The Sri Lankan government will reportedly lift a ban on a charity that it accused of terrorism and suspended the bank accounts of, as part of an attempt to mend relations with Qatar in a desperate attempt to seek a steady supply of fuel.
The Qatar Charity was accused by senior Sri Lankan ministers of funding organisations linked to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombers. Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) subsequently froze the accounts of Qatar Charity in Sri Lanka as well as arresting prominent lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah and detaining him for almost 2 years under the much-criticised Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Qatar was one of many Islamic states that also wrote to Sri Lanka, calling for an end to its policy of forcibly cremating COVID-19 victims, a move that goes against Islamic practices and sparked widespread backlash. For months, Sri Lanka refused to shift its policy.
However, with Sri Lanka now in an economic and political crisis which has led to a lack of fuel supplies and a shutdown across the island, Colombo has markedly changed its tune.
The newly appointed Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera travelled to Qatar this week, where he met with several senior officials. He also met with senior officials of the Qatar Charity – the very organisation that his government had banned – and informed them that the defence ministry had now overturned the move.
Wijesekera also discussed possible credit lines with Qatari officials, just days after he told reporters that international fuel suppliers and foreign banks are now rejecting Sri Lankan backed letters of credit.
A ministry official anonymously told Reuters that Wijesekera hopes to find a long-term fuel supplier in Qatar who is "willing to work with Sri Lanka's foreign exchange and other challenges".
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has seen the country grind to a halt as fuel supplies have run dry across the island. A government imposed shutdown has meant that all “non-essential services” will not be allowed to refuel until at least July 10th.
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