“Syria's new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the
country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who
toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago. In a brief address on state
television, Mohammed al-Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who
previously ran an administration in a pocket of the northwest controlled by
rebels, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1. "Today we held
a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was
working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime," he
said. "The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and
institutions to caretake the government."”











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Eye on Extremism



December 11, 2024



Reuters: Rebel-Backed Figure Takes Charge As Syria's Interim Prime Minister
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“Syria's new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the
country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who
toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago. In a brief address on state
television, Mohammed al-Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who
previously ran an administration in a pocket of the northwest controlled by
rebels, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1. "Today we held
a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was
working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime," he
said. "The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and
institutions to caretake the government."”



Associated Press: Russian Lawmakers Advance A Bill Removing The Terrorist
Designation For The Taliban
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“The lower house of the Russian parliament gave initial approval Tuesday to a
long-discussed bill that would set the stage for Moscow to remove the
designation of the Taliban in Afghanistan as a terrorist group. Under the bill
passed by the State Duma in the first of three required readings, the official
terrorist designation of an organization could be suspended temporarily by a
court. The legislation also needs to be approved by the upper house and signed
by President Vladimir Putin to become law. The Taliban were put on Russia’s
list of terrorist organizations in 2003, and any contact with such groups is
punishable under Russian law. At the same time, Taliban delegations attended
various forums hosted by Moscow.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

*
CounterPoint Brief: Rebels Seize Aleppo, Renewing Fighting In Decade-Long
Syrian Conflict
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*
CounterPoint Brief: The Fear of Blasphemy Laws In Britain
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*
“Dark Foreigner”: Canada’s Outsized Far-Right Export
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*
CEP – KAS: Sahel Monitoring June 2024
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*
ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency In October 2024
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CEP Mentions



Merkur.de: Battle For Raw Materials After Assad's Fall: Warning About IS
Terrorists
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“... One thing is clear: the Syrian alliance Hai'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS),
which together with other groups overthrew Assad, is not a simple rebel
alliance, but an Islamist militia. Some of the main founding members of HTS
have their origins in the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. Experts fear a
resurgence of religiously motivated terrorism in the region. Terror expert and
Middle East expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project sees
another risk that could also affect Europe and Germany in the medium term.
"From the perspective of international counterterrorism, this is an extremely
delicate situation - for two reasons," said Schindler in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA.”



ZDF Heute: Al-Julani: "Only Part Of A Coalition"
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“Parts of the HTS alliance in Syria are clearly extremist and Islamist, even
if their leader appears moderate, explains extremism expert Hans-Jakob
Schindler.”



ZDF Heute: Peace With Islamists In Power?
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“... Is a peaceful future in Syria realistic? Can power be shared among the
rebel groups ? How could other Islamist groups such as the Islamic State
benefit from the current situation? ZDFheute live speaks with terrorism
researcher Hans-Jakob Schindler from the transatlantic think tank Counter
Extremism Project (CDP) and Phoebe Gaa in Gaziantep, Turkey, on the border with
Syria. The Islamic militia Haitat-Tahir al-Sham (HTS) is currently the largest
rebel group in Syria. The group was previously known as the Nusra Front, the
Syrian branch of the terrorist network Al-Qaeda. Since then, it has changed its
name several times and publicly distanced itself from Al-Qaeda and IS. However,
experts doubt that HTS has completely broken with the past.”



Business Insider Nederland: Russia’s Access To Crucial Military Bases In Syria
Hangs In The Balance, Threatening Its Role In The Region
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“... "It hits them hard," Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior advisor to the
Counter Extremism Project, said of Russia. He added: "Syria has been their most
reliable Arab ally." In 2017, Syria granted Russia a 49-year lease on the
Hmeimim air base and the Tartus naval base, in return for military assistance.
Russia has used the bases to project power in the Mediterranean and into
Africa, and as a counter to NATO's southern flank. "These bases are the most
important bases outside the direct sphere of Russian influence," Andreas Krieg,
a Gulf specialist at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at King's College
London, told Business Insider. Ann Marie Dailey, a geopolitical strategist at
RAND, told BI that despite its massive landmass, Russia "doesn't have great
geography for power projection."”



