Eye on Extremism March 21, 2016

Eye on Extremism March 21, 2016 Fox News: US Sends More Troops To Iraq After ISIS Rocket Kills Marine “More U.S. military troops are going to Iraq in the aftermath of an Islamic State rocket killing a Marine and seriously injuring others this weekend, the Pentagon said Sunday. The attack occurred Saturday in the northern Iraq town of Makhmur, roughly 75 miles southeast of the ISIS-stronghold Mosul. The undisclosed number of troops will be a detachment from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and will support Iraqi forces and international ground operations, according to the Pentagon, which issued the announcement for the U.S.-led Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. The Pentagon on Sunday identified the Marine who died as Staff Sgt. Louis F.Cardin, of Temecula, Calif. Cardin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th MEU out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.” Wall Street Journal: Captured Paris Terror Suspect Salah Abdeslam Says He Planned More Attacks “The capture of accused Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam yielded crucial insight into how he used local connections to hide in the Belgian capital for months and led to his admission he was preparing to strike again, officials said. Friday’s arrest of Mr. Abdeslam several hundred yards from his family home has left authorities trying to determine the extent to which Europe’s most wanted man relied on friends and family to stay undetected since the Nov. 13 attacks. They said the investigation into the Paris attacks so far suggests that fighters trained in Syria could tap such a network of local sympathizers to prepare new strikes.” The Washington Post: 2 Americans Killed In Suspected ISIS Bombing In Turkey, U.S. Official Says “A suicide bombing at a popular shopping area in Istanbul that killed at least five people, including two Americans, and wounded dozens more Saturday, according to media reports. The Turkish interior minister identified the bomber as a militant with ties to the Islamic State, the Associated Press reported Sunday. The blast targeted Istiklal Street, a major thoroughfare lined with international shopping outlets and restaurants that bustles with foreign tourists on weekends. Five people had been confirmed dead and at least 36 wounded, including 12 foreign nationals, the Hurriyet Daily News reported, citing comments from Turkish Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu.” The Guardian: Syria Death Toll From Russian Airstrikes Rises, Say Activists “The death toll from purported Russian airstrikes on the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa has climbed in the past 24 hours to at least 55, mostly civilians, Syrian opposition activists have said.The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which documents the conflict through activists on the ground, said 55 people have been killed, including 13 children and a pregnant woman, in what it said were Russian airstrikes that hit residential areas.The anti-Isis activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently also said the attacks were by Russian warplanes and put the number of deaths at 60. The Isis-affiliated news agency Aamaq said 43 people were killed and 60 others wounded. It released a video that purports to show the ‘massacre committed by Russian aircraft in one of Raqqa’s most congested streets’.” AFP: Iraq Forces In Major Push Against IS In Anbar “Iraqi forces have launched a broad offensive to retake the city of Hit from the Islamic State group in the western province of Anbar, a top commander said Saturday. Led by the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, forces from the police, army and local tribal fighters were making a final push to retake Hit, 145 kilometres (90 miles) west of Baghdad. ‘They have begun a broad operation to liberate Hit and Kubaysa,’ Major General Ali Ibrahim Daboun, the head of the Al-Jazeera Operations Command, told AFP.” CNN: Airstrikes Targeting ISIS Hit Mosul University “Airstrikes targeting ISIS fighters struck Mosul and surrounding areas over the weekend, sources told CNN. CNN could not immediately independently verify the specifics of the claims, as the strikes hit inside ISIS-held territory. Reports surfaced that Mosul University -- considered a base for ISIS fighters -- was hit. CNN confirmed the strikes with two other sources: Someone inside Mosul University and with Athil Al Nujayfi, the former governor of the Nineveh Province, in which Mosul is located. Nujayfi, who claims to maintain a network of contacts and a militia loyal to him inside Mosul, said 17 senior ISIS fighters and numerous local leaders were killed in the strikes, which he called a ‘blow’ to the terror group.” US News & World Report: Yemeni Officials Say