BRUSSELS: Belgium dropped an arrest warrant for a Qatari minister over an EU graft scandal to help facilitate the release of a citizen from Iran, a Belgian source said on Friday.

Belgian media reported the international alert for Qatari works minister Ali Bin Samikh Al Marri was suspended in May as Brussels pushed to free aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele from jail in Tehran.

Al Marri was implicated by investigators in the so-called “Qatargate” bribery scandal involving an alleged scheme by the Gulf state to funnel cash to lawmakers at the European Parliament. Vandecasteele and several other Europeans were freed by Tehran in June in exchange for Brussels releasing an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism — a deal reportedly mediated by Oman.

An official source in Belgium said the arrest warrant was dropped in a bid to get Qatar “to intercede in the hostage matter”. “It was a card to play to try to remove biases that might prevent Iran from releasing European hostages,” the source said.

Vandecasteele’s release came shortly after dropping of the warrant, but it remains unclear what role Qatar played. The source insisted the move was a “gesture” by Belgium towards Qatar and did not have much practical impact as the minister already had diplomatic immunity for official travel.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2023