Eye on Extremism
December 4, 2019
The
Washington Post: Hezbollah Member Gets 40 Years For Scouting Possible
Sites For Terrorist Attacks In New York
“A naturalized U.S. citizen who was a member of the Lebanese
Hezbollah militia was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison Tuesday
for gathering intelligence on potential sites for terrorist attacks in
New York City. Ali Kourani, a 35-year-old native of Lebanon, was the
first member of the Islamic Jihad Organization, an arm of Hezbollah,
to be convicted and sentenced in the United States, prosecutors said
at the hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Kourani was
already under investigation when he sought out the FBI in 2017 and
offered to work as an informant in support of the bureau’s
counterterrorism efforts, but prosecutors said he misled
investigators. A jury convicted Kourani on several terrorism counts in
May after an eight-day trial. The court was told he was part of the
IJO’s efforts to scout possible vulnerabilities at various sites,
including John F. Kennedy International Airport, a military armory in
Harlem and the federal building in Lower Manhattan, which houses a
day-care center in addition to 7,000 federal employees and 30
agencies. Kourani also tried to procure weapons and went to China to
find chemicals that could be used to make explosives, prosecutors
said.”
BBC
News: London Bridge: Usman Khan Completed Untested Rehabilitation
Scheme
“Khan, who was convicted of a terrorism offence in 2012, killed
Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, on Friday. He had completed
two rehabilitation schemes during the eight years he spent in prison
and following his release. The government says such programmes are
kept "under constant review". Three others were injured after Khan
launched the attack at a prisoner rehabilitation event inside
Fishmongers' Hall near London Bridge. Inquests into the deaths of Mr
Merritt and Ms Jones will be opened and adjourned at the Old Bailey on
Wednesday. During his time in prison, Khan completed a course for
people convicted of extremism offences and after his release went on a
scheme to address the root causes of terrorism. The first course Khan
went on, the Healthy Identity Intervention Programme, was piloted from
2010 and is now the main rehabilitation scheme for prisoners convicted
of offences linked to extremism.”
The
Jerusalem Post: ISIS Leader Baghdadi's Deputy Arrested By Iraqi
Forces
“Iraqi security forces have arrested a man said to have been former
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's deputy chief during an operation in
the Kirkuk Governorate north of Baghdad, according to Al-Arabiya.
Pictures of the captured leader were published on the Iraqi “Security
Media Cell's” Twitter which added that the ISIS deputy leader was
found with a false identification card. “A unit from the Hawija police
in the province of Kirkuk has arrested the terrorist known as ‘Abu
Khaldoun’ inside one of the apartments in the March 1 area,” said the
Iraqi statement. “He was carrying a false identity card under the name
of Shaalan Obeid. This criminal worked as a deputy under al-Baghdadi
and was previously the so-called military prince of the province of
Salah al-Din.” Baghdadi, an Iraqi jihadist who rose from obscurity to
declare himself “caliph” of all Muslims as the leader of Islamic
State, died by detonating a suicide vest as he fled into a dead-end
tunnel as elite US special forces closed in. Marine General Kenneth
McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command, said Baghdadi brought
two young children into the tunnel with him - not three, as had been
the US government estimate. Both children were believed to be under
the age of 12 and both were killed, he said.”
The
Washington Post: Iran Is Brutally Suppressing Popular Dissent. The
World Is Watching.
“As Iran guns down protesters at home, it’s also waging a global
campaign of suppression against dissidents in the United States and
other countries. Iran’s attacks on critics abroad have been brazen. In
recent months, anti-regime activists have been kidnapped, murdered and
harassed, according to news reports and interviews with activists. The
FBI and security agencies in Europe are monitoring these assaults.
Images from inside Iran of the spreading protests have gone viral on
the Internet, including sometimes gruesome pictures of those killed in
the streets. Amnesty International counts more than 140 dead since the
unrest began Nov. 15 because of public anger over a hike in gas
prices. Sources in Iran told the New York Times that more than 200
have been killed, 1,900 injured and 7,000 arrested. “As the
existential threats to the regime grow, it will employ every manner of
violence to eliminate their perceived enemies. It is the one skill
Iran has successfully mastered,” says Roya Hakakian, whose book
“Assassins of the Turquoise Palace” documented Iranian murder of
dissidents abroad.”
VICE:
The Russian Social Network Letting ISIS Back Online
“When Europol announced last week that it had effectively
dismantled the Islamic State’s main online network, a number of
experts warned that the group would simply move to another platform.
