The United States expanded its sanctions related to Lebanon on Tuesday,
blacklisting two former government ministers it accused of enabling Hezbollah

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


September 9, 2020

 

Reuters: US Blacklists Ex-Lebanese Ministers Over Hezbollah Ties, Vows More
Action
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“The United States expanded its sanctions related to Lebanon on Tuesday,
blacklisting two former government ministers it accused of enabling Hezbollah
and warning that more actions targeting the Iran-backed Shi'ite group were
coming.  In a statement, the U.S. Treasury Department said it had designated
former Lebanese Transport Minister Yusuf Finyanus and former Finance Minister
Ali Hassan Khalil for engaging in corruption and leveraging their political
power for financial gain.  “Finyanus and Khalil were involved in directing
political and economic favors to Hezbollah and involved in some of the
corruption that made Hezbollah's work possible in Lebanon,” David Schenker, a
senior State Department official for the Middle East, told a briefing call. 
“This should be a message both to those who cooperate with Hezbollah, those who
enable Hezbollah, but also Lebanon's political leaders,” Schenker said. He
added that “everyone should absolutely expect” more sanctions.  The Wall Street
Journal in August reported that some U.S. officials wanted to designate Gebran
Bassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun and a former foreign minister
who heads the largest Christian political bloc in the sectarian power-sharing
system.”

 

New York Post: ISIS Suspects Sentenced To Thousands Of Years In Prison For NYE
Nightclub Attack
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“A Turkish court on Monday sentenced an Islamic State suspect to life in
prison over the New Year’s Eve attack on a nightclub in Istanbul that left 39
people dead in 2017. The suspect, Albulkadir Masharipov of Uzbekistan, was
convicted of 39 counts of murder and one count of attempting to overthrow the
constitutional order. He was handed 40 separate life sentences without parole.
The court also sentenced him to a total of 1,368 years in prison for the
attempted murder of 79 people who escaped the attack with injuries. Ilyas
Mamasaripov, who was accused of aiding Masharipov, was sentenced to a total of
1,432 years, on charges of aiding murder, aiding attempted murder, and aiding
an attempt against the constitutional order, the state-run Anadolu Agency
reported. Of the 58 other defendants in the case, 11 were acquitted of the
charges, while others received various sentences for membership in a terror
organization, the agency said. Early on Jan. 1, 2017, an assailant shot his way
into Istanbul’s Reina nightclub where hundreds were partying to celebrate the
New Year. The assailant escaped from the scene and the Islamic State group
later claimed the massacre. Several revelers jumped into the waters of the
Bosporus to escape the attack. Most of the dead were foreigners.”

 

United States

 

CNN: Texas Man Arrested For 'Zoombombing' A University Class Lecture With A
Bomb Threat
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“A Houston resident was accused of interrupting a virtual University of
Houston lecture with a bomb threat and by proclaiming his association to ISIS,
the US Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Texas said Tuesday.
Ibraheem Ahmed Al Bayati was arrested on September 4 for making threats or
conveying false information to destroy by means of fire or explosives and
making a threat over interstate commerce charges. Al Bayati, 19, allegedly
interrupted a lecture on Zoom, a video conferencing app, on September 2 saying,
“what does any of this have to do with the fact that UH is about to get bombed
in a few days?” prosecutors said. Al Bayati then repeated an Arabic phrase
meaning “Islamic State will remain” before leaving the call that caused the
students to gasp, prosecutors said. From simple camping trips to coast-to-coast
explorations, the rentable fleet of 100,000 RVs means you can have outdoor
adventures without risking you and your loved ones’ health. A spokesman from
the University of Houston told CNN in a statement on Tuesday that Al Bayati was
never enrolled as a student and “in most instances of 'Zoombombing,' meeting
login information was compromised -- a student shared the online class link
with Al Bayati.”

