Eye on Extremism - April 4, 2016

Eye on Extremism April 4, 2016 The Wall Street Journal: Investigators Home In on Scope of Terror Network Behind Brussels, Paris Attacks “At least 22 radical Islamists from Europe linked to the terror network behind the Brussels and Paris attacks are suspected to be still at large, putting security services on high alert as they rush to prevent Islamic State from striking again in the region. Many of the fugitives have been involved in previous Islamic State plots, officials say, and almost all of them have spent months or years fighting in Syria. Interviews and confidential court documents seen by The Wall Street Journal portray the fugitives as part of an extensive web of young men who developed a deep hatred of the West after embracing radical Islam at underground mosques and clandestine meetings in Molenbeek, a heavily Muslim district in the heart of Brussels. They have since become central to Islamic State’s plans to strike the West, according to investigators, who suspect the Brussels network is behind the movement of battle-hardened operatives from Syria to Europe.” Fox News: ISIS 'Rocket Expert' Responsible For Death Of US Marine Is Killed In Airstrike “Anti-ISIS coalition airstrikes on Sunday killed a top militant who was responsible for the death of a U.S. Marine in northern Iraq last month, a military spokesman said Sunday. Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, 27, was killed and eight other Marines were wounded when their detachment came under rocket fire on March 19. Coalition Spokesman Col. Steve Warren said ISIS fighter Jasim Khadijah was a ‘rocket expert’ who ‘controlled these attacks,’ according to Reuters. ‘Jasim Khadijah was an ISIS member and former Iraqi officer believed directly connected to the recent rocket attack that killed SSG Cardin and wounded eight other U.S. Marines,’ Warren said. Warren said the drone strike also killed five other ISIS fighters and destroyed two vehicles belonging to the Islamist group. Cardin was the second American combat death in Iraq since the start of the campaign to fight ISIS in 2014, according to Reuters.” The Jerusalem Post: Libya Could Replace Syria And Iraq As Main Islamic State Hub “If attacks on the Islamic State continue to weaken the group in Syria and Iraq, it could relocate its headquarters to Libya’s northern coastal town of Sirte, its Libyan headquarters since early spring 2015, an Israeli expert on Africa said on Sunday. Prof. Yehudit Ronen, a leading expert on Libya and the African Sahel region at Bar- Ilan University, said the Syrian regime and Russia’s military victory in retaking the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State was a watershed defeat for the group. ‘As Islamic State losses continue, the attractiveness of Libya as a rear and alternative base could gather momentum and become reality,’ said Ronen, a political scientist and author of the acclaimed Qaddafi’s Libya in World Politics. ‘Libya’s Mediterranean coast is a highly important strategic location for Islamic State, which it penetrated in 2014,’ noted Ronen. ‘The organization is well aware that the coastal strip’s oil and gas-rich infrastructure and ports are turning Libya into an effective jump-off point to expand jihadist terror to the European continent.’” Bloomberg: Saudi Prince Sees ‘Significant’ Progress Toward Yemen War End “Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince said the warring parties in Yemen are close to resolving a year-long conflict that’s become symbolic of the kingdom’s new foreign policy ambitions. ‘There is significant progress in negotiations, and we have good contacts with the Houthis, with a delegation currently in Riyadh,’ the 30-year-old Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also the kingdom’s defense minister, said in an interview with Bloomberg last week. ‘We are pushing to have this opportunity materialize on the ground but if things relapse, we are ready.’ The war came to encapsulate shifting geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia under a new king and his increasingly powerful son embraced a more assertive regional agenda, one molded by concerns over Iran’s rise and suspicions over waning U.S. interest in the region. The Houthi rebels swept a Saudi ally from power last year before consolidating their hold over much of Yemen. Saudi Arabia accused Shiite Iran, its chief regional rival, of backing the offensive as part of its struggle for regional influence, and in March 2015 the kingdom and a group of Sunni-ruled allies began a military campaign to counter it.” Daily Mail: ISIS Jihadis Are Routed Out After Attempting To Join 3,000 Families Returning Home To Ramadi “Suspected Islamic State jihadis have been caught trying to enter Ramadi among 3,000 families returning to the Iraqi city after it was recaptured from the terror group. Iraqi security forces detained and blindfolded the suspected ISIS fighters who were discovered among civilians returning to their homes in the city. Since Saturday, thousands of people have gone back to the districts of the city that have been cleared of mines and explosives, city governor Hameed Dulaymi said. Iraqi government forces reclaimed the Ramadi - provincial capital of Anbar, some 70miles west of Baghdad - from ISIS militants in December. The area had been under ISIS control since May last year. At the time it was recaptured, civilians living there said they had been without food for months. Recapturing Ramadi was one of the most significant victories for Iraq's armed forces since ISIS swept across a third of the country in 2014. Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes punched into the city centre in December, with the fighting over the final days of the battle concentrated around the former government complex.” The Guardian: Greece On Brink Of Chaos As Refugees Riot Over Forced Return To Turkey “The Greek government is bracing itself for violence ahead of the European Union implementing a landmark deal that, from Monday, will see Syrian refugees and migrants being deported back to Turkey en masse. Rioting and rebellion by thousands of entrapped refugees across Greece has triggered mounting fears in Athens over the practicality of enforcing an agreement already marred by growing concerns over its legality. Islands have become flashpoints, with as many as 800 people breaking out of a detention centre on Chios on Friday. Some 750 migrants are set to be sent back between Monday and Wednesday from the island of Lesbos to the Turkish port of Dikili.” BBC: Syrian Alawites Distance Themselves From Assad “In a deeply unusual move, leaders of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect in Syria have released a document, obtained by the BBC, that distances themselves from his regime and outlines what kind of future they wish for the country after five years of civil war. And despite Alawites having dominated Syria's government and security services under Mr Assad and his late father Hafez for more than four decades, they stress that the legitimacy of his regime ‘can only be considered according to the criteria of democracy and fundamental rights’. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Western diplomat who has seen the declaration of identity believes it is significant, and that it matters. He says nothing of this kind, ‘authentically Alawite’, had been seen since 1971 from within Syria. ‘The language implies a dissociation from Iran and the regime there, but also something that seeks to disconnect the Alawite community from the Assad family,’ he says.” The Washington Post: The Brutal Toll Of Boko Haram’s Attacks On Civilians “As the Islamic State’s attacks in Europe have captured the world’s attention, an ISIS-affiliated group has been waging an even deadlier campaign in Africa. Hundreds killed when 20 attackers detonated coordinated blasts at police stations around a city. Fifty dead when suicide bombers, including women and children, attacked a market and camps housing people trying to escape the violence. Fifty Christians targeted and killed in a student housing area near a school. These are a few of the hundreds of horrors wrought regularly by Boko Haram, an Islamist militant organization based in Nigeria, over the past six years. The group’s rise, some experts say, is attributable to government corruption and economic differences between the Muslim northern areas and more populous and prosperous Christian South. While military forces have had some success regaining territory in the past year, Boko Haram continues to carry out attacks on civilians.” Reuters: FBI Trick For Breaking Into iPhone Likely To Leak, Limiting Its Use “The FBI's method for breaking into a locked iPhone 5c is unlikely to stay secret for long, according to senior Apple Inc engineers and outside experts. Once it is exposed, Apple should be able to plug the encryption hole, comforting iPhone users worried that losing physical possession of their devices will leave them vulnerable to hackers. When Apple does fix the flaw, it is expected to announce it to customers and thereby extend the rare public battle over security holes, a debate that typically rages out of public view. The Federal Bureau of Investigation last week dropped its courtroom quest to force Apple to hack into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters, saying an unidentified party provided a method for getting around the deceased killer's unknown passcode.” Syria Reuters: Syrian Forces Seize Islamic State-Held Town Near Palmyra “Syrian and allied forces backed by Russian air strikes drove Islamic State militants out of the town of al-Qaryatain on Sunday after encircling it over the past few days, Syria's military command said. Surrounded by hills, al-Qaryatain is 100 km (60 miles) west of the ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces recaptured from Islamic State last Sunday. Al-Qaryatain had been held by the militant group since late August. