Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al Thani
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al ThaniReuters

Qatar, a key provider of funds to terrorist groups including Hamas, has its sights set on control of the United Nations (UN) as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is poised to step down in 2016 after his second five-year term.

The gas-rich Gulf state's Emir said he would back former Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al Thani - known as HBJ - in running for the position, reported the British The Telegraph on Sunday.

HBJ was prime minister from 2007 until 2013, and simultaneously served as foreign minister during a period from 1992 until last year. He has been a key figure in Qatar's push to buy controlling stakes in major corporations worldwide.

A potentially Qatari-led UN poses a threatening figure, given the state's financial support of terror.

According to Fatah, Qatar pushed Hamas back into its terror war on Israel during Operation Protective Edge when it was unable to gain influence in the ceasefire talks. Qatar just last Sunday made a $1 billion pledge to Gaza, and is the largest foreign donor to Hamas.

Qatar has been using its fuel riches to buy influence worldwide; it still is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup despite international criticism of that move.

Likewise, the Gulf state terror sponsor was revealed last month to be the main funder of the Brookings Institution, a supposedly impartial think-tank which is the employer of former US Middle East Envoy Martin Indyk, US President Barack Obama's peace negotiator.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor in August labeled the oil-state "a Club Med for terrorists," adding that the "hundreds of millions of dollars" Qatar gave Hamas meant "every one of Hamas's tunnels and rockets might as well have had a sign that said 'Made possible through a kind donation of the Emir of Qatar.'"