It only took five days for ISIS to prove them right. On November 30,
an account on the unknown Russian messaging app TamTam claimed credit
for the London Bridge attack in which two people were stabbed to death
by 28-year-old terrorist Usman Khan. That account is linked to ISIS’s
Nashir news agency. TamTam is virtually unknown outside of Russia, but
over the space of just a few days, thousands of accounts and channels
dedicated to spreading ISIS propaganda appeared, spewing out thousands
of messages in the space of a few hours. “There was extreme activity
on TamTam,” Pieter Van Ostaeyen, a member of the board of the
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, told VICE News.”
Chicago
Tribune: Chicago Police Again Go Undercover On Facebook To Bust Groups
Selling Guns — And Again Accuse The Website Of Not
Cooperating
“Chicago police on Tuesday announced their latest arrests for
illegally selling guns and drugs through private Facebook groups — and
again complained that the social media platform has not been
cooperating with the department’s ongoing undercover investigation.
“Facebook claims to monitor these groups, but CPD detectives have
labeled these private hidden sites as a version of the dark web that’s
more accessible for everyday users,” First Deputy Superintendent
Anthony Riccio said at a news conference. Officers infiltrated seven
Facebook groups recently and made 147 undercover purchases, he said. A
total of 65 people were identified in the groups, 53 of them now in
custody and two being sought in arrest warrants. Police seized four
handguns, two shotguns, a high-powered rifle and 23 types of
narcotics. The groups are not searchable or visible like public ones
on Facebook. A user already in a secret group must invite another user
to join.”
United States
The
Washington Post: California Man Now ‘Highest-Ranking’ American
Fighting Alongside Al-Shabab Terrorists, FBI Says
“Federal investigators are re-upping a $5 million reward related to
the capture of a 37-year-old man on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist
List whom it called “the highest-ranking U.S. citizen fighting
overseas with a terrorist organization.” The award for information
leading to the arrest of Jehad Serwan Mostafa, formerly of San Diego,
came as federal prosecutors announced new charges related to his
alleged “critical role” in supporting the Somalia-based Islamic
terrorism organization, al-Shabab, according to a federal indictment
unsealed Monday. The new charges expand on three similar counts
Mostafa faces from a 2009 indictment and includes his alleged
activities in support of al-Shabab that took place between March 2008
to February 2017. The FBI did not detail the new charges, but FBI
Special Agent Erin Westfall in a statement broadly described Mostafa’s
role with the extremist group, which has sought to overthrow the
Somali government and impose al-Shabab’s strict version of Islamic
law. “Over the past decade, Mostafa has held positions within al
Shabab’s explosives department, media wing, and training camps,”
Westfall said. “We believe he will continue to play an active role in
terrorist acts that al Shabaab commits until he is stopped.”
Iran
CNN:
Fresh Intelligence Points To Iranian Threat Against US Forces And
Interests In Middle East, Officials Say
“There is fresh intelligence of a potential Iranian threat against
US forces and interests in the Middle East, according to several US
defense and administration officials. "There has been consistent
intelligence in the last several weeks," one administration official
told CNN. A second official described it as information that has been
gathered throughout November. The information is being gathered by
military and intelligence agencies. The officials would not say in
what format the intelligence exists. But in the last several weeks
there has been movement of Iranian forces and weapons that the US
worries could be put in place for a potential attack, if one is
ordered by the Iranian regime, the officials said. It's not clear if a
potential threat would come from the central government or Iran's
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The head of US military operations
in the Middle East recently signaled the US expects some kind of
Iranian action in response to the US sanctions and pressure campaign
that is trying to get the regime to abandon its nuclear program. "I
would expect that if we look at the past three or four months, it's
possible they will do something that is irresponsible.”
The
Washington Post: Families Say More Pressure Is Needed To Free
Relatives Imprisoned In Iran
“The families of three Americans and a British citizen imprisoned
in Iran urged the U.S. government on Tuesday to apply more pressure on
the Islamic republic for activities directly related to what they
characterized as a hostage-taking industry. The relatives said that
the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran has not
been sufficient in the cases of their loved ones, who have spent years
behind bars in Tehran on charges their governments consider baseless.