United States



Associated Press: US Says It Will Support New Syrian Leaders Who Protect Women
And Renounce Terrorism
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“The Biden administration said Tuesday it will recognize and support a new
Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks
and protects the rights of minorities and women. Secretary of State Antony
Blinken said in a statement that the U.S. would work with groups in Syria and
regional partners to ensure that the transition from President Bashar Assad’s
deposed government runs smoothly. He was not specific about which groups the
U.S. would work with, but the State Department has not ruled out talks with the
main Syrian rebel group despite its designation as a terrorist organization.”



CBS: Upper St. Clair Man Charged With Lying To FBI About Involvement With
Terrorist Group
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“An Upper St. Clair man has been charged with lying to FBI agents about his
desire to join a terrorist organization, federal prosecutors announced on
Monday. Twenty-four-year-old Jack Molloy was charged with making a false
statement or representation involving international terrorism to a department
or agency of the United States, U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan announced.
Prosecutors said Molloy lied to FBI agents at the Pittsburgh International
Airport on Oct. 20 when he told them that he had no plans to become involved
with the terrorist organization Hizballah, sometimes spelled Hezbollah, and
that he had no business in Syria nor was he meeting anyone there. But
authorities said Molloy had traveled to Syria to further his attempts to join
Hizballah.”



Syria



Associated Press: Israeli Warplanes Pound Syria As Troops Reportedly Advance
Deeper Into The Country
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“Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops
advanced deeper into the country, a Syrian opposition war monitor said Tuesday,
and the Israeli defense minister announced that his forces had destroyed
Syria’s navy. Israel acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria
following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. But it remained unclear if
Israeli soldiers had gone beyond that area, which was established more than 50
years ago. Israel denied that it was advancing on the Syrian capital of
Damascus. The Israeli military said Tuesday that it carried out more than 350
strikes in Syria over the last 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons
stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of
extremists.”



Iran



The Wall Street Journal: Iran Suffers Blow Of ‘Historic Proportions’ With
Assad’s Fall
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“Iran spent decades and billions of dollars building a network of militias
and governments that allowed it to exercise political and military influence
across the Middle East, and deter foreign attacks on its soil. In a matter of
weeks, the pillars of that alliance came crashing down. The departure of
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is the latest strategic catastrophe that will force
Iran to rethink decades-old security policies, just as it is also confronting
the election of President-elect Donald Trump and his promises of new pressure
on Tehran.”



Yemen



Reuters: US Military Says It Defeated Houthi Attack On Ships In Gulf Of Aden
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“Two U.S. Navy destroyers escorting three merchant vessels through the Gulf
of Aden defeated an attack by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, the U.S. military
said on Tuesday. The Houthis launched multiple drones and a cruise missile
while the ships were transiting the Gulf on Monday and Tuesday, U.S. Central
Command said in a post on X. "The reckless attacks resulted in no injuries and
no damage to any vessels, civilians or U.S. Naval," CENTCOM said. A military
spokesman for the Houthis said earlier on Tuesday that the group had targeted
three supply ships and two American destroyers accompanying them in the Gulf of
Aden.”



The New York Times: Houthi Attacks Turn Back The Clock For Shipping As Costs
Pile Up
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“Before this year, Tobias Kammann, a German container ship captain, had only
once sailed around the southern tip of Africa, and the lack of other vessels in
the little-trafficked waters made him feel very much alone. But these days,
there are so many ships there, he said, that “it’s a bit like the autobahn.” To
get from Asia to Europe and back, global shipping companies have for decades
sailed through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. But a year ago, the Houthi
insurgents in Yemen began targeting vessels in the Red Sea with drones and
missiles, forcing shipping companies to divert their cargo around the Cape of
Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip, a route that is some 3,500 nautical miles
and 10 days longer.”



Middle East



Associated Press: Israeli Strikes On Gaza Kill At Least 29, Palestinian Medics
Say
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“Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday, hitting
a home where displaced people were sheltering in the isolated north and a
built-up refugee camp. At least 29 people were killed, according to Palestinian
health officials. The Israel-Hamas war has raged on with no end in sight, even
after Israel reached a ceasefire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and attention shifted
to the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Both the outgoing and
incoming U.S. administrations have said they hope to end the war before the
inauguration but months of ceasefire talks have repeatedly stalled. The strike
on the home killed 19 people in the northern town of Beit Lahiya near the
border with Israel, according to the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, which
received the bodies.”



