Qatari agents used bribes and threats to sink ‘terror funding’ case, UK court told

It was alleged that Qatar’s motivation was to avoid ‘a trial or adverse finding in the run-up to the World Cup’. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Agents working for Qatar threatened witnesses and issued bribes to thwart an alleged terror funding case brought in London and to avoid derailing the Gulf state’s hosting of the 2022 Fifa World Cup, a court has heard.

Eight Syrian refugees were attempting to sue Doha Bank claiming that it knowingly facilitated the transfer of funds to al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group that controlled part of northern Syria, which forced them to flee for their lives overseas.