Richard Ratcliffe, whose Iranian British wife, Nazanin, has been held
for more than three years, called for new sanctions targeting anyone
involved in wrongfully imprisoning foreigners. Most U.S. sanctions are
imposed for activity related to other issues, such as terrorism,
missile testing or nuclear activity. “There is a new hostage crisis,”
Ratcliffe said, describing a new wave of arrests by the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps. “And other countries are watching. They are
looking closely — if a bad actor can get away with it, well then, why
can’t we too?”
Iraq
I24
News: Five Rockets Hit Base Hosting US Troops In Iraq
“Five rockets hit the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq hosting US
troops, the Iraqi military said in a statement on Tuesday. No
casualties were reported, and no further details were available
immediately. Previously, US Vice President Mike Pence visited the
base, located in the Iraqi province of Anbar, in late November for
Thanksgiving to bolster the morale of the US servicemen. He also spoke
to Iraq's Prime Minister Mahdi, who filed his resignation this
weekend, to discuss the Iranian threat and the ongoing protests in the
country. Anbar, which borders the restive Syria, Jordan and Saudi
Arabia, has been relatively quiet in terms of protests, with most of
the unrest happening in Iraq's south and in its capital of Baghdad.
The Anbar province was key in fighting the al-Qaeda presence in the
country in the wake of the US operation against Saddam Hussein. A
major hotbed in the subsequent action against al-Qaeda's fighetrs in
Iraq, in late 2006 it saw the birth of the so-called Anbar Awakening -
a local movement led by Sunni tribal sheikhs who turned against the
terrorist group.”
Turkey
Reuters:
Macron Says Time For Turkey To Clarify Ambiguous Stance On Islamic
State
“French President Emmanuel Macron accused Turkey on Tuesday of
working with Islamic State proxies and said Ankara’s ambiguity toward
the group was detrimental to its NATO allies fighting in Syria and
Iraq. Relations between Macron and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan
have soured ahead of Wednesday’s NATO summit in London with the two
leaders trading barbs over Ankara’s cross-border offensive in
northeast Syria targeting Kurdish militias. Speaking alongside U.S.
President Donald Trump, Macron directly linked Turkey to Islamic State
fighters, while dismissing Trump’s concerns that Paris was not
bringing home French Islamic State fighters held by Kurdish groups in
Syria. “The common enemy today is the terrorist groups. I’m sorry to
say, we don’t have the same definition of terrorism around the table,”
Macron told reporters. “When I look at Turkey they are fighting
against those who fought with us shoulder to shoulder against ISIS
(Islamic State) and sometimes they work with ISIS proxies.” Turkey has
threatened to block a plan to defend Baltic states and Poland against
Russian attacks unless the alliance backs Ankara in recognizing the
Kurdish YPG militia as a terrorist group.”
NPR:
Turkey And NATO Members Face Off Over Kurdish Fighters In
Syria
“Turkey threatens to hold up NATO's work unless it labels the
Kurdish fighters in Syria who sided with the U.S. in the war against
ISIS as terrorists. The West says they are an ally against
terror.”
U.S.
News & World Report: Turkey To Oppose NATO Plan If It Fails To
Recognize Terrorism Threats:
Erdogan
“Turkey will oppose NATO's plan for the defense of Baltic countries
if the alliance does not recognize groups that Turkey deems
terrorists, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, ahead of
a NATO alliance summit in London. Relations between Turkey and its
NATO allies have been strained over a host of issues, ranging from
Ankara's decision to procure Russian air defense systems to Syria
policy. Several NATO members condemned Turkey's decision to launch an
offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia.
Ankara has refused to back a NATO defense plan for the Baltics and
Poland until it receives more support for its battle with the YPG,
which it views as a terrorist organization. Ahead of his departure
from Ankara for the NATO summit, Erdogan said he had spoken to Polish
President Andrzej Duda on the phone on Monday and had agreed to meet
with him and leaders of Baltic countries in London to discuss the
issue. “With pleasure, we can come together and discuss these issues
there as well,” he said. “But if our friends at NATO do not recognize
as terrorist organizations those we consider terrorist organizations
... we will stand against any step that will be taken
there.”