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been trying to retake al-Qaryatain and other pockets of Islamic State control to reduce the jihadist group's ability to project military power into the heavily populated western region of Syria, where Damascus and other main cities are located. Syrian state television said the army and its allies ‘fully restored security and stability to al-Qaryatain after killing the last remaining groups of Daesh terrorists’ in the town, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. In a statement read out on Syrian television, the military command said this was a strategic victory which secures oil and gas routes between the Damascus area and oilfields in eastern Syria. It also disrupts Islamic State supply routes within Syria.” Associated Press: The Latest: Strike Kills Leader Of Al-Qaida Faction In Syria “A monitoring group says a leader of an al-Qaida faction in Syria was killed in a U.S. air strike in a northern part of the country along with his son and several other people. The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites, says that Abu Firas al-Souri, a spokesman for the Nusra Front, was killed in the attack in the province of Idlib. Syrian state media and an activist group say government forces and their allies have entered a central town that was held by the Islamic State group. State TV says Syrian troops and pro-government fighters pushed into Qaryatain on Sunday, after days of intense clashes with IS extremists outside the town. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that troops have entered the town from the south and north under the cover of Russian and Syrian airstrikes. The advance comes a week after Syrian forces recaptured the historic central town of Palmyra from IS.IS has suffered major defeats in Syria over the past months amid intense airstrikes by Russian warplanes.” Iraq Reuters: Iraqis Displaced From Western City Of Ramadi Begin To Return Home “The displaced population of Ramadi has started to return to the western Iraqi city that was recaptured from Islamic State militants in December, a provincial official said on Sunday. About 3,000 families have returned since Saturday to districts of Ramadi that have been cleared of mines and explosives, city governor Hameed Dulaymi told Reuters. Families are relying on electricity generators as the public grid has not been repaired, he said. Water for domestic use is being pumped from the nearby Euphrates river, he added. Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Baghdad, is the first major success for Iraq's army since it collapsed in the face of Islamic State's lightning advance across the country's north and west about two years ago. Most of the city's population of nearly half a million fled before the battle, taking shelter in camps west of Baghdad.” Turkey Voice Of America: Claim: Turkey Sending Refugees Back To Syria “Amnesty International says Turkey has been forcing about 100 refugees back to Syria every day since January. The rights group recently released a report that said many people in southern Turkey know about the forced removals. The report also strongly criticized the refugee agreement reached last month between Turkey and the European Union. John Dalhuisen is the European and Central Asian director for the group. He said ‘in their desperation to seal their borders, EU leaders have willfully ignored the simplest of facts: Turkey is not a safe country for Syrian refugees and is getting less safe by the day.’” Reuters: Turkey's Erdogan Says Obama Spoke 'Behind My Back' On Press Freedom “Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused U.S. counterpart Barack Obama of going behind his back for criticizing Turkey's press freedom record and linked it to efforts to ‘divide’ Turkey, media reports said on Sunday. Obama said on Friday after meeting Erdogan on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in Washington that he was troubled by curbs on the press in Turkey and said he had urged Erdogan not to repress democratic debate in his country. Turkey has drawn international condemnation for charging two journalists with treason for publishing footage that purportedly showed the intelligence agency shipping truckloads of weapons to opposition fighters in Syria in early 2014. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul of Cumhuriyet face life in prison. Turkey has seized control of opposition newspapers and TV channels and cut the satellite feed of a pro-Kurdish channel, accusing them of terrorism-related activities. Erdogan has personally brought more than 1,800 criminal suits against individuals, including journalists and children, for insulting him since becoming president in 2014.” Afghanistan Voice Of America: UN Worried Over Expected Rise In Afghan Violence “The United Nations said it expects more violence with the onset of spring in Afghanistan and called for increased regional cooperation and coordination to help the war-hit nation counter the terrorism threat. Traditionally, fighting subsides in Afghanistan during winter because heavy snow blocks the movement of insurgents through mountain passes. But Afghan officials and military commanders say because of a mild winter there was no let up in fighting in 2015. The U.N. reports there were more than 11,000 deaths and injuries to Afhgan civilians. Afghan