Abdullah al-Faisal, a radical Islamic cleric known as Shaikh Faisal, was
arraigned in New York City Friday on charges that he supported terrorism by p

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


August 17, 2020

 

Fox News: Radical Islamic Cleric Accused Of Recruiting For ISIS Extradited To
NYC On Terrorism Charges
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“Abdullah al-Faisal, a radical Islamic cleric known as Shaikh Faisal, was
arraigned in New York City Friday on charges that he supported terrorism by
plotting to recruit for the Islamic State. He pleaded not guilty. The cleric
has been linked to other high-profile terrorists, including the attempted Times
Square bomber in 2010, the “Underwear Bomber” in 2008 and several other
convicted or suspected terrorists in New York, London and elsewhere. Federal
authorities normally lead investigations of international terrorism cases, but
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. and the NYPD led this
investigation.…According to the Counter Extremism Project, a nonprofit
international policy organization, al-Faisal was born Trevor William Forrest in
Jamaica but converted to Islam and changed his name while living in Saudi
Arabia as a teenager. He eventually moved to London in the 1990s and became an
Islamic cleric, catching the attention of British authorities with lectures
that called for the murder of so-called nonbelievers. He was arrested and
convicted of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred in the UK in 2003,
but was released and deported in 2007. He then traveled the world recruiting
for the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations before his arrest in
Jamaica in 2017.”

 

Reuters: Hezbollah Will Respond If Beirut Blast Was Sabotage, Says Nasrallah
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“Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that his group
would wait for results of a probe into the Beirut port blast, but that if it
turns out to be an act of sabotage by Israel then it would “pay an equal
price”. Speaking in a televised speech, he said the two theories under
investigation were that an accident or sabotage caused the explosion of
ammonium nitrate stored at a warehouse. Israel has denied any involvement in
the Aug. 4 blast that killed 172 people and injured 6,000.”

 

United States

 

Boston Herald: Blogger Targeted By Terror Convict Blasts Judge For Setting
ISIS Sympathizer Free
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“The conservative blogger who had her life threatened by a Rhode Island man
over her anti-ISIS views is blasting the Boston federal judge who set the man
free this week amid the coronavirus pandemic. Pamela Geller, following the
judge’s decision to release Nicholas Rovinski after he served five years of his
15-year sentence, ripped the judge for granting compassionate release during
the pandemic. “How does Judge William Young know that Nicholas Rovinski won’t
try to murder me again? He doesn’t. But he clearly doesn’t care,” Geller wrote
on Facebook. Rovinski’s lawyers argued that the 29-year-old’s cerebral palsy
and hypertension made him vulnerable to COVID-19. He was jailed at FCI Danbury,
a “low-security” prison in Connecticut. Young last week ruled that Rovinski
would “spend the next ten years of supervised release in home confinement, the
first six months of which shall be in strict home confinement.” Rovinski and
two others were arrested over a plan to kill Geller at the behest of ISIS after
she organized a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas in 2015. “The
‘compassion’ in Rovinski’s ‘compassionate release’ is all for the perpetrator,
not for his intended victim or others he might have killed in his jihad as
well,” Geller wrote.”

 

Syria

 

Voice Of America: Strain Of Islamic State Prisoners, Families Gnaws At Key
Alliances
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“The struggle to make a future for thousands of captured Islamic State
fighters and their families currently in makeshift prisons and overcrowded
displaced persons camps across northeastern Syria may be starting to erode key
partnerships in the fight against the terror group. Most of the burden for
guarding and caring for these volatile populations has fallen to the
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. But SDF officials say they are
increasingly frustrated over what they perceive as Washington’s unwillingness
to intervene and stop Turkey, also a member of the anti-IS coalition, from
actively breaching security at the camps.Officials with the SDF and the
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), the political body
that governs the region, tell VOA they have repeatedly shared evidence of the
Turkish operations to aid IS, also known as ISIS or Daesh, with the United
States, but to no avail. “A special committee should be formed to investigate
the issue of human trafficking and the involvement of the official Turkish
Intelligence Agency,” the AANES wrote in a recent letter to the U.S. and other
coalition partners, obtained by VOA.”

