDITIONS 18€ - 20$ - 15£ SCREEN WATCH - #05 - DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020 1 Why the elimination Let down MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: AFRICA: by Qatar, Migration Season Oil partnership between of General Soleimani the ‘Swiss to Malaysia Total and Qatar Bin Laden’ The worldwide office of The aim is to find a new Qatar recently submitted a major proposal is (in fact) a relief to the the Muslim Brotherhood haven and protection land for to the French oil group Total for a strategic is reduced has recently initiated discreet the most sought-after Muslim partnership in the field of oil well exploration in Iranian regime but intense contacts with a Brotherhood leaders, whose Africa. to making view to transferring to Malay- security could be compro- the quest sia some of the most eminent mised in the perspective of espite the fiery war of words and threatening gesticulations leaders of the Brotherhood, Qatar’s reconciliation with its NATO modernizes promising to avenge his death, the elimination of General at Zurich currently based in Qatar and Gulf neighbours or becauseof EDITORIAL Qassim Soleimani, killed by an American drone on Janua- Turkey. Western pressure on Turkey. its AWACS fleet ry 3, is a relief for the Iranian regime! And not only for the Central reformist current led by President Hassan Rouhani and his The Atlantic Alliance will release a huge budget, Station! estimated at over $1 billion, to modernize its Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. SAUDI ARABIA: fleet of radar reconnaissance aircraft, which includes Described sometimes as the number 2 of the Regime, ge- In our previous Local complicity 14 AWACS aircrafts. neral Soleimani was officially only the commander of a sub- edition (Screen CONFIDENTIAL division of the Pasdaran (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), the Quds Force Watch, No. 4, Octo- in the attack on Aramco Dtransformed, especially since the coming to power of the ultra-conservative Pre- ber-November 2019) we GABON: sident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005 - 2013), into a real “foreign legion” working revealed that after Nadia to strengthen Iran’s military influence in the Middle East. Karmous, founder of According to a confidential note issued by a Western Recovered, Ali Bongo the Museum of civili- intelligence service, the Iranian Pasdaran benefited, du- The ‘Arab Spring’ revolutions and the fratricidal wars which followed were an sations of Islam in La ring the attack on the oil sites of the Saudi company Aramco will visit Saudi Arabia opportunity for the Quds Force to transform this Iranian influence in the Middle Chaux-de-Fonds, Qatar (Abqaiq & Khurais), from local complicity on the ground, East into a direct military presence, whereas until then it had operated by proxy via has decided to leave to which helped to guide the ballistic missiles and drones used in The Gabonese president, who has resumed all some 60 pro-Iranian militias essentially implanted in Lebanon and Iraq. his (sad) fate Nicolas the final stages of their trajectories to reach their targets. his presidential activities, plans to visit Saudi ATMANE TAZAGHART ATMANE General Soleimani quickly established himself as the undisputed warlord in Blancho, President of the Arabia soon to thank the crown prince, Mohamed By Syria, Iraq and Yemen. His meteoric rise has considerably stren- Islamic Central Council Bin Salman, for the quality of care he received fol- gthened the Pasdaran’s hold on the political and economic of Switzerland (ICCS).