West's Important Ally Against Islamic State

Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, who is in London on his first official tour since he took office last year, is an important ally in the battle against Islamic State.
His country is also a thorn in the side of its neighbours and Western allies.
Qatari jets have been bombing Islamic State targets while, according to US and other officials, individual Qataris have been pouring funds into the hands of radical Islamist groups in Syria.
Qatar houses the US regional command HQ in al Udeid - and is suspected of having supplied surface-to-air missiles to Syrian rebels that are now in the hands of Islamic State and could bring down American aircraft.
Much of the Qatari government's often inconsistent policies can be explained away by the naive enthusiasm of a young, wildly rich, nation of only 300,000 people to get involved in international affairs.

Qatari jets have been bombing Islamic State targets

There are long standing rivalries with Saudi Arabia which explain Qatar's enthusiasm for the Muslim Brotherhood, which Jeddah and other Gulf Co-operation Council members have banned.
But individuals in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been identified as major sources of funding for extremist groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State - and all three are now under pressure to crack down on the flow of terror money.
The Emir will be asked to do more during his meetings with David Cameron this week.
At the centre of funding for both al Qaeda and Islamic State is a Qatar-based financier, Khalifa Mohammed Turki al Subaiy.
Subjected to UN sanctions, he was arrested but released in Qatar about six years ago, but according to the US Treasury, remains at the centre of an extremist funding web.
He has links to Tariq al Harzi, a Tunisian who is Syria-based and is the Islamic State's 'Emir for suicide bombers' and the man in charge of recruiting foreign fighters.
Harzi is reported to have received at least one donation of $2m (£1.2m) via Subaiy.
Another terror funder who has used Qatar as a base is Ashraf al Salam.
A Jordanian, he is now based in Syria and has used Qatar and Subaiy's network to send al Qaeda money to groups in Syria, Pakistan and Iraq.
Abd al Malik al Salam, another Jordanian, who was Lebanon and Qatar-based until he was jailed in Beirut, also liaised with Subaiy.
On top of that, Subaiy also has links to Muhsin al Fadhli, a Kuwaiti and former head of al Qaeda in Iran, who now heads the so-called Khorasan group in Syria that was bombed by the US in September for allegedly plotting attacks in the West.
Kuwait's record as a source of private funds and ideological support for extremism is no better.
Hamad Al Shamari - a Kuwaiti financial facilitator to AQ in Pakistan and the al Nusra Front in Syria often also works out of Qatar.
While Shafi Sultan Mohammed al-Ajmi, a Kuwaiti, is one of the most active Kuwaiti fundraisers for the al Nusra Front and has admitted purchasing and smuggling arms on behalf of al Qaeda in Syria (the al Nusra front).