Shiite Rebels And The Internationally Recognized Government Have Agreed To Begin A Ceasefire “Yemeni Shiite rebels and the internationally recognized government have agreed to begin a ceasefire for a week or two before their next round of negotiations which are expected in April, Yemeni officials said Sunday. The officials participated in Sunday's talks in Sanaa, the capital, between the rebels and the U.N. envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters. According to the officials, the Shiite rebels known as Houthis have agreed to implement a U.N. security council resolution which requires them to hand over their weapons and withdraw from territory they occupy, including Sanaa. Officials with the internationally recognized government also said Sunday they agree to the ceasefire as a first step for the warring sides to show their good intentions.” The Times of Israel: IDF Soldier Reports Attempted Stabbing In Ramat Gan “An IDF soldier reported Sunday that he was targeted in an attempted stabbing attack in Ramat Gan, prompting police to launch a widespread search in the area for possible suspects. No injuries were reported in the incident. An initial investigation found that the soldier had not actually seen a knife being drawn, and that his alleged would-be attacker had fled the scene. Tel Aviv and other central Israeli cities have been on edge since a Palestinian man went on a stabbing spree in Jaffa on March 10, killing an American tourist and wounding 10 others. Tel Aviv, considered the country’s financial and cultural hub, has seen a number of attacks during a nearly six-month round of violence, including a deadly shooting on New Year’s Day that was followed by a several-day manhunt that shut down some parts of the city.” Reuters: French Prime Minister Says 600-Plus People Have Left France For Syria Or Iraq “More than 600 people have now left France for Syria and Iraq, with about 800 more wanting to leave to join Islamic State (IS), Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Sunday. The figures show little respite in the number of people joining the jihadist group despite multiple bombing campaigns against IS strongholds and a crackdown by French authorities to prevent people from leaving the country after two major attacks in France during last year. ‘We are in a battle on our soil,’ Walls said in a speech to Socialist party supporters. Breaking down the figures, Walls said 609 people who are French nationals or have French resident's status are currently among fighters, including 283 women and 18 minors. Almost 170 have been killed while in Syria or Iraq and 300 have returned to France from those countries.” Reuters: Syria Peace Talks Grind Toward Pivotal Assad Question “Syrian government negotiators at Geneva peace talks are coming under unaccustomed pressure to discuss something far outside their comfort zone: the fate of President Bashar al-Assad. And they are doing their best to avoid it. Arguments over Assad's fate were a major cause of the failure of previous U.N. peace efforts in 2012 and 2014 to end a civil war that has now lasted five years, killed more than 250,000 people and caused a refugee crisis. The main opposition, along with the United States and other Western nations, has long insisted any peace deal must include his departure from power, while the Syrian government and Russia have said there is no such clause in the international agreements that underwrite the peace process. The Syrian president looked more secure than ever at the start of the latest round of talks, riding high after a Russian-backed military campaign.” Voice of America: Cameroonian, Nigerian Forces Free Hundreds Of Boko Haram Hostages “The militaries of Cameroon and Nigeria have freed hundreds of hostages held by Boko Haram, including dozens of girls and women either forcefully married or held as sex slaves. The captives were freed after raids on the town of Achigachia, which straddles Cameroon and Nigeria. VOA was able to talk to several of them. Cameroon said it was handing over the rescued girls and women to specialized U.N. agencies for psychological care. The United Nations says Boko Haram's six-year insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than 2.5 million.” New York Times: Apple Vs. The F.B.I.: How The Case Could Play Out “Apple is getting ready for a busy week. On Monday, the company is holding an event at its Silicon Valley headquarters to unveil smaller versions of its iPhone and iPad Pro. Then on Tuesday, Apple will face off against the United States government at a hearing in federal court in Riverside, Calif., over whether it must help law enforcement break into an iPhone used by a gunman in last year’s San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attack. The iPhone case has proved to be particularly