 

Iran

 

CNN: US Intelligence Indicates Iran Paid Bounties To Taliban For Targeting
American Troops In Afghanistan
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“US intelligence agencies assessed that Iran offered bounties to Taliban
fighters for targeting American and coalition troops in Afghanistan,
identifying payments linked to at least six attacks carried out by the militant
group just last year alone, including a suicide bombing at a US air base in
December, CNN has learned. "Bounties" were paid by a foreign government,
identified to CNN as Iran, to the Haqqani network -- a terrorist group that is
led by the second highest ranking leader of the Taliban -- for their attack on
Bagram Air Base on December 11, which killed two civilians and injured more
than 70 others, including four US personnel, according to a Pentagon briefing
document reviewed by CNN. The name of the foreign government that made these
payments remains classified but two sources familiar with the intelligence
confirmed to CNN that it refers to Iran. The US killed a key Iranian general in
Iraq less than a month after the Bagram attack but after a lengthy process
involving several agencies to develop options aimed at countering Iran's
support for militant groups in Afghanistan. The decision was made in March not
to take specific action as officials did not want to jeopardize the peace
process with the Taliban, according to multiple sources familiar. The
revelation that Iran might have paid the Taliban follows the controversy over
Russian bounties for attacks on American troops, an issue that has been
consistently downplayed by the Trump administration in recent weeks.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Foreign Policy: Afghans Worried About Pressure From Trump As Talks With The
Taliban Get Underway
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“The Afghan government is due to begin peace talks with representatives of the
Taliban today but some officials are worried that the United States is pushing
too hard for an agreement ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November.
Last week the government convened a loya jirga, a mass gathering of
representatives from across the country that decides on issues of national
importance. The group agreed to the release of 400 Taliban prisoners from
Afghan jails, paving the way for the talks with the Taliban. The government has
described the prisoners as among the most dangerous and high-value Taliban
captives currently held. “In order to remove the hurdles for the start of peace
talks, stopping bloodshed, and for the good of the public, the loya jirga
approves the release of 400 prisoners as demanded by the Taliban,” the jirga’s
decision read. The attendees said they were not given the names or details of
the prisoners, prompting speculation that some might be foreign fighters. Many
Afghans have long accused the Taliban of employing foreigners, namely Pakistani
nationals, as part of their insurgency.”

 

Fox News: Afghan Woman In Taliban Peace Talks Injured In 'Assassination
Attempt'
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“An Afghan woman involved in negotiations between the government and the
Taliban to end a 19-year war in the country was injured in an “assassination
attempt,” officials said. Fawzia Koofi, who is also a women's rights activist
and a strong critic of the Taliban, was attacked late Friday afternoon near the
capital of Kabul while she was at a market with her sister in the Qarabagh
district, Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said. The head of
the Afghan peace delegation, Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, tweeted that Koofi had
survived the attack and was “in good health.” The delegation is gearing up for
peace talks that could take place as early as Aug. 20 in Qatar, where the
Taliban has a headquarters. Negotiations on a mutual peace agreement that were
supposed to begin in March have long been at a standstill. The Afghan
government released 80 of the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners Thursday, paving
the way for renewing talks. Prisoner releases on both sides are part of a pact
signed in February between the U.S. and the Taliban that called for freeing
5,000 Taliban held by the government and 1,000 government and military
personnel held by the insurgent group as a goodwill gesture. The U.S. peace
deal aims to recruit the Taliban to fight Islamic State militants in
Afghanistan, a mutual enemy. The Taliban and the Islamic State are staunch
rivals.”

