Eye on Extremism - July 11, 2016

Eye on Extremism July 11, 2016 NBC News: Russian Military Helicopter Shot Down By ISIS In Syria, Government Says “A Russian military helicopter was shot down by ISIS fighters in Syria, and both pilots were killed, the Russian military said. Russia's defense ministry said in a statement reported by state media Tass that the Mi-25 helicopter was on a test flight with ammunition near Homs when it responded to help fight an ISIS offensive east of the ancient city of Palmyra. In September, the Russians began intervening on behalf of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the government's efforts to fight ISIS. The U.S. and its allies have accused Russia of using warplanes to bomb Assad's moderate enemies instead of focusing on ISIS.” The Washington Post: Double Game? Even As It Battles ISIS, Turkey Gives Other Extremists Shelter “Turkey has defended its policy of giving refuge to exiled supporters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government, which was overthrown in a coup in 2013. But among those offered shelter in Turkey are leaders of the Egyptian group Gamaa Islamiya, whose members carried out murderous attacks against tourists in Egypt in the 1990s and were later tied to multiple plots to kill Americans. The new concerns about Turkey’s protection of violent jihadists follow years of complaints about Ankara’s support for other Islamist groups, such as Hamas. While the Palestinian group’s military wing is officially listed by the United States as a terrorist organization, Turkey has repeatedly granted asylum to Hamas operatives, and it allowed the group to open an international headquarters in Istanbul two years ago.” Bloomberg: As Islamic State Loses Ground Militants Focus on Attacks Abroad “To hear Islamic State tell it, the extremist group’s two-year-old caliphate has become ‘more manifest than the sun in the middle of the sky.’ However, the slick video the militants released last week, with children training for war instead of basketball in the background, belied the facts on the ground: its territory is shrinking, finances are dwindling, and the attempt at governance that distinguished it from other jihadist groups is failing, according to a report by IHS Conflict Monitor published on Sunday. The fear now is of an increase in attacks as the group refocuses on insurgency, IHS said.” New York Times: Shabab Stage Deadly Attack on Military Base in Somalia “Shabab militants claimed responsibility on Monday for an attack on a Somali military base about 30 miles outside the capital, Mogadishu, that killed at least five soldiers, officials and witnesses said. Ibraahim Aadan Najah, the governor of Lower Shabelle Province, told reporters that heavy fighting broke out after a car bomb was driven into the entrance gate of the base, which is in the village of Laanta Buuro.” Reuters: Bin Laden's Son Threatens Revenge For Father's Assassination: Monitor “The son of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has threatened revenge against the United States for assassinating his father, according to an audio message posted online. Hamza bin Laden promised to continue the global militant group's fight against the United States and its allies in the 21-minute speech entitled ‘We Are All Osama,’ according to the SITE Intelligence Group. ‘We will continue striking you and targeting you in your country and abroad in response to your oppression of the people of Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and the rest of the Muslim lands that did not survive your oppression,’ Hamza said.” Time: ISIS Has Launched A Newspaper To Recruit Southeast Asian Fighters “The Islamic State has published a local language publication to increase its appeal to jihadists in Southeast Asia, according to a report in the Malaysian newspaper Berita Harian cited by the Malay Mail. The publication al-Fatihin — the name is Arabic and means the Conquerors — was launched on June 20, in the holy fasting month of Ramadan, with the tagline: “The newspaper for Malay-speaking migrants in the Islamic State.” The articles, bringing updates from Iraq and Syria, were mainly written in the Indonesian language, which is comprehensible for many Malay speakers in Southeast Asia.” Associated Press: NATO Boosts Support For Countries Battling Islamic Extremism “NATO allies agreed Saturday to provide increased military support to countries in the Middle East and North Africa that are targets of Islamic extremism, including using NATO surveillance planes in the fight against the Islamic State group. Alliance leaders also agreed to launch a new naval mission in the Mediterranean, and made commitments to maintain a stable military presence in Afghanistan and to fund Afghan security forces through 2020. ‘We're moving forward with the most significant reinforcement of our collective defense any time since the Cold War,’ U.S. President Barack Obama said at a news conference at the end of a crucial NATO summit in Warsaw.” The Jerusalem Post: Exclusive: Iran Sought Chemical And Biological Weapons Technology In Germany “Iran’s proliferation activities span eight German states and involve a range of activities to advance its chemical and biological warfare capabilities, as well as its nuclear and missile programs. The vast scale of the Islamic Republic’s network to obtain nuclear and missile technology goes beyond what was disclosed in recent German intelligence reports released on Thursday.The Jerusalem Post has examined intelligence data and reports from the 16 German states, which included new information on Iranian chemical and biological weapons programs. Half of Germany’s state governments reported in their 2015 intelligence documents attempts by Tehran to secure nuclear-related goods.” The New York Times: Iran, Once Quiet About Its Casualties In Syria And Iraq, Now Glorifies Them “For years, Iran covered up its military activities in Syria and Iraq, so the government could deny any official involvement on the ground. Coffins arrived with the bodies of soldiers who went unidentified, referred to only as ‘defenders of the shrines’ of the Shiite saints. When the bodies began to come home in larger numbers, the state news media began calling them ‘volunteers.’ No longer. Now every Iranian killed in action is named, his picture published, his valor lauded in elaborate tributes in the hard-line news media and on Instagram accounts dedicated to the fighters. The reason for the change, analysts say, is not some newfound dedication to transparency but a rift between the Iranian establishment’s hard-liners, who control the military, and the moderates.” ABC News: French Journalist Goes Undercover With Islamic State Terror Cell “A French journalist has infiltrated a group of self-radicalised young men, secretly filming them for six months, to understand what motivates them to aspire to be terrorists. The Muslim reporter, who uses the alias Said, told Four Corners he could ‘go to places that my colleagues can't’. With a tiny hidden camera, I am going to try to show what happens behind the scenes of this organisation that controls its image so strictly, to show what is really going on in their heads,’ he said. Said, using a third party to communicate to protect his identity, told Four Corners he found an angry, menacing group of young men, with little understanding of Islam, using faith as a cover for their violent intentions.” United States The Washington Post: Going On Offense: Obama’s New Afghan War Policy Begins To Take Shape "Now that President Obama has abandoned his plan to greatly scale back U.S.-involvement in the Afghan war, military commanders are drawing up plans to help Afghan forces hammer Taliban insurgents. At a media briefing here in Kabul on Saturday, Gen. John W. Nicholson said the president has given U.S. military commanders ‘all the capabilities’ they requested to transition American forces back into more offensive posture in America's longest war. On Wednesday, Obama announced he was shelving plans to reduce U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan from the existing 9,900 down to 5,500 by January. Instead, Obama said 8,400 troops will remain here into 2017, leaving it up his successor to tweak troop levels further. But the troop numbers tell just part of the unfolding effort here to ramp up U.S. military involvement in the nearly 15-year war.” Syria Associated Press: Syria's Military Extends Cease-Fire But No Letup In Fighting “Fierce clashes erupted between rebels and pro-government forces around Syria's largest city, Aleppo, Saturday despite a proclamation from the Syrian military that it would extend its own cease-fire through Monday. The military had declared a nationwide cease-fire for the Eid al-Fitr holiday July 6, expiring July 8 at midnight, but it had little impact on the ground, as pro-government forces choked off the last supply route to opposition areas in the contested city of Aleppo on July 7. On Saturday evening, rebels launched a counteroffensive, leading with two car bombs to open the vital Castello road to eastern Aleppo, according to activists. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, which gathers information from a network of informants across the war-torn country, said the cars were driven by two suicide bombers from al-Qaida's Syria affiliate, the Nusra Front, which fights alongside rebel groups against government forces.” Reuters: At Least 38 Civilians Killed In Rebel Fire On Government-Held Part Of Syria's Aleppo “Rebel shelling into government-held parts of Syria's second city Aleppo killed at least 38 civilians on Saturday, a war monitor said, as Syrian government forces continued their offensive to completely encircle rebel-held parts of the city. Those killed included 14 children and 13 women, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights conflict monitor said. Despite a now-expired three-day ceasefire announced by the Syrian army earlier this week, Syrian government and allied forces advanced this week towards the only route into the opposition half of the city, the Castello Road. Syrian forces are now 500-1000 meters away from the road, sources say, bringing the road within firing range and trapping between 250,000 and 300,000 people in opposition-held parts of Aleppo.” Reuters: Assad Tells EU Delegation West's Actions In Syria Cause Terror In Europe “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a visiting group of European parliamentarians on Sunday that western governments' support for opposition groups in Syria caused terrorism in Europe. ‘The problems Europe faces today of terrorism, extremism and waves of refugees are caused by some western leaders' adoption of policies which do not serve their people,’ Assad told a delegation of members of the European Parliament headed by Javier Couso, vice chairman of its foreign affairs committee. ‘Especially when those leaders give support and political cover to terrorist groups inside Syria,’ Syrian state news agency