Did Qatar bomb Misrata? – the dangers in allying with an Arab dictatorship.
There have been a number of breaks in our ongoing investigation into the cluster bombing of Misrata over the last few days. We now have a lot more information about the disposition of forces on the relevant days (mid-April) and a new line of enquiry has opened up – and that is the involvement of the Qatar Emirates navy and marines.
At this stage HRI cannot release all the information or sources as investigation are ongoing, but we are going to release throw a few facts out there because it is important that journalists and politicians start asking more of the relevant questions.
There is evidence that Qatari naval forces possessed the particular weapons system used to deliver the MAT-120 (the cluster munition found in Misrata).
The evidence that Spain sold Qatar category 4 munitions (bombs) at the relevant time is in the Spanish National Report.
Qatar has refused to sign up to the Convention against Cluster Munitions.
We also have evidence regarding the presence of Qatari military units in the Mediterranean around 14th April.
The knowledge that a Qatari C-17 has been involved in supply of material to the war against Libya is a matter of public record as are some of the movements of this craft.
As Hillary Clinton said when confronted with the information about the use of cluster munitions in Misrata – the situation on the ground in Misrata was complex.
This is a long and complicated investigation and we are following up several lines of investigation.
Update 31 August:
Footage of captured Qatari weapons being smuggled to the Libyan rebels:
Human rights investigations 