 

BBC News: The Couple Blamed For An Islamic State Attack On Their Wedding
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“It should've been the happiest day of their lives. Instead, it was the worst.
Mirwais and Rehana's wedding in Afghanistan's capital Kabul last year was
targeted by an IS suicide bomber, killing more than 90 of their guests. The
couple lost close family members and friends, and the attack took a heavy toll
on their mental health. This week marks the anniversary of the attack. For the
first time, Rehana, 18, has decided to speak publicly about what happened that
day. “Every night I have nightmares,” she told the BBC. “I cry and I can't
sleep.” Crowds of people make her anxious, as does travelling by car. “Whenever
I hear gunshots or explosions it takes me back to that day, and I think
something will happen to me again,” she said. The relatives of some of those
who died that day have raised the idea of holding a protest outside the wedding
hall where the attack took place, to commemorate the anniversary and call for
the attackers to be held to justice. But Mirwais won't attend, he said. His
hands begin to shake at just the thought of the blast. “Before the wedding we
were so happy,” he said. “All of a sudden it was as if we had fallen from the
sky to the ground. We lost all our happiness.”

 

Yemen

 

Agence France-Presse: Yemeni Al-Qaeda Execute Dentist For ‘Spying’
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“Al-Qaeda militants in war-torn Yemen executed a dentist accused of spying for
the government and guiding US drone strikes targeting the Islamist extremists,
a local official said on Sunday. The militants shot Motthar al-Youssoufi, then
crucified his corpse and left it outside his health center, the official told
AFP on condition of anonymity. The execution took place on Saturday in Somaa, a
district of Yemen's central Al-Baida province, the official added. Al-Qaeda in
the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is active in Yemen, is considered by the
United States as the radical group's most dangerous branch. The US has carried
out a long-running drone campaign in Yemen. The extremist group has thrived in
the chaos of years of civil war between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and the
Houthi militia who control the capital. An AQAP video contained - according to
the organization - a “confession’ by the dentist to having worked with
government security services, and to having placed microchips to guide US
missile strikes. AQAP operates in the Al-Baida province - which is under
nominal government control - after retreating from positions in the south and
east of the country, the local official added.”

 

Lebanon

 

The New York Times: Beirut’s Shiites Like The Idea Of Change, But Like
Hezbollah More
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“Near sunset, squads of young men gather along the narrow roads that lead in
and out of their working-class Shiite neighborhood. They block off the streets
with metal barricades. Some arrive on scooters, wielding walkie-talkies, a sign
of privilege in an area where many people struggle to buy food or pay a phone
bill. They have come for the anti-government protests that have been taking
place nearby almost nightly since an explosion at Beirut’s port last week
ravaged the city. The protesters want to tear down Lebanon’s sectarian
political system, which they blame for incompetence, corruption and now for
negligence that led to the blast, which killed at least 171 people and wounded
thousands. But these young men see the protests as a threat that could take
power and privilege away from their Shiite sect and in particular from
Hezbollah, the militant Shiite party, militia and Lebanon’s most powerful
faction. They set up barricades not to support the protest but to make sure the
angry crowds don’t come too close to their neighborhood. “We have to protect
ourselves,” said Ibrahim Abu Muhammad, the one member of the group who agreed
to speak to a journalist. “Disparaging the leaders of the Shiite sect is a red
line.”

 

Reuters: Hezbollah 'Not Concerned' With Verdict Of U.N.-Backed Tribunal
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“Hezbollah’s leader said on Friday the group was not concerned with the
verdict of a U.N.-backed tribunal over the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik
al-Hariri due on August 18. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said if any members of the
Iran-backed movement are indicted, Hezbollah would stand by their innocence.
The court located outside The Hague, Netherlands, was due to give a verdict in
the trial of four men on August 7 but it was postponed after the massive blast
that rocked Beirut last week.”