SANA said in a summary of Assad's comments.” Iraq Reuters: Child Labor Doubles In Iraq As Violence, Displacement Hit Incomes “More than half a million Iraqi children are estimated to be at work rather than at school as violence and displacement hurt the income of millions of families, according to the United Nations childrens' agency UNICEF. The number of children currently working, more than 575,000, has doubled since 1990, the year when Iraq attacked Kuwait, setting off a chain of events that led to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the sectarian strife that continues to this day. UNICEF said since the beginning of 2014, almost 10 percent of Iraqi children – more than 1.5 million – have been forced to flee their homes because of violence. In 2014, the Islamic State group took control of large areas in northern and western Iraq.” CNN: Iraqi Forces Retake Air Base From ISIS Near Mosul, Prime Minister Says “Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have retaken an air base from ISIS near Mosul, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Saturday. The Iraqi military and counter-terrorism forces are now in the process of sweeping al-Qayyara air base, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Mosul, the country's second-largest city. At least 38 ISIS militants were killed in the operation to retake the base, Sabah Nouri, the spokesman for Iraq's counter-terrorism unit, said Saturday on Iraqi state television station al-Iraqiya TV.The forces have also destroyed four trucks mounted with machine guns and detonated more than 100 improvised explosive devices, Nouri added.” Reuters: Islamic State Lost Quarter Of Its Iraq, Syria Territory In 18 Months: IHS “Islamic State lost an area the size of Ireland - a quarter of its territory - to hostile forces in the last 18 months in Iraq and Syria and is likely to further step up attacks on civilians in coming months, IHS said in a report on Sunday. The territory controlled by the ultra-hardline Sunni group shrank from 90,800 sq km (35,000 square miles) in January 2015, six months after it declared a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, to 68,300 sq km (26,370 square miles), the research firm said. This has led the group to step up attacks on civilian targets in the Middle East and in Europe and this is likely to intensify, IHS said.” Turkey Associated Press: Car Bomb Hits Army Outpost In Turkey, Killing 3 “A vehicle laden with explosives hit an army outpost in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, killing three people, according to a statement published by the governor's office. The Mardin province governor's office said two soldiers and a civilian woman were killed in the Saturday attack at a military outpost in the town of Cevizlik. The statement also stated seven people were wounded, including three people who are in critical condition. The Turkish Armed Forces also published a statement about the attack that put the number of wounded soldiers at 12, with one soldier in critical condition. It wasn't immediately clear why the two accounts differed.” The Washington Post: Turkey’s Bold New Plan For Syrian Refugees: Make Them Citizens. “Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan toured a southern province close to the Syrian border and announced a new plan to cope with the huge population of Syrian refugees in the country. Details of the initiative — slated to be run through the Turkish interior ministry — are still being thrashed out and it's unlikely citizenship will be offered to every Syrian seeking sanctuary in the country. But absorbing even a fraction of the refugees in Turkey as citizens raises its own challenges and questions. The burden of hosting these Syrians has strained both the resources of the Turkish state as well as led to fears over militant infiltration into a country that's increasingly caught up in the destructive violence unleashed by Syria's unraveling.” Afghanistan Reuters: Afghan Local Police Deaths Drop Sharply, Officials Say “Deaths among Afghan local police forces, who bear the brunt of some of the most dangerous fighting against Taliban insurgents have dropped by around a quarter to 295 members since March 21, due to better equipment and training, officials said on Saturday. Since the start of the Persian New Year on March 21, 295 members of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) have been killed, compared with 403 deaths in the period between March 21 and July 21 last year, Interior Ministry officials told reporters. The figures referred only the ALP, a 30,000-strong force which is counted separately from the main Afghan National Police units. Its members, recruited with the support of local elders, are only supposed to operate close to their home villages.” Reuters: Islamic State's Afghan Foothold Shrinks But Attacks Persist “An Afghan general leading the country's battle against Islamic State has noticed something peculiar about the militant group's fighters: They don't loot ammunition after raids against his forces. For Lieutenant General Mohammad Waziri, it is a clear sign that the militants are well financed. The financing, the persistence of Islamic State attacks and the ease with which its forces are slipping back and forth across the Afghan-Pakistan border, are some of the reasons Waziri is not boasting too much about territorial inroads against the group this year. Many of those advances have been the result of U.S. air strikes against the group launched since