Washington, DC - The Second U.S.-Qatar Dialogue of Counterterrorism and Terrorism Financing was held in the city of Doha on 5 September 2018.

Major General Abdul Aziz al-Ansari, Chairman of Qatar National Counter Terrorism Committee, led the Qatari delegation, while the U.S. delegation was led by the U.S. Department of State’s Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Alina L. Romanowski. The delegations of both states included counterterrorism and countering the financing of terrorism specialists. His Excellency, Ambassador Dr. Mutlaq al-Qahtani, Special Envoy of Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs for Counterterrorism and Conflict Mediation, represented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the meeting.

The five sessions focused on a review of the latest counterterrorism and counterterrorism finance efforts since the signing of the Counterterrorism Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries on November 7, 2017, and the achievements in implementing the 2018 action plan. The two delegations have also agreed on future steps to advance counterterrorism efforts and the actions intended to serve this purpose. Discussions also touched on sharing U.S. experiences with Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.

The sessions were marked by an optimistic spirit of cooperation and agreement on the different topics. The U.S. delegation welcomes the measures and actions taken by the Government of Qatar to cooperate with the international community in the fight against terrorism and terrorism financing, and acknowledged that work remains to be done in our mutual counterterrorism efforts. The Qatari delegation also thanked the United States for its support of Qatar as a strategic ally in the fight against terrorism.

In the end, the two sides reiterated the importance of continuing their constructive cooperation for achieving more progress in fighting terrorism and terrorism financing and minimizing its devastating consequences.