officials have long maintained that leaders of the Taliban and other insurgent commanders are using sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan for directing violence across the border. The Taliban has refused to engage in peace talks with Kabul and there are fears that an increase in insurgent violence in Afghanistan will fuel bilateral tensions with Pakistan.” Yemen Reuters: Air Raids Hit Qaeda Yemen Camp, Militants Killed: Official “Warplanes attacked an al Qaeda camp in southern Yemen on Sunday, killing and wounding a number of militants, a local official said. The aircraft launched four airstrikes on militants of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) near the port city of Mukalla on Yemen's south coast, he said. The official said the planes were from a Saudi-led coalition which over the past year has tried to stop the Iran-allied Houthi group from completing its takeover of the country. It was no immediately possible to confirm the affiliation of the aircraft. A spokesman for the Saudi-led alliance could not be contacted for immediate comment.” Saudi Arabia Associated Press: Islamic State Affiliate Claims Saudi Police Station Bombing “An Islamic State affiliate in Saudi Arabia claimed on Sunday that its militants detonated two explosive devices in front of a police station in the city of al-Dalam, setting fire to three police vehicles. Also Sunday, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said a person was killed by an improvised explosive device near the police station in al-Dalam. The statement, carried by the Saudi Press Agency, said police are investigating the incident, which took place on Saturday, but gave no further details on the victim's nationality, who was referred to as a resident. The statement issued by the IS affiliate Najd Province made no reference to that deadly attack, only saying Sunday its bombing took place a day earlier. It gave no further details. Some Saudi news websites published images of the aftermath late Saturday night, showing police jeeps and SUVs on fire outside the police station in al-Dalam, located 62 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of the capital Riyadh.” Egypt The Times Of Israel: Egypt Said To Probe Hamas Over Israeli Hostages In Gaza “Egyptian authorities have reportedly requested that Hamas hand over information about the condition of two Israeli citizens who crossed into Gaza on their own accord and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014’s Gaza war. The Egyptians requested the information from Hamas while a delegation from the Gaza-based terror group was visiting Cairo last month in a bid to repair souring relations between the two sides, according to a report in the London-based Arabic news site al Araby al Jadeed. Sunday’s report follows a rare comment on the matter Friday by the spokesperson for Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades military wing, Abu Obeida, who denied statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel was working to free its captured citizens from Hamas.” Middle East Reuters: Israel Says Mideast Arms Proliferation Imperils Its Military Edge “Israel’s neighbors are buying arms on a scale that threatens its regional military superiority, the deputy Israeli air force chief said on Sunday, in remarks that appeared aimed at helping secure more defense aid from a reluctant Washington. U.S. military payouts to Israel, currently around $3 billion annually, expire in 2018, and Israeli officials have spoken of needing around $4.5 billion. U.S. officials have balked at such an increase. At the heart of the dispute is how to perpetuate Israel’s qualitative military edge - a guarantee that it gets more advanced U.S. weapons than Arab states get. Israel says it needs to bulk up its armed forces, not just upgrade their technologies, to keep ahead of potential foes.” The Times Of Israel: Steinitz: Israel Is A Global Leader In Readiness For Nuclear Terror “‘Israel is one of the countries most prepared for scenarios of nuclear terrorism,’ Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Saturday at a nuclear security summit held in Washington. Steinitz said Israel has developed measures to prevent such attacks, including means to stop the smuggling of radioactive materials. The minister said the Jewish state was willing to assist all nations in the Middle East in preventing such smuggling — even those with which it does not have diplomatic relations. He added that Israel has response teams trained to deal specifically with scenarios of nuclear terrorism. Steinitz warned that according to Israeli assessments, the majority of victims in many scenarios of such an attack would be caused by public panic, not by the attack itself. He thus advised examining ways to calm the public in the event of an attack. Obama reacted to the Israeli minister’s statements, saying his advice should be taken note of.” The Jerusalem Post: Kfar Kassem Woman Arrested For Suspected Stabbing Attack In Rosh Ha'ayin “After more than a week without a knife attack in Israel, a female terrorist from Kafr Kasim stabbed a 30-year-old woman in the shoulder in nearby Rosh Ha’ayin before being overpowered and disarmed. The lightly wounded victim, a resident of Kfar Saba, was taken to Petah Tikva’s Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson, police said. In a conversation with Channel 2 on Sunday, the woman said she was walking in the Rosh Ha’ayin’s Ofek industrial area when she saw an Arab woman approach.’I saw that she was getting closer to me and then I felt a blow to my hand. I tried to push her away, and I saw that she had a large kitchen knife.’ Unlike in some recent stabbing attacks, the attacker was not killed. She was questioned by Israel Police and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). She is not known to have a record of security offenses or a connection to any terrorist groups. On Monday, she will appear for a remand extension in the Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court.” Libya Reuters: Guards Killed In Attack On Libyan Oil Field By Suspected IS Militants - Spokesman “Two guards were killed in an attempted attack on an oil field in eastern Libya by suspected Islamic State militants on Saturday, a guards spokesman said. Ali al-Hassi said guards had repelled the attack on Bayda field, about 250 km (155 miles) south of the major oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf. A security official from the nearby town of Maradah said the militants were in a convoy of about 10 vehicles. Militants loyal to Islamic State have carried out repeated attacks in the area, but have not taken control of any oil facilities.” Nigeria International Business Times: Boko Haram Nigeria News: Leader Of Ansaru Splinter Group Arrested, Military Says “The leader of Ansaru, a splinter group of the Islamic extremist organization Boko Haram in Nigeria, was arrested Sunday, an army spokesperson said, Agence-France Presse reported. Boko Haram has lost ground to the Nigerian military over the past several months as the group was weakened, and the reported arrest of Khalid al-Barnawi was seen as a victory for the government in its fight against domestic terror. Al-Barnawi was one of three Nigerians on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorists, and he has led Ansaru since 2012 after Adam Kambar died in a raid. Al-Barnawi has ties to the militant group al Qaeda in the Maghreb, according to both Nigerian military intelligence and the U.S. State Department. Boko Haram has been carrying out bombings, massacres and land grabs since 2009 and declared an Islamic caliphate in 2014. The group first came to international attention after they kidnapped more than 200 young schoolgirls in Borno state in the northeastern region of the country. Leaders from across the world, including the U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama rallied to ensure the safety of the girls. Their fate is still unknown." United Kingdom BBC: Gatwick And West London Arrests Over Syria-Related Terror Offences “A man, 24, has been arrested at Gatwick Airport and a woman, 20, in west London on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences, West Midlands Police says. There was ‘no risk to any passengers at Gatwick Airport or to the wider public’ related to the arrests, the force said. The man was detained by counter-terrorism officers before boarding a flight. The pair are now being held at a police station in the West Midlands. Searches are being carried out at two addresses in Birmingham, police said.” Europe The Jerusalem Post: France, Belgium Largest Exporters Of Foreign Fighters To Iraq And Syria, Study Finds “France is the largest exporter of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria with 900 militants traveling overseas, while Belgium exports the largest percentage of foreign fighters per capita, according to a study conducted by the International Center for Counter-Terrorism at The Hague. According to the policy brief, before the Arab Spring erupted in 2011, it was estimated that around 30,000 Muslim foreign fighters had left to fight in several conflicts in several countries, including Bosnia, Kashmir and the Philippines. Post-Arab Spring, the UN estimates as many as 30,000 foreign fighters from 104 countries have been drawn to the conflict in Iraq and Syria alone. According to a Europol, roughly 5,000 foreign fighters are of European origin.” BBC: Migrant Crisis: Greece To Start Returns To Turkey “Greece is to start returning migrants to Turkey under an EU deal, despite fears over a lack of preparations and criticism from campaigners. The agreement is aimed at easing the uncontrolled movement of people into Western Europe, many of whom take the dangerous sea route across the Aegean. The operation is due to begin on Monday on the Greek island of Lesbos. Turkish officials said they expected to receive around 500 people. They are due to be hosted in Dikili, western Turkey.  