(MENAFN- The Peninsula) QNA
A joint statement has been issued following the visit paid by US Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, to the State of Qatar, as follows: US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin has visited Doha and met Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, in which they have reaffirmed the joint efforts between Qatar and the United States to defeat terrorism and its financing.
This visit underscores the robust ties between the State of Qatar and the United States, and included meetings with the Minister of Finance H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi and other high-level Qatari officials to discuss further opportunities for expanded cooperation.
The United States and Qatar have a shared understanding that the improvements initiated in the past several months, outlined in the July 11, 2017 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries on counterterrorism financing cooperation, form the first step of what must be a sustained and enduring campaign to counter terrorist financing, with a strong emphasis on threats posed by Hizballah, Al Qaeda, the Nusrah Front, IS, and other terrorist organisations.
Mnuchin said: 'We agreed to enhance our cooperation to counter the financing of terrorism in key areas of mutual concern including by substantially increasing the sharing of information on terrorist financiers in the region, placing greater emphasis on charitable and money service business sectors in Qatar to prevent terrorists from continuing to use those sectors for illicit financing purposes, developing a Qatari domestic designations regime in line with international standards and taking joint actions against terrorist financiers. We affirm that the United States and Qatar will significantly increase our cooperation on these issues to ensure that Qatar is a hostile environment for terrorist financing.
For his part, Minister of Finance
H E Ali Shareef Al Emadi said: 'Our talks with Secretary Mnuchin have been highly productive, and underline our nations shared determination to eradicate terrorism wherever it takes root. We agreed to further our high level of joint cooperation to counter terror financing in key areas of our mutual concern. Qatar is working closely with the United States to enforce financial sanctions against ISIS, AQAP and other terrorist groups. The MoU signed in July represents a commitment from Qatar to strengthen our combined counter-terrorism efforts with the United States through shared intelligence and coordination between government agencies. This is a clear indicator of our long-standing political commitment to combatting money laundering and terror financing.
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