Afghanistan
Associated
Press: Official: Japanese Doctor Dies After Attack In
Afghanistan
“A Japanese physician and aid worker in eastern Afghanistan died of
his wounds after an attack Wednesday that also killed five Afghans,
including the doctor’s bodyguards, the driver and a passenger, a
hospital spokesman said. The attack in Nangarhar province targeted
Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura as he was heading to the provincial
capital, Jalalabad, according to the provincial governor’s spokesman,
Attaullah Khogyani. Nakamura was seriously wounded and was reported to
be in critical condition immediately after the attack. He underwent
surgery at a local hospital but died of his wounds shortly after,
while being airlifted to the Bagram airfield hospital in the capital,
Kabul, said Gulzada Sanger, the hospital spokesman. Nakamura had
headed the Japanese charity, Peace Medical Service, in Nangarhar since
2008. He came to Afghanistan after a Japanese colleague, Kazuya Ito,
was abducted and killed. In April, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
granted Nakamura honorary citizenship of Afghanistan. Ghani’s
spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, condemned the attack that killed Nakamura,
calling it a “heinous act and a cowardly attack on one of
Afghanistan’s greatest friends.”
Deutsche
Welle: Germany Insists Afghan Government Must Be Involved In Taliban
Talks
“German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told a news
conference in Kabul on Tuesday that the Afghan government should not
be left out of efforts to forge peace with Taliban insurgents. “We
believe that peace talks, and a peace agreement, should also include
Afghan politicians and leaders,” she said. The German minister, who is
also the leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats
(CDU), made the comments alongside Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on
the second day of her visit to Afghanistan. The Taliban have refused
to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, which they do not
recognize. Instead, the Islamist group has been mediating with US
officials. US President Donald Trump broke off the Taliban talks in
September after an uptick in attacks and the death of a US soldier.
But last week he announced the talks had resumed. Kramp-Karrenbauer
told reporters that Berlin and Kabul both wanted the same thing,
namely for people in Afghanistan to live in peace and safety. She also
expressed hope that the outcome of Afghanistan's presidential election
would soon be announced, adding that a strong Afghan government would
be better positioned to lead peace talks.”
Yemen
Gulf
News: 217 Civilians Killed By Al Houthi Militants In Hodeida Since
Ceasefire
“Some 217 civilians have been killed and 2,152 others injured by
Yemen’s Iran-allied Al Houthi militia in the port city of Hodeida
since a UN-brokered ceasefire came into force there nearly a year ago,
a Yemeni report has said. The casualties have been the result of Al
Houthi breaches including shelling attacks on residential areas and
landmines they have planted on roads as well as plantations in the
western city, a media centre linked to the pro-government forces
Giants’ Brigades added, according to Saudi television Al Arabiya. Most
casualties were women and children. “A year has passed since the
futile UN truce was sealed, adding to the suffering of Hodeida’s
people,” the centre said. “The truce has provided no protection to
them against aggression and criminality of the Houthi militias,” it
added. Al Houthis seized Hodeida in late 2014 when they overran parts
of Yemen, plunging the impoverished country in a ruinous war. Hodeida
is strategically important because of its key port through which most
Yemen’s imports and aid enter.”
Lebanon
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Lebanon’s Hezbollah Joins Search For New Iraq PM As UN Slams
Protest Violence
“Lebanon’s Hezbollah party has joined the search for a new Iraqi
prime minister following the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi last
week. An Iraqi informed source revealed on Tuesday that Iran’s
Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani
and Hezbollah official, responsible about the Iraqi file, Mohammad
Kawtharany have joined negotiations to find Abdul Mahdi’s replacement.
“Soleimani is in Baghdad to push for a particular candidate to succeed
Abdel Mahdi,” the source told Agence France Press, without providing
details. Kawtharany, who is Hezbollah’s pointman on Iraq, “is also
playing a large role in persuading Shiite and Sunni political forces
on this,” the source added. Meanwhile, in New York, Special
Representative of the Secretary-General, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert
said Iraq is at a crossroads that cannot be resolved by “buying time
with band-aid solutions and coercive measures.” In a briefing to the
Security Council, she stressed that without full accountability and
justice, “it will be nearly impossible to convince the people that
political leaders are sincerely willing to engage in substantial.” She
called on Iraqis to build a sovereign, stable, inclusive and
prosperous country: “Now is the time to act. The great hopes of so
many Iraqis call for bold, forward thinking,” she said.”
Nigeria
The
Punch Nigeria: How Boko Haram Has Evolved Over The
Years
“Last month marked 11 years since Mohammed Yusuf, founder of Boko
Haram, died in police detention. His death led to the radicalisation
of the sect and a declaration of Jihad against the Nigerian state. In
an earlier paper on the sect, I argued that before 2009, its
operations were more or less peaceful, but that it was radicalised in
2009 after a confrontation with Nigerian security agencies. The police
cracked down on the group setting off an armed uprising in Bauchi
State. Opinions differ on the reasons for the government clampdown.