Under the deal, migrants arriving illegally in Greece are expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected. For each Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, the EU is due to take in another Syrian who has made a legitimate request. Turkey won financial and political concessions as part of the agreement.” Reuters: Czechs To Return Iraqi Christians Who Tried To Move To Germany, Interior Minister Says “The Czech Republic will send back to Iraq a group of Iraqi Christians who tried to move on to Germany instead of staying in the country, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said on Sunday. A group of 25 Iraqis took a bus on Saturday to Germany, where they were stopped immediately after crossing the border, CTK news agency reported. German police then asked the Czechs to take the people back and that was agreed, CTK said. The Czech Republic agreed in December to accept 153 Christian refugees from Iraq who have fled areas controlled by Islamic State. So far, only 89 have arrived. Chovanec said that the 25 Iraqis had abused Czech generosity and should go back home soon. It was not immediately clear how Chovanec meant for them to return. Police imposed a deadline of a week for them to leave.” Technology Fortune: Taliban Launches Smartphone App To Recruit And Spread Propaganda “The terrorist monitoring organization SITE reported on Friday that the Afghani Taliban has developed and released an Android application, making it available on Google’s Play store. The application is reportedly intended to enhance the reach of the Taliban’s public statements, but was removed from the Play Store on Saturday for technical reasons, according to a Taliban spokesman. The Taliban seems to be playing catch-up to its more technologically savvy rivals, the Islamic State, which has extended its presence into Afghanistan. On its initial release, the Taliban app was available only in the Pashto language, indicating, according to an expert interviewed by the Guardian, that its target audience is mainly local.” Arabic Language Clips Terrorist Financing Al Wafd: Ali Gomaa: It Is Not Permissible To Prevent Donations To Orphanages For Alleged Financing Of Terrorism Dr. Ali Gomaa, the former Mufti of Egypt, said it is not permissible to prevent donors from granting money to orphanages, for alleged claims of it ultimately reaching the pockets of Muslim Brotherhood or financing terror. Gomaa on Saturday night stressed, during an interview with CBC Egyptian TV channel, that donors must continue to donate until it is proven, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that their donation is being channeled to fund terrorism. He noted that if they are certain this is the case, they must immediately halt their donations. Veto: (Egyptian) Sources: Currency Exchange Companies Involved In Financing Of Terrorism The Money Laundering Unit at the Egyptian Central Bank detected numerous irregularities in some of the currency exchange companies operating in Egypt's various governorates. Sources confirmed that the Unit's officials found, among other things, that these companies had been executing purchase and sales transactions in fictitious amounts with clients belonging to countries known for their support and for the financing of terrorism. In addition, the Unit discovered that some clients buy and sell dollars in amounts that are not commensurate with their profession. Officials also revealed that some clients of these currency exchange firms belong to entities and countries hostile to the Egyptian regime and state. This supports the assumption that these companies finance and sponsor terrorism. ISIS Alwasat: ISIS In Sirte Forcing Residents To Pay Rent In Exchange For Staying In Their Homes ISIS is forcing residents of the city of Sirte to pay a rental fee of 100 dinars (about $75) per month for living in their own house and 120 dinars (about $90) for an apartment. The terror group explained "that all the houses and lands are owned by the Islamic State," within the territory of the so-called "Emirate of Sirte." A source disclosed that the jihadist organization gave Sirte residents three days to pay the rent to the so-called "ISIS's Hisbah Diwan and Properties Department" under the pretext that all homes and apartment buildings in Sirte are "the property of the Islamic State." Alsumaria News: A Local Source: ISIS Imposes Fines On Vehicles That Do Not Carry Its Plates In Nineveh And Kirkuk According to a local source speaking in Nineveh on Sunday, ISIS has begun to impose fines of up to 50,000 dinars ($45) on any vehicle that does not display license plates from ISIS's Wilayat (provinces) of Nineveh and Kirkuk. The source was quoted as saying, "ISIS has begun imposing fines on cars that do not bear the Wilayat of Nineveh and Kirkuk license plates," noting that "fines of up to 50,000 dinars per car are being imposed." The unnamed source added, "ISIS's deadline, set for the end of April at the latest, requires replacing the plates of all cars in Nineveh and Kirkuk." Muslim Brotherhood Asharq Al-Awsat: Egypt: (Brotherhood) Mosques Ignore The Government Decision And Receive Donations Amid Fears Of Terrorist Financing "Contribute to the expansion work of the mosque"..."We receive donations for charitable activities"... "The mosque needs your support, O good people of the neighborhood." These