NewsTracker Answers for week of Aug. 25, 2014

Q: A German government minister last week accused the tiny Persian Gulf nation of Qatar of financing Islamic State militants who beheaded a captive American journalist. Where is the Persian Gulf?

Circle the area on this map

Q: ISIS – extremist rebels in Iraq and Syria - has been called the world's richest terrorist organization, and millions of dollars in donations from the Persian Gulf allegedly have been funneled to ISIS through financiers in the small nation in the northwest corner of the Gulf. Which nation is that?

A. Bahrain

B. Kuwait

C. Oman

D. United Arab Emirates

B. U.S. officials have imposed sanctions on three Kuwaiti financiers and pressured Kuwait, Qatar and other Persian Gulf allies to stop the flow of money. In addition to money from rich backers in the Gulf, ISIS has stolen and extorted many more millions in the territories it conquered.

Q: ISIS is comprised of Sunni Muslim extremists who have slaughtered, kidnapped and forced the conversions of followers of other religions. They are fighting the Iraqi and Syrian governments led by Shia Muslims. Which nation is the largest backer of Shiites?

A. Iran

B. Iraq

C. Saudi Arabia

D. Turkey

A. Between 90% and 95% of Iran's 78 million people are Shia Muslims – more than any other nation. But, Shia Muslims constitute only 10% to 20% of the world's Muslim population.

Q: The split between Sunnis and Shiites has been traced back to a dispute over who would succeed Islam's Prophet Muhammad. He was born about 570 in the city of Mecca which is located in Qatar's neighbor . . .

A. Iran

B. Iraq

C. Saudi Arabia

D. Turkey

C. Qatar's sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south. Saudi Arabia's leaders adhere to Salafism, a conservative form of Sunni Islam, and ISIS aims to create a Salafist state in Iraq and Syria. Saudi citizens compose the largest contingent of foreign fighters in ISIS.

Q: Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have passed laws to curb the flow of funds to ISIS, but many donors still operate out in the open. The Gulf states of Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates are all . . .

A. Islamic republics

B. Military dictatorships

C. Caliphates

D. Monarchies

D. Other than Iran and Iraq, all the nations on the Persian Gulf are either absolute or constitutional monarchies. In June, ISIS declared its occupied territories a caliphate, which is an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph – or "successor" to Muhammad.