divisive. According to a New York Times/CBS News poll, 50 percent of respondents said Apple should accede to the government and help unlock the iPhone, while 45 percent were opposed.” United States CNN: American Regrets 'Bad Decision' To Travel To ISIS Stronghold “Mohamad Jamal Khweis, an American-born son of Palestinian immigrants in Virginia, says he made a ‘bad decision’ when he followed a young woman he met in Turkey to the ISIS-controlled Iraqi city of Mosul. ‘We spent some time together, and she said she's from Iraq, from Mosul,’ he told Kurdistan 24 calmly. ‘We spent some time in Turkey, got to know each other. She knows somebody who could take us from Turkey to Syria, then from Syria to Mosul. I decided to go with her.’ Now under investigation by American authorities, who allege he plotted to join the terrorist organization, Khweis said he "made a bad decision" and was trying to return to the United States when he was captured by Kurdish forces this week.” Syria ABC News: IS Suffers Blows In Iraq, Syria But Still Launches Attacks “After months of losing ground in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State group is showing signs of wear and tear, and its opponents say they have seen an increase in desertions among the extremists. But the jihadis appear to be lashing back with more terrorist and chemical attacks. Under a stepped-up campaign of U.S.-led and Russian airstrikes, as well as ground assaults by multiple forces in each country, the jihadis are estimated to have lost about 40 percent of their territory in Iraq and more than 20 percent in Syria. At their highest point in the summer of 2014, the group had overrun nearly a third of each country, declaring a ‘caliphate’ spanning from northwestern Syria to the outskirts of Baghdad. At that time, the extremists were riding high, known for their courage, experience, readiness to die and brutality. Now, those battling them on the ground say they appear to be flagging.” AFP: Raids 'Kill 39 Civilians' In IS Bastion In Syria “A wave of Russian air strikes killed at least 39 civilians on Saturday in Raqa, the main stronghold of the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, a monitoring group said. At least five children and seven women were among the dead in IS's de facto capital in the north of the war-ravaged country, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said the attacking aircraft were Russian. Five members of IS's self-styled police force were also killed and 60 people were wounded, some critically, according to the monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.” Reuters: Syrian Rebels Condemn Kurdish-Led Moves Towards Regional Autonomy “Syrian rebel factions on Friday condemned a declaration of federalism in Kurdish-controlled regions of northern Syria and vowed to resist it by force, a day after those areas voted to seek autonomy. A statement from a number of Syrian insurgent groups, some of whom are represented in the main opposition body that is participating in peace talks, said the federalism announcement was a “project to divide” Syria. Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northern regions voted on Thursday to seek autonomy under a federal system, drawing rebukes from the main opposition’s High Negotiations Committee, the Damascus government, Turkey and Washington.” Turkey CNN: Istanbul Explosion: Suicide Bomber Had ISIS Links, Says Turkey's Interior Minister “A suicide bomber who struck a busy tourist area in central Istanbul on Saturday, killing at least four people, was a Turkish citizen with links to ISIS, Turkey's Interior Minister Efkan Ala said Sunday. Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, Ala identified the attacker as Mehmet Ozturk, who was born in 1992 and registered in Gaziantep, a city in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border. ‘The evidence at hand shows that he is connected to the Daesh terrorist organization,’ said Ala, using another name for ISIS. He said that security forces had said there had been no previous warrants issued for the bomber. Five others had been detained in relation to the attack, he said.” Al-Monitor: Erdogan Takes Authoritarian Rule To New Heights In War On PKK “A terrorist attack in Istanbul on March 19 killed at least five people, among them two Americans with dual Israeli citizenship, and wounded dozens more. This attack comes less than one week after a suicide bombing in Ankara took 37 lives. Turkey is fighting a two-front terrorist war. While early reports indicate that the Islamic State (IS) may be responsible for the bombing in Istanbul, the Turkish government has implicated Kurdish separatists as responsible for the murders in Ankara on March 13. Al-Monitor supports Turkey in defeating terrorists from any and all quarters, and expresses its deepest