 

Fox News: Ex-FBI Informant In 1993 Islamic Terror Cell Says They Would Pray
For God To ‘Enhance The Explosion’ Of Their Bombs
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“A former FBI informant who was embedded in an Islamic jihadic terror cell in
New York City following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing said they
constantly prayed to God to enhance the explosion of their bombs in their
upcoming attacks. “We used to fantasize about how great that the Hudson River
will leak into the Lincoln Tunnel and the whole long tunnel immediately,
simultaneously together, my God, Manhattan would be drowning,” Emad Salem, the
ex-FBI asset, says in Fox Nation's series “The Rising Crescent,” which details
the decade before September 11, 2001. In the series, Salem recounts how a
loose-knit terror cell connected to Al-Qaeda was operating in the New York area
and officials missed many clues that could have prevented 9/11, the deadliest
terror attack on U.S. soil. Three months after the 1993 bombing, which killed
six people and injured more than 1,000, the then-informant requested a safe
house where he could help the jihadists build the bombs for the next attack.
“You could see them mixing fuel oil and the fertilizer,” said Bill Gavin,
former FBI deputy assistant director. “They had to pray so many times a day and
they’d kneel down and pray and then come back and mix the bombs again.”

 

SOFREP: White Supremacy & Domestic Terrorism In The United States
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“…The Base is a neo-Nazi network founded in 2018 by an extremist under the
alias “Roman Wolf.” The group shares similarities with AWD. Like AWD, James
Mason is a noted inspiration for The Base’s movement. The concept of unifying
the white race and invoking a race war through violent means is central.
According to the Counter Extremism Project, The Base primarily operates as a
training apparatus for small two to three-man cells spread across the country
(their exact locations are unknown). Once vetted and allowed into the group’s
communications channels, recruits and members have access to information from
the fields of explosives, guerilla warfare, counter-surveillance, weapons
training, and other military tactics. Similar to AWD, digital propaganda is
also a tool to further the group’s message into mainstream online communities.
The exact number of members is not known, and the process of getting through
the vetting is intensive. Suspected members have been arrested for a potential
attack on a pro-Second Amendment rally in Virginia in January 2020, although no
violent attacks under their name have been reported thus far.”

 

Syria

 

Agence France-Presse: Syria Kurds Transfer Some IS-Linked Foreign Families
From Camp
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“Syrian Kurds have started to transfer the “least radical” foreign women and
their children linked to the Islamic State group out of an overcrowded in
northeast Syria to begin rehabilitation, an official said Tuesday. So far 76
families have been transferred since July from Al-Hol to the Roj camp at their
request after showing remorse over their ties to the jihadist group, Kurdish
official Sheikhmous Ahmed told AFP. He did not give their nationalities, but
Kurdish authorities say foreigners in Al-Hol hail from around 50 countries.
After years of spearheading the fight against IS with backing from a US-led
international coalition, Syria's Kurds hold thousands of foreigners suspected
of supporting the extremist group in their custody. These include alleged
fighters in jails, but also thousands more women and children related to them
in displacement camps -- many in the sprawling tent city of Al-Hol. Aid groups
have repeatedly deplored living conditions in the camp where more than half of
its 65,000 inhabitants are under the age of five, and Kurdish authorities
reported the first coronavirus case among residents in late August. “The Roj
camp has been expanded in coordination with the United Nations... and the
international coalition to transfer foreign IS children and women after they
asked to leave Al-Hol,” Ahmed said.”

 

Iran

 

Radio Farda: Iran Sentences Iraqi, Iranian Is Teens To Prison Over Planned
Attack
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“A court in Tehran has sentenced two Iraqis and one Iranian to prison over
their participation as minors in a purported suicide mission planned by the
Islamic State (IS) extremist group, according to the government-run Iran daily.
All were said to be part of a 21-member team that had crossed the Iraq-Iran
border some three years ago to carry out the planned attack, which was not
described in any detail. Their sentences were handed down on September 6.
Reports on trials of alleged IS members in Iran are rare. The extremist group
has regularly threatened Iran in the past. The Iraqis, who were 14 and 17 at
the time of their arrest, were each sentenced to five years in prison on the
charge of “moharebeh,” or waging war against God, which in Iran may be punished
by death. They got additional one-year sentences for possessing weapons. They
will reportedly be handed over to Iraq's intelligence service. The Iranian
national was 16 at the time of this arrest, according to Iran daily, and was
sentenced to five years in prison on similar charges. The report says the three
were not given the death penalty because they were under the age of 18 at the
time of their arrest.”