But some believe that the government intervened based on intelligence
that the group was arming itself. The crackdown led to an uprising
that soon spread to other parts of northeastern Nigeria and 800
members of the group were killed by the Nigerian security services.
Yusuf was arrested during this period but died in police detention.
The police claimed that he died while trying to escape. Yusuf’s
successor, Abubakar Shekau, vowed to exact revenge on the Nigerian
government. A violent campaign against the state was launched. A year
later in 2010, Shekau sought to make it a Jihad against
Christians.”
Africa
Voice
Of America: Cameroon Says 250 Ex-Militants Surrendered In
2019
“Cameroon says over 250 former militants, including Boko Haram
terrorists and anglophone separatists, have surrendered in the past
year and are being rehabilitated. But former rebels say lack of trust
in Cameroon’s military is preventing more militants from dropping
their weapons. A group of six former militants clean a pig farm at the
Bamenda center of the National Disarmament, Demobilization and
Rehabilitation Committee. The committee says, in the last year, 130
anglophone rebels and 122 Boko Haram terrorists have surrendered for
reintegration. Besides raising pigs and chickens, the center’s
residents – all former insurgents - also learn tailoring, carpentry,
and how to grow vegetables. Among those tending to the pigs is a
22-year-old who, for security reasons, we’ll call Ngumulah. He said
many of his former comrades fighting for an independent,
English-speaking state in Cameroon’s western regions are tired after
three years of battles and are ready to surrender, as he did. “The
fighters want to come, but they are afraid that the military would
arrest them. Like my own case, when I went to surrender without guns,
I was locked up for two months. Many fighters do not trust the
military.”
North Korea
Associated
Press: Kim Again Rides Horse Up Sacred Peak As Nuke Deadline
Nears
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rode a white horse up a sacred
mountain on his second symbolic visit in less than two months, state
media reported Wednesday, as his country is threatening provocation if
the United States refuses to make concessions in nuclear diplomacy by
year’s end. The Korean Central News Agency released many photos
showing Kim taking a horse riding to snow-covered Mount Paektu along
with his wife and other top lieutenants, all on white horses. Kim also
climbed the mountain, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, on
horseback in mid-October. Mount Paektu and white horses are symbols
associated with the Kim family’s dynastic rule. Kim has made previous
visits there before making major decisions. Kim said that “we should
always live and work in the offensive spirit of Paektu,” according to
KCNA. “The imperialists and class enemies make a more frantic attempt
to undermine the ideological, revolutionary and class positions of our
party.” On Monday, Kim visited Samjiyon county at the foot of Mount
Paektu to attend a ceremony marking the completion of work that has
transformed the town to “an epitome of modern civilization,” KCNA
said. It said the town has a museum on the Kim family, a ski slope,
cultural centers, a school, a hospital and factories.”
United Kingdom
New
York Post: London Bridge Attack: Lukasz Koczocik Stabbed 5 Times,
Still Fought Usman Khan
“One of the heroes who battled the London Bridge attacker was
knifed five times — but still battled the terrorist “until the end,”
according to a new report. Lukasz Koczocik, a worker at the
Fishmongers Hall, where Cambridge University was hosting a prison
rehabilitation conference Friday, was cleaning glasses in the basement
when he heard people screaming — and ran into the fray, the Telegraph
reported. Media reports initially indicated that Koczocik was the man
seen in photos battling attacker Usman Khan with a narwhal tusk on the
London Bridge, but that was, in fact, another person, the Independent
reported. But his role was similarly heroic, according to Fishmongers’
Hall chief executive Toby Williamson. “The scream was so loud that as
a first aider, he makes a choice,” Williamson told “BBC Breakfast”
Monday. “He goes toward the trouble. Lukasz gets there on the first
floor of the building just behind me and it’s pretty clear that
there’s a bad guy.” “Khan’s got two knives in his hands, there’s
blood, there’s screams, there’s chaos,” Williamson continued. “Lukasz
pulls off the wall this long stick, he charges towards the bad guy and
he impacts him on the chest, and there’s clearly something here that
is protective, and it doesn’t make any sort of impact.”