sympathy for the innocent victims of these inexcusable crimes.” Yemen Business Standard: Yemen Clashes Kill 35 As Rebels Try To Retake Western Taiz “Yemeni security and medical officials say 35 fighters have been killed in clashes between Shiite rebels and pro-government forces in Taiz, the country's third-largest city. The officials say Shiite rebels known as Houthis were trying to retake the western part of the city yesterday, while a Saudi-led coalition launched more than a dozen airstrikes to prevent the Houthis from advancing.Yemen's civil war pits Houthi rebels against fighters allied with the internationally recognised government. A Saudi-led coalition began launching airstrikes against the Houthis in March 2015.” Egypt Reuters: At Least 13 Egyptian Policemen Killed In Sinai Attack “At least 13 Egyptian policemen were killed in the Sinai Peninsula when Islamist militants fired a mortar round at a security checkpoint in the city of Arish, security and medical sources said on Saturday.Islamic State claimed responsibility on several websites for the attack, and Egyptian state media later confirmed it. Ambulances were subjected to heavy gunfire as they attempted to reach the wounded, the sources said. Eyewitnesses reported hearing a massive explosion and said the city's entrances and exits had been closed off by security forces. Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace after its military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule. The insurgency, mounted by Islamic State's Egyptian branch Sinai Province, has killed hundreds of soldiers and police and started to attack Western targets within the country.” Middle East The Wall Street Journal: Israel Warns Citizens Against Travelling To Turkey After Attack “Israel on Sunday reiterated its warning against citizens traveling to Turkey, a day after a suicide bombing in Istanbul killed three Israelis and wounded 10 more. Israel’s counter terrorism bureau upgraded its travel assessment of Turkey from a ‘potential’ to a ‘concrete’ threat and advised Israelis to avoid all travel to the country. An Israeli military plane flew to Istanbul to pick up injured Israelis and return the bodies of those killed in the blast, the military said. ‘The murder of innocents has no justification anywhere,’ Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.” Libya The Financial Times: Libya: Stoking Conflict “Isis does not have the same deep roots in Libya as it has in Iraq and Syria. There is no sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia that it can easily exploit. Its resources, both financial and in terms of manpower, are limited in comparison to those of other actors in the conflict. However, the group’s campaign against the oil basin, which accounts for 80 per cent of Libya’s production, itself down from 1.6m barrels a day before the outbreak of war to less than 400,000 b/d, shows considerable tactical and military heft. The jihadis’ growth has been faster than many predicted. And while the attacks on the oil facilities around Ras Lanuf were repulsed, there is no force yet capable of taking the offensive to Isis on the ground. Even where Isis has been routed, such as in Derna, the site of its first Libyan cell, it has still managed to maintain a presence.” United Kingdom The Daily Mail: Special Forces And Police Are On Standby To Battle Up To TEN Simultaneous Terror Attacks On London “Special forces and police have been put on standby to battle up to 10 simultaneous terror attacks on London. To prevent a Paris-style attack in the capital, it is understood the National Crime Agency has been ordered to crackdown on firearms. Agency bosses fear terrorists returning from Syria could carry out multiple attacks in London, spreading resources across the city. But a minister told the Sunday Telegraph that UK special forces was well prepared for such an eventuality. The Army is also on standby outside London to aid the SAS and Metropolitan Police should there be multiple attacks. According to the Telegraph, the Army's counter terrorism bomb disposal unit is also putting together a team to combat chemical and biological weapons at a base in Didcot, Oxford.” Germany Reuters: EU-Turkey Deal Could See Kurds Moving To Germany En Masse: German Conservative “A prominent figure in the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said on Sunday a deal between the European Union and Turkey to halt illegal immigration to Europe could lead to Kurds heading to Germany en masse. The deal agreed on Friday envisages Turkey taking back all illegal migrants who cross the Aegean Sea to Greece, while the EU accepts an equal number of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and gives the Turks funds, visa-free travel rights and accelerated EU membership negotiations. ‘It could ultimately