Career
He previously taught Islamic Studies at Qatar University and once served as President of the Qatar Football Association. He has been accused of being “one of the world’s most prolific terrorist financiers.” In 2004, al-Nuaimi co-founded Alkarama, a Geneva-based human rights organization. Its mission is to “assist all those in the Arab World subjected to or at risk of extra-judicial executions, disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention,” by connecting them with “international human rights mechanisms.” Alkarama has worked with United Nations human rights bodies including the Committee Against Torture and the Human Rights Committee, as well as prominent international human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Although he denied the accusations leveled against him, he resigned as president of Alkarama after being named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Department of the Treasury.
On December 18, 2013, al-Nuaimi was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorists by the United States Department of the Treasury, which described him as “a Qatar-based terrorist financier and facilitator who has provided money and material support and conveyed communications to al-Qa"ida and its affiliates in Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen for more than a decade.” The Treasury Department alleged that, for an unspecified period of time, al-Nuaimi funneled over $2 million per month to First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Qaeda in Iraq. He is also accused of providing $600,000 to First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Qaeda representatives in Syria and $250,000 to First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Shabaab in Somalia, in addition to an undisclosed amount to a Yemeni charity that funneled money to First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
While the accusations of financial support to terrorist organizations received the most attention, United States. authorities also accused al-Nuaimi of providing communications and other support to the Iraqi insurgency between 2003 and 2004. Subsequent media reports noted al-Nuaimi’s history of extremist views, particularly with regard to women's rights.
First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Nuaimi has steadfastly denied the allegations, and the executive director of Alkarama—which is not itself accused of any wrongdoing—has argued that al-Nuaimi’s designation as a terrorist financier and facilitator is a politically motivated attempt to silence a critic of United States policy in the Middle East.
As part of its human rights work, Alkarama has documented civilian casualties resulting from United States. drone strikes in Yemen. Human rights groups stress that Alkarama itself is a legitimate organization that has provided important access to information in cases of human rights violations in the region. The designation by the United States was followed by similar designations by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, resulting in a travel and ban and a freeze of al-Nuaimi’s assets.