The
Guardian: The London Bridge Attack Must Not Stop Our Vital Work To
Tackle Terrorism
“I was working at Fishmongers’ Hall on Friday at the conference
attacked by Usman Khan. Those in attendance were dedicated, talented
people, including some convicted of offences, who believe in the power
of education and the value of collaboration. The title of the project
we were celebrating was Learning Together – a programme where
prisoners and those in higher education study alongside each other. As
would be expected, I am still in shock. I find it difficult to breathe
properly when I see the photographs of those killed, Jack Merritt and
Saskia Jones, two beautiful individuals who were simply trying to make
our world a better place. The Learning Together initiative was a
positive, transformative experience for prisoners and ex‑prisoners. I
am now, according to an email I have received from the police, a
victim of terrorism. Reading helps me to piece together at least some
of what happened, but I am sickened by the Islamophobic responses
online. Terrorism and hateful extremism is not Islam. As an immigrant
from Christchurch, New Zealand, I immediately think of the victims of
other terrorist attacks, when white supremacist Brenton Tarrant killed
51 people as they worshipped peacefully in a mosque.”
Germany
NPR:
German Special Forces Officer To Be Suspended Over Ties To Right-Wing
Extremism
“The German military will suspend an officer of its elite special
forces unit after an investigation linked him to right-wing extremism.
Two other soldiers are facing punishment for allegedly performing a
Nazi salute at a party at the officer's home. The unnamed officer, who
served multiple tours in Afghanistan, has been covertly investigated
for months, according to a report in the German newspaper Bild am
Sonntag. He will be barred from service this week, Deutsche Welle
reports. The German special forces, known as the Kommando
Spezialkrafte, are responsible for antiterrorism missions and hostage
rescue operations overseas. Some 20 members of the elite unit are
being investigated for ties to right-wing elements, according to
Christof Gramm, the head of the Military Counterintelligence Service.
Earlier this year, the service disclosed that it was investigating 450
suspected cases throughout the military. Making the Nazi salute is
illegal in Germany, as is using other Nazi symbols. In the latest
incidents, one of the soldiers accused of making the salute has been
suspended from the military; the other is still under investigation. A
trial is upcoming for a German army officer who was arrested in April
2017 for allegedly plotting a far-right terror attack while posing as
a Syrian refugee.”
Europe
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Albanians Beg For Return Of ISIS Youngsters
“After media interest helped mobilize the evacuation of an Albanian
boy from northern Syria last month, families of other children of ISIS
fighters are pleading with Tirana to redouble its efforts and bring
the rest home. Alvin Berisha, an 11-year-old Albanian boy from Italy,
was rescued from a Kurdish-run prison camp in Syria in November after
a popular Italian TV show whipped up support for his plight. The boy's
homecoming has also opened a ray of hope for other families in Albania
who have been struggling for years to bring back youth snatched by
their militant parents. “I am happy for him but I am anxious for my
two children who are still there in the middle of this hell,” says
Mide Dumani, a 46-year-old mother who lives on the outskirts of
Tirana, her entire body shaking with nerves. Her children are among
around 30 Albanian youngsters that Tirana believes are stuck in Syria.
Most are in the dusty Al-Hol encampment, a tent city home to more than
70,000 people, mostly relatives of ISIS militants, who were rounded up
by Kurds. Dumani has not seen her two children since her husband
ferried them off to Syria in February 2014. He was killed a few months
later, leaving Eva and Endri, now aged 13 and 11, to fend for their
own.”
East Asia
The
Wall Street Journal: China Threatens Retaliation Over Proposed U.S.
Sanctions
“China said it would retaliate if the U.S. presses forward with
sanctions over Beijing’s repression of Uighur Muslims—Washington’s
second stand on China human rights in recent days, with trade talks
facing uncertainty. After the House of Representatives passed a bill
requiring sanctions on officials responsible for the widespread
detention of Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang region, Beijing issued
furious statements Wednesday calling it interference with China’s
internal affairs under the pretext of human rights. The bill must be
reconciled with a version passed by the Senate in September before it
can become law. “If you undermine China’s interests, you will be hit
back,” China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at
Wednesday’s daily news conference. She accused the U.S. of trying to
foment unrest in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and compared it with U.S.
policy in Afghanistan. President Trump last week drew protests from
Beijing when he signed a bill supporting Hong Kong’s antigovernment
protesters.”