lead to more immigration, especially if you take visa freedom into account. Many, many Kurds fleeing the Turkish government could come to Germany,’ Markus Soeder, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) and finance minister for the state of Bavaria, told German public broadcaster ZDF.” France Reuters: Suspected French Islamist Placed Under Investigation Over Attack Plan “A French-Moroccan man with suspected links to Islamic State was placed under formal investigation on Sunday on suspicion of planning to carry out ‘violent acts’, the Paris prosecutor's office said. French anti-terrorism police arrested Youssef Ettajouar, 28, and three others on March 16 after opening a preliminary investigation on the basis that they were ready to take action. At the time, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said investigators were focusing on one of the suspects, adding that he was thought to have ties with Islamic State in Syria. The three others were released on Sunday, but Ettajouar, who was sentenced to five years in prison for having wanted to go to Syria in 2012, was remanded in custody.” Europe CNN: Terror Investigation Uncovers 'A Lot Of Weapons,' Belgium Official Says The arrest of terror suspect Salah Abdeslam resulted in authorities finding a large number of weapons, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said Sunday. ‘He was ready to restart something in Brussels,’ said Reynders, speaking at the German Marshall Fund's Brussels Forum. ‘And it's maybe the reality because we have found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons, in the first investigations and we have found a new network around him in Brussels.’ The investigation also showed more people were involved in the November 13 Paris attacks than first thought, he said. ‘After the terror attacks in Paris, I said to one TV channel in the U.S. that we were searching for around 10 people with heavy weapons. We have far more than that since November, and not only in Belgium but also in France,’ he said. ‘For the moment we have found more than 30 people involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris, but we are sure there are others.’” Reuters: EU-Turkey Deal Fails To Stem Refugee Flight To Greece “They waved, cheered and smiled, elated to have made it to Europe at dawn on Sunday in a packed blue rubber motor boat. The 50 or so refugees and migrants were among the first to arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos on day one of an EU deal with Turkey designed to close the route by which a million people crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece in 2015. Exhausted but relieved, the new arrivals wrapped their wet feet in thermal blankets as volunteers handed out dry clothes and supplies. Reuters witnesses saw three boats arrive within an hour in darkness in the early hours of Sunday. Two men were pulled out unconscious from one of the boats amid the screams of fellow passengers and were later pronounced dead. Twelve boats had arrived on the shoreline near the airport by 6 a.m. (0400 GMT), a police official said. A government account put the number of arrivals across Greece in the past 24 hours at 875 people. Under the European Union deal with Turkey, all migrants and refugees, including Syrians, who cross to Greece illegally by sea from March 20 will be sent back to Turkey once they are registered and their asylum claims have been processed. Technology Bloomberg: The Behind-the-Scenes Fight Between Apple And The FBI “Apple gave the Federal Bureau of Investigation early access to iOS 8 so it could study how the new system would change evidence-gathering techniques, according to people familiar with the software's development. The agency quickly realized Apple had closed an important access point used for years by agents to collect information about criminal suspects. Many in the FBI were stunned. Suddenly, photos, text messages, notes and dozens of other sources of information stored on phones were off-limits. The new encryption protections set off a behind-the-scenes battle that ultimately spilled into the open last month, when a California judge granted the Justice Department an order requiring Apple to help the FBI unlock an iPhone used by one of the shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California. Federal prosecutors and Apple will argue their cases before a magistrate judge on March 22.” Arabic Language Clips Combating Terrorism Financing Alhyat Almasrya: Five Programs (In Saudi Arabia) To Prevent The Financing Of Terrorist Entities Saudi sources revealed that five programs are presently being introduced to combat the financing of terrorist groups, including Hezbollah. A commitment the authorities are requiring financial institutions, businesses and non-profit organizations to undertake is