 

Arab News: Daesh Alive And Well Thanks To Iran’s Militias
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“The territorial defeat of Daesh was simply the first of a long series of
phases needed to destroy the terrorist organization and its ideology
completely. This may be the first time a US-led campaign has knocked down
buildings and destroyed cities and claimed victory over a terrorist insurgency.
But Sunni insurgencies are not defeated by punishing Sunni population centers
and destroying cities in bombing campaigns. Insurgencies are grown when a
sectarian government indiscriminately targets and disappears Sunni males in the
tens of thousands. The children of non-affiliated Sunni males killed or
imprisoned while awaiting execution for being Daesh collaborators will grow up
to seek revenge. They do not have to believe in a terrorist ideology to use the
group as a vehicle for revenge. The way Sunni areas of Iraq were destroyed in
the anti-Daesh campaign simply reset the conditions that led to the terror
group to begin with. The Iraqi government and the militias that destroyed Sunni
towns, with US air power in support, took territory away by destroying city
blocks and infrastructure. But Daesh can now conduct an attack anywhere in
Iraq.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Reuters: U.S. Envoy Meets New Taliban Chief Negotiator As Afghan Peace Talks
Near
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“U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has held a meeting in Doha with the head
of the new Taliban team due to open peace talks with a team representing the
Afghan government, the Islamist insurgent group said on Tuesday. The
negotiations, the result of an agreement between Washington and the Taliban,
are to begin in Doha after the release of the last half-dozen or so of 5,000
Taliban prisoners. The Afghan negotiators had been expected to fly from Kabul
to Doha this week, but are awaiting a signal from the Afghan government that
the release - to which Western governments have objected - is going ahead. In
Doha, the head of the Taliban’s political office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar,
and the new head of the Taliban’s negotiating team, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, met
with Khalilzad and Qatar’s deputy prime minister on Monday, Taliban spokesman
Dr Mohammad Naeem said in a statement shared on Twitter. “Issues related to the
prisoners’ release and immediate start of the intra-Afghan talks were
discussed,” Naeem said. Talks with American officials had for the last two
years been led by Baradar, who signed a peace deal with Washington this year
that paved the way for an international troop withdrawal and intra-Afghan
negotiations.”

 

Reuters: Roadside Bomb Attack Misses Afghan Vice President, But Kills 10
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“A roadside bomb in Kabul targeted first Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh
on Wednesday morning but he escaped unharmed, his spokesman said. The attack
killed at least 10 people. The Taliban denied involvement in the attack, which
comes just ahead of long-awaited peace talks between the Afghan government and
the Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha. “Today, once again the enemy of
Afghanistan tried to harm Saleh, but they failed in their evil aim, and Saleh
escaped the attack unharmed,” Razwan Murad, a spokesman for Saleh’s office,
wrote on Facebook. He told Reuters the bomb targeted Saleh’s convoy and some of
his bodyguards were injured. Saleh appeared in a video on his social media
accounts soon after, saying he had sustained a minor burn on his face and an
injury to his hand in the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in
a post on Twitter that Taliban fighters were not involved in the blast. The
former intelligence chief and the senior of President Ashraf Ghani’s two
vice-presidents, has survived several assassination attempts, including one on
his office last year that killed 20 people.”

 

Voice Of America: Taliban Fighters Attack Previously Spared Afghan Province
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“For the first time in two decades of conflict in Afghanistan, a historically
secure province, Panjshir, has come under attack. Authorities say several
members of the Taliban kidnapped locals on Tuesday, with residents saying they
have taken up arms to help Afghan security forces. The Taliban struck the
outskirts of Panjshir province in northeastern Afghanistan, officials said. The
province has never been attacked in nearly two decades of war although the
Taliban had a presence in nearby provinces, like Nuristan, Baghlan, Badakhshan,
and Kapisa. Provincial officials said the militants took over several Afghan
security force outposts in the Afshar district. District official Mohammad
Sohrab told VOA that about 60 militants came from Nuristan province. He also
accused the Taliban of taking a number of villagers hostage and holding them in
a mosque. Residents picked up arms and helped the security forces against
Taliban, according to one local witness, Mahi Udin. The attack came at a time
when the nation was commemorating the 19th anniversary of Ahmed Shah Masood’s
death.”