Al
Jazeera: Anger In China As US House Passes Uighur Crackdown
Bill
“China reacted angrily after the US House of Representatives passed
a bill requiring the Trump administration to toughen its response to
Xinjiang, where the more than one million Muslims, mostly ethnic
Uighurs, are being held in "re-education" camps. In a statement
released shortly after the Uighur Act of 2019 was passed, China's
foreign ministry on Wednesday condemned the move saying the bill
"wantonly smears China's efforts to eliminate and combat extremism".
The United States's lower house voted to back the bill 407 to one in a
vote on Tuesday. It has still to be approved by the Senate before it
can be sent to President Donald Trump. The White House has yet to say
whether Trump would sign or veto it. "We urge the US to immediately
correct its mistake, to stop the above bill on Xinjiang from becoming
law, to stop using Xinjiang as a way to interfere in China's domestic
affairs," said the statement, attributed to the ministry's
spokeswoman, Hua Chunying.”
Reuters:
'Anti-Terrorism Drills' With Dogs Conducted Ahead Of Tokyo 2020
Games
“Japanese officials undertook ‘anti-terrorism’ drills involving
dogs trained to detect suspicious items, including explosives, at
Tokyo Station on Wednesday as they ramp up security preparations for
next year’s Olympic Games. During the drill, specially trained
Labrador and Beagle dogs sniffed commuters near ticket barriers as
officials attempt to balance the need for security whilst not causing
too much disruption to the capital’s busy transport system. Nearly 20
million people use public transport daily in the greater Tokyo area,
home to more than 35 million people. An estimated 600,000 additional
people are expected to come to the city during Games’ time, meaning
both security and efficient transport are concerns for local
officials. Wednesday’s drills follow similar test conducted at another
Tokyo subway station in March. At separate tests, body scanners have
also been introduced to detect hazardous objects hidden in clothing,
according to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry
(MLIT). “This is a new project conducted for Tokyo 2020,” the
ministry’s railway chief Hidenoby Nomoto told reporters on Wednesday.
“Considering the result of this experiment test, we would like to
analyze the fluidity of travelers, or how the customers felt.”
Latin America
The
Straits Times: Bolivia Unveils Anti-Terror Unit To Fight 'Threatening'
Foreign Groups
“Bolivia's interim government on Tuesday (Dec 3) unveiled a new
anti-terrorism police force it said was aimed at dismantling foreign
groups “threatening” the troubled South American country. “This
anti-terrorist group has a mission of dismantling absolutely all the
terrorist cells that are threatening our homeland,” Interior Minister
Arturo Murillo said during an official ceremony to present the
60-strong force. Mr Murillo reviewed the ranks of masked, black-clad
troops that make up the new force, called the GAT, at the ceremony in
La Paz. The minister said the state had to act to “free Bolivia from
these narcoterrorists who have settled in the country in the last 14
years” - a pointed reference to ex-president Evo Morales' term in
office. Mr Morales resigned on November 10 amid swelling protests over
what political opponents said was his rigging of October 20 elections.
He fled to Mexico the following day after losing the support of the
military and police, claiming to be the victim of a coup. Mr Morales
wrote on Twitter that “the coup plotters who attacked power in Bolivia
are now inventing incredible stories to blame others for the terror
that they themselves are imposing from the state.” “The only terrorist
plan they are carrying out is theirs, with blood and fire against all
Bolivians.”
Australia
ABC
News Australia: AFP Arrest Alleged Sydney Islamic State Recruiter Over
Radicalisation Of Teenagers
“Federal police have arrested a 21-year-old Sydney man they allege
was an Islamic State (IS) recruiter who tried to radicalise teenagers
into carrying out politically motivated violence. The Australian
Federal Police (AFP) said the Riverwood man is expected to be charged
with several terrorism offences, which carried a potential life
sentence if he was to be found guilty. AFP Assistant Commissioner Ian
McCartney said the Australian-born man was connected to other
individuals who have been charged with terrorism offences, but would
not disclose who they were. He said the man “created and posted
increasingly extremist material on social media, including supporting
martyrdom”. The AFP said the man also downloaded a “document on basic
weapons and tactics”, which included how to use knives and other blunt
instruments during a terrorist attack. Assistant Commissioner Ian
McCartney said there was no imminent threat or attacks planned. (ABC
News) “It will be further alleged he actively attempted to influence
teenagers to adopt and act upon his extremist views,” Assistant
Commissioner McCartney said. “It was fair to say there was a continuum
of radicalisation … to the point of encouraging politically-motivated
violence.”
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