formulating programs to combat terror financing and money laundering. The sources stressed that these programs must include the following five components: development of policies, procedures and internal controls to combat terrorist financing and money laundering; informing employees of due diligence procedures; transparent record keeping; detection of unusual or suspicious transactions; and an obligation to report such transactions. The programs also demand putting in place the appropriate arrangements to guarantee this commitment and appointing an official in charge of the efforts to combat terror financing and money laundering at the management level. This official will work independently and will have the right to communicate with the highest administrative level. Emirates News: Foreign Financing Investigations Reveal The Implication Of 23 Organizations In Receiving Billions Of Dollars The investigation commission on behalf of Egypt's Ministry of Justice, in case No. 173/2011, known as the “foreign funding case against NGOs", revealed that the number of associations involved totals 3,500. These organizations have been investigated to determine their activities and funding sources. Following investigations, the commission decided to indict 23 human rights organizations and associations after ascertaining that some are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and have received funding from abroad. The commission added that it will take legal action against several individuals who, during interrogations, indicated their involvement in receiving the funds. They will be summoned next week for questioning regarding this case. Counter-Terrorism Aljazeera: Tunisian Campaign Against Religious Extremism As it faces escalating jihadist violence, Tunisia is seeking to combat extremism, which has spread among its young people and inside its jails. This has become a major challenge for a country which, over the course of the past year, has witnessed four bloody attacks and incurred severe damage to its economy, especially the tourism sector. Observers who have been following these events stress the country's need for "an integrated strategy to combat extremism" which encompasses the economic, social, political and intellectual aspects. Tunisia's Minister of Religious Affairs, Mohammed Khalil, announced on Thursday that, as of today, his ministry will launch a one-year campaign to counter extremism, especially among young people who have fallen victim to the online intellectual "infiltration" by extremist groups. ISIS Voice Of Iraq: ISIS Monetary Policy Excludes The Golden Caliphate Dinar: Competition, Smuggling Of Dollars And Fraud (Exploiting) The Damaged (Iraqi Dinar) "The Finance House" of ISIS has adopted a monetary policy which is based on three components: competition, smuggling and fraud for gaining immediate profits. This policy is being implemented at a time when the US dollar and the "damaged" Iraqi dinar are still dominant, leaving no room for the "Golden Caliphate Dinar." The Finance House is ISIS's Ministry of Finance in charge of its monetary affairs. The House's strict directives are not subject to debate and represent the money exchange law in Mosul. To implement its monetary policy, ISIS founded currency exchange firms, some bearing its name and some using "civilian" names. These companies aim to dominate the market while competing with veteran currency traders. The role of these ISIS companies is to set the dollar exchange rate in Mosul while backing the smuggling operations of the dollar. Ahmed Salman, a former bank employee, disclosed that the Iraqi capital Baghdad is the most important smuggling outlet. These activities have declined, however, amid ISIS's recent setbacks following the liberation of Samarra, north of Baghdad, by Iraqi forces. Samarra used to be an important crossing point on the way to Mosul. Gulfeyes: Saudi Researcher: Eight Jobs For Women In ISIS Saudi researcher on political and military history, Tauseef Al Anzi, stated that in the past two years (2014-2015) terrorist organizations, especially ISIS, focused their efforts on recruiting Saudi women. She claimed that there are eight jobs set aside for women in the jihadist organization. In comments published on Sunday, Al Anzi stressed that terrorist organizations need women's abilities for recruiting and teaching the sons of ISIS members. She explained that women have a strong emotional influence on other women and that foreign security services have difficulty in detecting their movements. Al Anzi noted that ISIS has designated eight jobs especially for women, namely media; marriage in the so-called "marriage of jihad"; recruitment; clothing production; educational lectures; especially by those holding a degree in Islamic law; suicide operations; supporting and