 

Nigeria

 

Daily Post Nigeria: Boko Haram: Prepare For Spike In Conflict, Hunger In
Northeast – UN Warns Nigeria
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“The deteriorating security situation in northeast Nigeria since the beginning
of the year 2020 calls for urgent support for victims of the conflict who are
majorly rural dwellers, UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon has said.
According to him, the number of people needing humanitarian assistance is the
highest ever recorded in five years of a joint humanitarian response. The
humanitarian coordinator said, “The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting us all. Its
devastating effects will distress Nigeria’s most fragile region. Unless we take
immediate action, we should prepare for a spike in conflict, hunger and
destitution in north-east Nigeria.” Speaking at an online High-Level Briefing,
the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon, joined by the
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development,
Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq and Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Zulum, as
well as other UN and NGO representatives, stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic
exacerbates the dire humanitarian situation in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States,
and risks wreaking havoc on the most vulnerable population. The UN said over
10.6 million people – out of a total of 13 million, or four in five people –
will need some form of humanitarian assistance in 2020.”

 

Somalia

 

Voice Of America: Militants Attack Beachfront Hotel In Somali Capital
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“Militants have carried out an attack on a beachfront hotel in the Somali
capital Mogadishu on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring nearly
30 others, officials said. Officials and witnesses told VOA Somali that a car
bomb exploded outside Elite hotel at Mogadishu’s Lido Beach. Moments later
armed gunmen stormed the hotel. Security forces have arrived the scene and are
battling the militates holed up inside. Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility
for the attack. The head of the Somali journalist’s union Mohamed Ibrahim
Moalimuu was among the witnesses sitting outside the Elite hotel when the
explosion occurred. He told VOA Somali that he arrived the hotel 15 minutes
before the explosion along with his friend Abdirazak Abdi Abdullahi, who works
for the state-controlled radio station. Abdullahi was killed by the militants
after the first gunshots were fired, Moalimuu told VOA Somali. Abdirazak Aden
Osman, a security guard at a nearby hotel, said he heard a huge explosion which
rocked the area.” It was a massive explosion,” he said. “Glass from broken
windows fell on us.” Osman said there was a heavy gunfire after the militants
entered the hotel.”

 

Voice Of America: Somali, AU Forces Capture Shabab Stronghold
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“Somali government troops, backed by African Union (AU) forces, have taken
control from the al-Shabab militant group of a strategic town in the Lower
Shabelle region, freeing dozens of children in the process, residents and
official said. The town of Kuntuwaarey, in the southwest of Somalia, located
208 kilometers from the capital, Mogadishu, has for many years been a strategic
stronghold for al-Shabab. The “Somali National Army, backed by units from the
African Union peacekeepers, have taken control of this strategic town from the
militants,” said Isaq Ali Subag, the minister of internal security for the
region. Subag said al-Shabab had been using the town as a base to launch
attacks on cities and towns in the region that are controlled by the Somali
government. “The militants have used the city as a military base from which to
organize attacks they carry out in other parts of the region, and to run courts
in which they impose taxes and other unfair sentences to innocent people,” he
said. Following the capture of the town, the joint troops carrying out
house-to-house searches freed 33 children from the militants, according to
Somali military commanders.”

 

Africa

 

The Guardian: Mozambique Army Surrounds Port Held By Isis-Linked Insurgents
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“Government troops are taking up positions outside a port in the far north of
Mozambique which was captured by Islamist extremists last week in the latest
escalation of the insurgency in the southern African country. Hundreds of
reinforcements have been rushed into position around the port in the town of
Mocímboa da Praia. The facility, which is close to the site of natural gas
projects worth about $60bn (£45bn), fell on Tuesday when marines who had
resisted several hundred militants ran out of ammunition and were forced to
withdraw. The Mozambican defence minister, Jaime Neto, said last week that the
extremists had infiltrated parts of Mocímboa da Praia and then “attacked the
town from the inside out, causing destruction, looting and the murder of
defenceless citizens”, according to a report from the local Zitamar news
agency. The attack was the latest in a series launched on the town by a group
known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamaa, which pledged allegiance to Islamic State last
year. The extremist operation took place over several days, with early attacks
closing off roads leading to the town by eliminating government defensive
posts, before a final assault.”

