Sudanese General al-Dhabi, considered until recently as the Darfur peace negotiator, has been targeted by an international smear campaign after the first daily reports by the Arab League monitors started to show that his Mission would not endorse the Atlanticist version of events in Syria.

However, Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi remained steadfast in the face of persistent pressure and, at the end of one month’s investigation, issued a summary report indicating that the Syrian security forces never opened fire on peaceful protest demonstrations.

Just as a new observation mission is being considered, this time jointly with the Arab League and the United Nations, Qatar escalated pressure on General al-Dhabi to get him to resign and leave the door open for a more accommodating personality.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, first offered him a compensation if he agreed to retire. The general refused. The Emir then told him by phone that every man has a price and that it was up to him to fix his own and sent him a blank check, asking him to fill in the amount. New refusal by the General.

In the end, Qatar spoke to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The Wahhabi emirate made a grant available to Sudan - one of the poorest countries in the world - in exchange General al-Dhabi’s withdrawal. After payment of $ 2 billion, the Sudanese President recalled the general to Khartoum.

The Arab League has a rotating presidency, exercised in turns by each of the 22 Member States. In 2011, Qatar had convinced the Palestinian Authority to cede its Presidency in exchange for a donation of $ 400 million.