encouraging the men; and fundraising for terrorist organizations. Muslim Brotherhood The Seventh Day: Mukhtar Noah: El-Shater Communicates With Muslim Brotherhood Leaders Abroad Through Encrypted Messages Dissident Brotherhood leader Mukhtar Noah stressed that Khairat el-Shater, the Group's Deputy Guide, is controlling its administrative and financial affairs fully, from his prison cell. He claimed that el-Shater communicates with the Brotherhood leaders abroad through coded messages and is an essential player in the current crisis faced by the group. Noah said el- Shater still has funds abroad which are being directed to finance the group's offices and delegations. Noah further claimed that the seized funds belonging to el-Shater represent only a small part of the assets he owns. Elwady News: Detention Of A [Female] Doctor Implicated In The Assassination Of (Egypt's) Attorney General The Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution, headed by first Attorney General, Tamer Al-Fergany, ordered the detention of Dr. Basma Rifaat Ibrahim for 15 days pending investigations, in the case of the assassination of the Attorney General. The Prosecution has charged her with multiple crimes including joining terrorist and extremist groups, premeditated murder, and supplying the defendants in the June 2015 murder of the Attorney General Hisham Barakat with weapons and ammunition. Earlier, the National Security Service had detained Brotherhood-affiliated Dr. Basma Rifaat Ibrahim on charges of funding the cell which assassinated the Egyptian Attorney General. Security sources revealed that Yehia Moussa, a Brotherhood fugitive now residing in Turkey, had transferred huge sums of money to Dr. Basma, based in Egypt, through a Qatari bank which operates branches in both Turkey and Egypt. The sources confirmed that she has been arrested and her bank account seized. Elfagr: Detention Of Two Brotherhood (Members) Who Funded Riots In Giza Giza security agents apprehended two merchants belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood suspected of delivering funds and weapons to the group and instigating riots. Major General Khaled Shalaby, Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division in Giza, said he had received warning that two Brotherhood-affiliated tradesmen were financing demonstrations and inciting to violence. Following measures taken in this regard they were arrested. During interrogations they confessed to funding riots, motivated by their opposition to the ruling regime. Al Wafd: Egyptian In Saudi Arabia: Brotherhood Behind The Drop In Remittances From Egyptians Abroad Coordinator of the General Union of Egyptians Abroad, Salah Yousef, from the Saudi city of Jeddah, said that there are campaigns to prevent the transfer of money from Egyptian expatriates to Egypt. He explained that individuals belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, and who own businesses in the tourism and money exchange sectors in Egypt, have representatives in Saudi Arabia. These agents have been buying the riyal from the Egyptians and this is what has led to the decline in remittances. Yousef stressed that the Central Bank can confirm his claims. He was quoted as saying, "Delegates of the Brotherhood are present in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait. They purchase (Saudi) riyals at rates as high as 2.5 - 2.8 Egyptian pounds." He asserted that he had informed the relevant authorities, which have begun to take action against these Brotherhood activists. Yousef noted that this purchasing action started over a month ago. He claimed that the decline in remittances by Egyptian expatriates, totaling $22 billion in 2014, fell to $16 billion in 2015, as a result of the purchase of foreign currencies by Brotherhood supporters. Dar Alakhbar: Are Jordan's Teachers Seeking To Terminate The Brotherhood's Occupation Of Their Union? At a time when the unlicensed Brotherhood in Jordan is trying with all its might to control the Teachers' Union through elections, some teachers wish to end what they call the Union's "occupation" by the group. It should be noted that the Teachers' Union is the largest trade union in the Kingdom. These teachers are adamant about putting an end to the misuse of their union in promoting the interests of the group. Dissident Brotherhood leaders claim that "most of the branches of the group are currently running operation rooms to communicate with the Brotherhood-backed candidates in the (Teachers') Union and to work for their success in the elections later this month, whatever the costs." While the unlicensed group officially denies these claims, leaders disclosed that the "group, led by (Controller General Sheikh) Hamam Said, has allocated thousands of dinars to finance election campaigns and promote its candidates."