 

Deutsche Welle: Mozambique: Jihadi Militants Making Inroads
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“The security situation in Mozambique's northernmost province has reached a
new low, with jihadi militants repeatedly attacking and partly occupying a
strategic port city in the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado. Mocimboa da
Praia, a city of some 30,000 people, isn't the most important port in the north
of the country, but observers believe its conquest nevertheless represents an
embarrassment to government troops. Cities such as Mocimboa da Praia, Macomia
and others now resemble civil war zones, says investigative journalist Estacio
Valoi, who has been reporting from the region for the independent Moz 24 Horas
portal since the first attacks in October 2017. Many villages have been razed
to the ground, and those who were unable to flee have been threatened or
immediately beheaded. In the past few days, many families have fled south along
the coast by boat, or overland in minibuses, to Pemba, the provincial capital.
The situation is completely out of control. UN figures show that around 1,000
people have died in the conflict in past three years, while some 250,000 have
left for other parts of the country. According to Valoi, government troops that
had been transferred to the region in large numbers arrived much too late, and
were completely overwhelmed.”

 

France

 

Reuters: French PM Likens Killing Of French Aid Workers In Niger To 2015 Paris
Attacks
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“French Prime Minister Jean Castex paid tribute on Friday to the six French
aid workers who where killed by a group of gunmen on motorcycles in Niger,
likening the attack to the 2015 militant attacks in Paris that shook the
country. The six worked for international aid group ACTED and were accompanied
by a Nigerien guide and a driver, who were also killed during the ambush on
Sunday. “It’s very likely the same hatred, the same cowardice, the same
inhumanity that was at work in Niger and at the Bataclan,” Castex said in front
of the repatriated coffins of the six at Paris’s Orly airport. The Bataclan was
the concert venue where 90 people were killed in one of the coordinated attacks
by Islamist militants in the French capital in 2015. “We haven’t yet been able
to put a name to the organization behind this heinous crime” in Niger, he said,
adding that it had “all the appearances of a terrorist attack.” The aid workers
were driving through a giraffe reserve, a popular destination for expatriates
65 km (40 miles) from Niger’s capital Niamey in an area considered safe by the
government. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.”

 

Al Jazeera: France Asks Afghans Not To Free Taliban Who Killed Its Citizens
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“France has objected to the release of three men jailed for the murders of
French nationals in Afghanistan as part of Kabul's decision to release 400
Taliban prisoners as the last phase of fulfilling a condition set out in a deal
between the Taliban and the US government. The group of prisoners, whose
release has begun, include two men who murdered Bettina Goislard, an employee
of the UN refugee agency, in November 2003, and a former Afghan soldier who
killed five French soldiers and injured 13 others in Kapisa province eight
years ago. “France is particularly concerned by the presence, among the
individuals liable to be released, of several terrorists convicted of killing
French citizens in Afghanistan,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on
Sunday. The Afghan government and the Taliban are set to meet to launch an
intra-Afghan peace process within days of the prisoner release being completed,
a move that has drawn widespread condemnation after it emerged that many of the
inmates were involved in attacks that killed tens of Afghans and foreigners.
“It firmly opposes the liberation of individuals convicted of crimes against
French nationals, in particular soldiers and humanitarian workers,” it said.”

 

Germany

 

Deutsche Welle: German Government 'In The Dark' About Guns And Neo-Nazis
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“In answer to an official parliamentary information request submitted by the
socialist Left party, Germany's Interior Ministry has said it did not have any
“statistical data on confiscated firearms for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019,”
or whether they were taken from neo-Nazis or any other kind of extremist. The
ministry was not able to answer 14 of 20 questions about the confiscated
weapons submitted by Left party parliamentarian Martina Renner, including: In
how many investigations into illegal weapons had a political motive been
ascertained? How many cases of impounded weapons involved illegal arms deals?
How many of the impounded weapons had been legally bought and owned? How many
cases involved “weapons of war,” such as fully automatic rifles or
rocket-propelled grenade launchers? How many of the weapons had previously been
used in foreign conflicts, such as conflicts in the former Yugoslavia? In how
many cases were the weapons taken from a private bunker? The Interior Ministry
also did not know how many of the confiscated weapons had been stolen from the
stock of the German military.”



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