 

Pakistan

 

Asia Times: Pakistan Destined For Terror Finance Blacklist
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“Pakistan’s bid to curb money laundering and terror financing hit a political
wall when the opposition-dominated upper house recently voted down two related
bills tabled by the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI). The move will thwart
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s effort to have Pakistan lifted from a Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) grey list of countries tagged as prone to illicit
financial activity, and reaffirm perceptions that the country cossets terror
groups, their leaders and their financial activities. The FATF, a Paris-based
intergovernmental global watchdog that sets international standards for
combating money laundering and terror financing, including in relation to the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, compiles a rating list of
perceived at-risk countries. FATF blacklisting is fraught with financial
dangers, particularly for countries like Pakistan which are dependent on
international lending and investment. Institutions like the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asia Development Bank (ADB) exercise extra caution when
dealing with nations on the FATF’s blacklist, while ratings agencies tend to
downgrade FATF-designated nations.”

 

Nigeria

 

Daily Post Nigeria: Boko Haram: 611 Teachers Killed, 910 Schools Damaged In
Nigeria By Terrorists – UN
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“The United Nations, on Tuesday, revealed that from 2009 until December 2018,
611 teachers were killed and 910 schools damaged or destroyed in Nigeria by
terrorists. It, therefore, urged the Nigerian government to prioritise school
safety and learners’ protection. The UN stated that education in emergency
partners are appealing for $55 million USD to provide emergency education to
3.1 conflict-affected children in the northeast Nigeria this year. A statement
by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Activities, OCHA
on the first international day to protect education from attack said, so far
this year, only $3.3 million USD, a mere 6 per cent of the total needed has
been received. The statement observed that, protracted conflict in the
north-east has had devastating impacts on education. “From 2009 until December
2018, 611 teachers were killed and 910 schools damaged or destroyed. More than
1,500 schools were forced to close and some 4.2 million children in the
north-east are at risk of missing out on an education,” the statement said. It
also observed that hundreds of girls have been abducted, some even from their
own schools, which are meant to be safe zones.”

 

Africa

 

Voice Of America: Boko Haram Attacks Leave Cameroon Villagers In Need Of Aid
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“Cameroonian villagers along the Nigerian border need humanitarian aid after
deadly Boko Haram attacks displaced at least 7,000 people, authorities and
rights groups say. Villagers have been fleeing their homes since early August
because of attacks, which killed at least 22 people and wounded 29.  Cameroon
authorities say a suicide bomber hit the village of Goldavi last week, killing
seven people and wounding 14 others. For the past seven years, the village
hosted 18,000 displaced people who sought refuge from Boko Haram, according to
the United Nations.  Sixty-four-year-old Cameroonian Maahamat Doudje was among
those who fled Goldavi. He said after receiving three goats and a bag of rice,
he is sure of having at least one meal a day for the next few weeks.   FAO
representative Fulbert Haiba Daliwa said the group is working to help those
whose livelihoods have been disturbed by the militants. Many people, he said,
have lost everything to Boko Haram.  Forty-eight-year-old Alida Wakilou, a
spokeswoman for female displaced in Goldavi, said the women and children have
been living in hunger since last week's attack.”