Associated Press: Humanitarian Aid To Northern Gaza Mostly Blocked For The
Last 2 Months, UN Says
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“Humanitarian aid to north Gaza, where Israel launched a ground offensive on
Oct. 6, has largely been blocked for the past 66 days, the United Nations said
Tuesday. That has left between 65,000 and 75,000 Palestinians without access to
food, water, electricity or health care, according to the world body. In the
north, Israel has continued its siege on Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya
with Palestinians living there largely denied aid, the U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said. Recently, it said,
about 5,500 people were forcibly displaced from three schools in Beit Lahiya to
Gaza City. Adding to the food crisis, only four U.N.-supported bakeries are
operating throughout the Gaza Strip, all of them in Gaza City, OCHA said.”



Somalia



Reuters: Fighting Breaks Out Between Somalia's Jubbaland Region And Federal
Government, Officials Say
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“Fighting erupted on Wednesday between Somalia's semi-autonomous Jubbaland
region and federal government forces after Jubbaland held an election against
the advice of authorities in Mogadishu, officials said. The clashes will raise
concerns that internal rivalries are diverting attention from the fight against
the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group just as the mandate of an African Union
peacekeeping force expires. "This morning, federal forces from Mogadishu in Ras
Kamboni, using drones, attacked Jubbaland forces," Adan Ahmed Haji, assistant
security minister of Jubbaland, told a press conference in the regional capital
Kismayu. Somalia's Defence Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur said the Jubbaland
forces initiated the clashes.”



United Kingdom



The Guardian: Man Planned Terrorist Attack At London Law Firm To ‘Intimidate’
Immigrants
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“A man planned a terrorist attack at a law firm in north London to
“intimidate” immigrants, the Metropolitan police said. Cavan Medlock, of
Harrow, north-west London, was found to have committed the act of making a
threat to kill and the preparation of terrorist acts at a fact-finding hearing
at Kingston crown court on Tuesday. The 32-year-old, who identified as a Nazi,
“wanted to provide a ‘rallying cry’ to inspire other extreme right-wing
terrorists”, the force said. Medlock targeted solicitor Toufique Hossain at the
Duncan Lewis law firm in Harrow on 7 September 2020, and was arrested at the
scene with a rucksack containing a knife, handcuffs, gaffer tape and two large
flags “demonstrating extreme right-wing terrorist ideology”, acting Cmdr Helen
Flanagan, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said.”



Europe



The Guardian: UN May Remove Syrian Rebel Group HTS From Terror List If
Conditions Met
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“The UN would consider taking the Syrian rebel group that toppled the regime
of Bashar al-Assad off its designated terrorist list if it passes the key test
of forming a truly inclusive transitional government, according to a senior
official at the world body. Geir Pedersen, UN special envoy for Syria, held out
the prospect of removing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the organisation’s
list of proscribed terrorist groups. But he said the group could not seek to
govern Syria in the way that it had governed Idlib, the northern province where
it was based and from where it led the military breakout that resulted in the
sudden collapse of the Assad regime.”



Australia



Business Insider: Melbourne Synagogue Attack To Be Investigated As A Terrorist
Incident
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“An arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne last week is being investigated
as terrorist incident, Australian officials said Monday, as the government
announced it was establishing a new task force to combat antisemitism. The
Adass Israel Synagogue in the city’s south – one of Australia’s most
significant Jewish centers – burst into flames early on Friday. Two worshippers
inside the synagogue at the time of the attack reported seeing people pour
liquid on the floor, police said. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane
Patton on Monday said the “horrific, callous and targeted” attack was “likely a
terrorist incident” and would be investigated by a joint counter-terrorism team
including Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian
Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).”



Russia



Business Insider: Russia's Access To Key Military Bases In Syria Hangs In The
Balance, Threatening Its Role In The Region
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“The fall of Bashar Assad has thrown Russia's military presence in Syria into
question. It also poses a threat to Russia's ability to project power
throughout the Middle East and beyond. On Sunday, Syrian rebels, led by the
Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, overthrew Syria's longtime autocratic
ruler. It followed a dizzying two-week campaign that caught the world off guard
and many are now trying to work out what will come next for the country. Russia
has been a close ally of Syria and has leases on two military bases in the
country, giving it a strategic foothold in the Middle East. "It hits them
hard," Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project,
said of Russia.”



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