are some examples of banners and posters placed in front and on top of mosques in Egypt urging the local population to donate money for humanitarian purposes. This is in clear violation of a government decision which absolutely prohibits fundraising in mosques as part of its efforts to crack down on the dissemination of extremist ideology and terrorism, and to prevent the use of donated money to finance demonstrations and sabotage operations. Amid fears of the exploitation of these funds for financing terrorism by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and in the absence of controls over these mosques, sources in the Egyptian Endowments Ministry admitted the "ministry's inability to control these mosques, which are located in strongholds of the terrorist group (Muslim Brotherhood)." The Seventh Day: We Publish The Resignation Letter Of Da'wah And Media Manager In Ansar Alsonna In Protest Of Its Supporting The Brotherhood Sheikh Adel El Sayed, Da'wah (Call to Islam) and Media Manager in "Ansar Alsonna Almohamadia" submitted his resignation ahead of the convening of the Society's general assembly. In his letter, he criticized the head of the Society's overt support for Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi. He also criticized Ansar Alsonna's confrontation with State institutions and its politicization as reasons for stepping down. El Sayed also mentioned diverting the Society toward certain "political groups," and the abandonment of functions that adhere only to Da'wah. To his resignation letter he attached documents and press releases which prove that "Ansar Alsonna Almohamadia" backed the position of the Muslim Brotherhood against the State. Egypt Today: Endowments Of El Menoufia Forms Committees To Ensure No Ties Of Imams To The Muslim Brotherhood The Endowments (Awqaf) Directorate in El Menoufia decided to form follow-up committees to inspect mosques and ensure the commitment of preachers and imams to directives issued by the ministry. They also intend to inspect and regulate the activities of preachers who work on a "commission" basis, verifying they do not make inflammatory speeches or are in any way associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Dr. Mohammed Nour, Undersecretary of El Menoufia Endowments Ministry, stressed that all preachers must abide by the rules for speeches and standardized practices. He added that they are banned from collecting money under any circumstances, but are encouraged to hold religious assemblies in the evening hours and invite parliament members and public figures to attend. Al Wafd: Brotherhood Dissident: The Group Established A Committee For Money Laundering In Turkey Khaled Elmasry, a dissident Muslim Brotherhood member, stated that the group in Turkey is in the process of issuing new regulations including, for instance, Article No. 82 related to the collection of donations. Elmasry said during an interview with the LTC TV channel that this article allows a secret committee complete freedom to invest all proceeds raised through donations. According to Elmasry, this opens the door to money laundering and other [dubious] businesses. Al Wafd: Minya (Ministry Of Social) Solidarity: Dissolving 366 Associations For Violations ... And Freezing (Activities Of) 76 Muslim Brotherhood Societies Mustafa Abdullah, Undersecretary of the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity in Minya, announced on Sunday the freeze on all activities of 76 associations whose boards of directors were affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Dostor: Political Analyst: Muslim Brotherhood And Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis In Gaza Are Shut Down Taha Elkhatib, a Palestinian political analyst, claimed that the majority of facilities belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gaza Strip were closed three weeks ago. He stressed, in an interview with Egypt's Aoula Masrya TV channel, that the Hamas' rapid deployment unit, belonging to "al-Saika" ("Thunderbolt") and police forces, reached the underground administrative and logistical headquarters of "Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM)" and were able to shut it down. Elkhatib blamed Hamas for supporting the terrorist ABM group, which aims to destabilize the Sinai Peninsula through terrorist operations. Houthi Ababiil Net: Rebellious Houthi Militias Levy Huge Sums Of Money For Release Of Owners Of Currency Exchange Offices In Sana'a Militias belonging to the Houthis and Yemen's former President Ali Saleh in Sanaa demanded heavy ransoms for abducted owners of money exchange and transfer offices in Yemen, in exchange for their release. Informed sources revealed that Houthi militiamen were asking for $4 million Yemeni riyals ($18,600) in exchange for the release of each company-owner. The sources disclosed that 55 owners of currency exchange offices had been kidnapped by Houthi militia, which demands 220 million Yemeni riyals ($1.023 million) in payment for their release. The owners were detained over the past few months under the false charge of manipulating exchange rates.