 

United Kingdom

 

The Guardian: 'Significant Flaws' By Police Led To Delays In Treating
Manchester Arena Victims
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“Experts will tell an inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing that
“significant flaws” by police led to a series of devastating delays in tending
to victims. The public inquiry into the terrorist attack was told on Tuesday
the force did not declare a major incident until three hours after Salman
Abedi’s attack at the Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people and injured
260. Around 14,000 fans were at the concert on 22 May 2017 when Abedi, 22,
detonated his homemade bomb packed with shrapnel in the foyer known as the City
Room outside the arena. On the second day of the hearings in Manchester, Paul
Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, said the bombing “cried out for an
effective, coordinated response” but that the inquiry would hear evidence of a
number of failings. He said that evidence included details of a commanding
officer initially believing reports of the incident to be a hoax and quickly
becoming overwhelmed once a live incident was declared. Greaney also told the
inquiry that policing experts said a senior GMP commander was “ultimately
accountable for the significant flaws in the GMP response.”

 

France

 

The Associated Press: Charlie Hebdo Artist Seized By Gunmen Recalls Sheer
Terror
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“The Charlie Hebdo caricaturist who was forced at gunpoint to open the
satirical newspaper’s door to two al-Qaida extremists described on Tuesday the
moments of sheer terror from the attack in January 2015, and the feelings of
guilt and powerlessness she endured long afterward. Corinne Rey had tears in
her eyes but her voice was clear as she testified at the trial of 14 people
accused of helping three men plot the Jan. 7-9, 2015, attacks in Paris.
Seventeen people, including 12 in and around Charlie Hebdo’s offices, four at a
kosher supermarket and a policewoman, were killed. All three attackers were
killed in subsequent police raids. Rey had left the weekly editorial meeting a
little early to go downstairs for a smoke when the gunmen came in the door,
calling her by her pen name, Coco, and ordering her to take them to the Charlie
Hebdo offices. She walked upstairs between the two men armed with assault
rifles. Only at the moment when Rey described leading them accidentally to the
wrong floor of the building did she falter, crouching down in the courtroom and
holding her arms over her head in a replay of her reaction as the gunmen
realized her mistake. Saïd and Chérif Kouachi targeted Charlie Hebdo because
they believed the newspaper blasphemed Islam by publishing caricatures of the
Prophet Muhammad.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

Australian Associated Press: Militants Killed In Philippines Clash
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“Five suspected Islamist militants have been killed in a clash with government
troops in the southern Philippines, the military says. Two soldiers were also
wounded in the fighting that erupted before dawn in a village in Zambooanga
Sibugay province, about 780km south of Manila, said Brigadier General Leonel
Nicolas, an army brigade commander. The troops were pursuing members of the Abu
Sayyaf terrorist group who were allegedly planning to carry out kidnappings in
the region based on reports received from sources, Nicolas said. “Locals tipped
off the authorities of the presence of these terrorist groups which resulted to
the timely response of our troops,” he said. Troops also recovered four
high-powered firearms after the 30-minute firefight in President Roxas village,
said Captain Clint Antipala, an army division spokesman. Last month,
authorities blamed Abu Sayyaf for twin suicide bombings in Jolo town in nearby
Sulu province, killing seven soldiers, a police officer and six civilians. The
bombers were believed to be the widows of two Filipino militants. The Abu
Sayyaf is the most violent Islamist militant group in the Philippines and has
been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the country, as well as
high-profile kidnappings for ransom.”

 

Technology

 

Newsweek: Zuckerberg Asked If Facebook Will Be Seen As ‘Accelerant Of Social
Destruction,’ Gives Lengthy Pause
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“Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg took time to respond after being asked if his
platform will be considered an "accelerant of social destruction." In an
interview aired Tuesday by "Axios on HBO," the billionaire social media CEO was
seen pausing for at least five seconds after being asked how history will judge
his site, which critics accuse of spreading hate, extremism and misinformation.
"Um, I have a little more confidence in democracy than that. And I hope my
confidence isn't misplaced," Zuckerberg told Axios co-founder Mike Allen. "But
what we do, and I think a lot of what the internet does overall, is it gives
individuals more power. It gives individuals more voice to share their
experiences. "Some of the times when I see people concerned about social media,
some of those organizations are ones that used to be previous gatekeepers, in
some cases had very noble missions to try and inform people, but in practice
also served to lock a bunch of people out of the ability to get their
experiences recorded and shared in the world."



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