A
Pentagon “propagandist,” who previously headed a company that was
paid half a billion dollars to produce fake terrorist videos in Iraq,
was hired by a Dubai based company to create a film accusing Qatar of
links to terrorism, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has
revealed.
Charles
Andreae, the CEO of Andreae & Associates which was contracted to
produce the film, used to work for PR firm Bell Pottinger, the UK PR
firm that was payed $540 million dollars to create fake terrorist
videos in Iraq.
The firm
was employed to produce the anti-Qatari film amidst a diplomatic row
in which the Saudi and UAE governments cut ties with Doha, which it
accused of supporting terrorism. Qatar has strongly denied the
accusation and accused its neighbours of fabricating stories. US
intelligence agencies have since confirmed that the UAE orchestrated
the hacking of Qatari government news and social media sites to
justify its unprecedented attack against Qatar.
According
to the Bureau, Andreae was given over $500,000 to produce a six-part
film linking Qatar with global terrorism. The film, entitled “Qatar:
A Dangerous Alliance,” features a number of neo-conservative
pundits making the UAE and Saudi case against Qatar in a 37-minute
video.
Copies
of the film are said to have been distributed at an event at the
right-wing Hudson Institute think-tank last October. President
Trump’s former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon is said to have been a
keynote speaker at the event, as was former Defence Secretary Leon
Panetta and General David Petraeus, former CIA director, the Bureau
reported.
The
contract only came to light following a newly-filed lobbying
declaration with the US Department of Justice. US companies are
required by law to disclose information on lobbying and PR work for
foreign clients.
Full
report:
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