U.S. President Barack Obama allowed the U.S. military in January to strike militants linked to Islamic State's offshoot in Afghanistan, known as Islamic State-Khorasan Province.” Fox News: Rising Casualties Among US-Backed Afghan Troops Concern Officials “Rising casualties among local Afghan forces who are trained and supported by American troops and the continued presence of an ISIS-affiliated group are becoming growing concerns for commanders, the top U.S. general in the region told Fox News. Gen. John Nicholson said the Taliban killed more than 5,000 Afghans last year and wounded another 14,000 -- and the casualty rate is climbing this year. Nicholson, who in March took command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, spoke for the first time this weekend to a small group of reporters in Kabul. Nicholson said the numbers were somewhat expected with Afghan security forces beginning to take the lead in armed conflicts. Afghan forces have shown ‘tactical success’ on the battlefield against the Taliban, despite the heavy losses, he said.” Yemen Reuters: Drone Hits Al Qaeda Suspects In Yemeni Province While Exiled President On Visit “A suspected U.S. drone strike wounded four Al Qaeda fighters in Yemen's central Marib province on Sunday, local tribesmen and media said, hours after the exiled Yemeni president flew in to meet Arab military leaders in his war against the Houthi rebels. Sunday's drone strike happened on the same day as President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi arrived in Marib city, about 120 km (75 miles) east of the capital Sanaa. In a six-hour visit, he met commanders of a Saudi-led coalition backing him in a civil conflict in which thousands have died. The war has allowed Islamist militants to flourish, even though the United States has for years launched drone strikes against groups in Yemen.” Saudi Arabia Reuters: Iran Says Saudis Back Terrorism After Senior Prince Attends Rebel Rally “Iran on Sunday accused Saudi Arabia of backing terrorism after a senior Saudi prince, a former intelligence chief, addressed a Paris rally held by exiled Iranian rebels and told them he wanted the Iranian government to fall. Shi'ite Muslim power Iran and Saudi Arabia, bastion of Sunni Islam, are longstanding religious and political arch rivals. Relations are fraught as they back each other's foes in regional wars such as in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. ‘The Saudis are resorting to well-known terrorists ... as they have also done in Iraq, Yemen and Syria. This shows that they use terrorism and terrorists to further their aims against regional Islamic countries,’ an unnamed Iranian Foreign Ministry source was quoted by Iran's state news agency IRNA as saying.” Middle East Haaretz: Revolutionary Guard Commander: Iran Has 100,000 Missiles Ready for 'Wiping Out' Israel “The deputy commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said the country has over 100,000 missiles in Lebanon alone readied for the ‘annihilation’ of Israel. Speaking before Friday prayers on Iran’s state-run IRIB TV, Hossein Salami also said that Iran has ‘tens of thousands’ of additional missiles that are ready to wipe the ‘accursed black dot’ of Israel off the map, according to a translation from the Farsi by the Middle East Media Research Institute. Salami is deputy head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is under the command of the country’s Supreme Leader.” The New York Times: Egyptian Minister Visits Israel In Push For Peace With Palestinians “Egypt’s foreign minister arrived in Israel on Sunday — the first such high-level visit in nearly a decade — saying that he had come to promote the ‘vision’ of his boss, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to help rejuvenate the moribund peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel hailed the arrival of the foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, as ‘important from many points of view,’ adding that it attested to Israel’s changing relationship with Egypt under the leadership of Mr. Sisi. The visit came amid international efforts to resume Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Both sides noted that it followed Mr. Sisi’s call in May to revive the peace process. In late June, Mr. Shoukry met with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, at Mr. Abbas’s headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.” Libya Reuters: Sirte Battle Risks Widening Libya Political Splits “When Western officials cajoled Libya's warring factions to support a unity government this year, they said it was a chance for the rival armed brigades to unite against the common enemy, Islamic State. Libyan forces may be close to winning the battle for the militant group's stronghold in Sirte, but divisions may deepen if one of the most powerful brigades, led by commanders from Misrata, takes control of the prize city. For Western powers, keen to stabilize the North African country in chaos since its 2011 revolution, the fragile Tripoli government of Prime Minister Fayaz Seraj is the only way to bring together factions that were at war just two years ago. How the battle for Sirte ends -- Misrata commanders cannot say how long city will hold out -- may determine the fate of Seraj, Libya's alliances and its future oil exports.” Nigeria Associated Press: 16 Boko Haram Fighters, 2 Soldiers Dead In Nigeria Shootout “Nigerian officials say 16 Boko Haram extremists and two soldiers have been killed when the extremists tried to ride explosives-laden motorcycles into an army base in the country's volatile northeast. An army spokesman, Col. Sani Kukasheka, said in a statement Saturday that soldiers at the base in Rann in Borno state repelled the extremists with a gunfight that went on for hours. He said two soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber drove into a truck and exploded. Kukasheka said soldiers found most of the bodies of the attackers Saturday morning, but he added that ‘quite a number escaped with gunshot wounds.’ Boko Haram's nearly seven-year-old insurgency has killed some 20,000 people and forced 2 million from their homes. The Nigeria-based group last year began regular attacks in neighboring countries.” United Kingdom Business Standard: White Powder Sent To Mosques In UK; Probe Launched “At least three mosques and the Bank of England in the UK have received suspect packages containing white powder and racially abusive language, prompting British police to investigate a possible hate-mail campaign against Muslims and government institutions. They (British Police) fear a possible far-right link to a hate-mail campaign against Muslims and government institutions, the Sunday Times reported. Suspect packages containing white powder were posted to at least six recipients, including Pakistani-origin Muslim peer Lord Ahmed in his House of Lords office, three mosques in London and the Bank of England.” BBC: British Terror Victims To Get Memorial “A memorial for British victims of terrorism is to be located at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, David Cameron has announced. A panel will be appointed to choose an artist and design for the tribute, which will be unveiled in summer 2017. The public was asked to vote on a preferred site for the memorial. A separate consultation will be held for a memorial for the victims of the Tunisian terrorist attacks in 2015. Mr Cameron said: ‘These memorials will be places where the family and friends of people killed in terrorist attacks can reflect and remember. By building them we are underlining our pledge to never forget the victims of these atrocities.’ The panel will be led by former overseas development minister Baroness Chalker.” Germany Reuters: Merkel, Erdogan Try To Mend Ties After Genocide Vote “The leaders of Germany and Turkey sought on Saturday to clear the air in their first private talks since the German parliament infuriated Ankara by branding the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a genocide, but they did not overcome their differences. Chancellor Angela Merkel met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Warsaw to discuss the tensions in their often prickly but strategically important relationship. Ties between Turkey and Germany - vital partners in efforts to curb mass migration to Europe - have been strained since the Bundestag passed the Armenian resolution on June 2. Ankara recalled its ambassador and threatened unspecified retaliation.” Technology Associated Press: AP: Islamic State's Twitter Traffic Drops Amid US Efforts “The Islamic State group's Twitter traffic has plunged 45 percent in the past two years, the Obama administration says, as the U.S. and its allies have countered messages of jihadi glorification with a flood of online images and statements about suffering and enslavement at the hands of the extremist organization. Among the images: A teddy bear with Arabic writing and messages saying IS ‘slaughters childhood,’ '’kills innocence,’ ‘lashes purity’ or ‘humiliates children.’ A male hand covering a female's mouth, saying IS ‘deprives woman her voice.’ A woman in a black niqab (veil), bloody tears coming from a bruised eye, and the caption: ‘Women under ISIS. Enslaved. Battered. Beaten. Humiliated. Flogged.’ U.S. officials cite the drop in Twitter traffic as a sign of progress toward eliminating propaganda they blame for inspiring attacks around the world.” Arabic Language Clips Counter Extremism Alghad: (Jordanian) Experts Warn Of 'Siege' On Civil Society Institutions Under The Pretext Of Fight Against Extremism While experts and civil society leaders in Jordan stressed the importance of the fight against extremism—calling to accelerate the adoption of the law criminalizing hate—they also warned of the "danger that the government will restrict associations and civil society organizations under the pretext of supervision and combating extremism." They claimed that civil society institutions do not reject the idea of supervision, however they reject the method of censorship. Experts claimed that "the government now resorts to proactive control over civil society institutions, while what is required is to find a dimensional control system that holds associations accountable in the event of their violation of laws or broadcasting of hate or inflammatory speech." ISIS Alhadath News: ISIS Issues Its Currency In Deir Al-Zour The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that on Saturday, ISIS introduced its Golden Dinar currency in rural areas of Syria's Deir al-Zour. The monitoring group said that "ISIS restricts the sale of oil to merchants through payments in Golden Dinar. The terror organization sells its currency, which weighs up to 4.5 grams, to money exchange offices in return for $190 per dinar. Meanwhile, money exchange offices sell it to merchants for $190.5 per dinar. A huge demand for purchasing Golden Dinar was observed among merchants in order to facilitate oil trade sales. So far ISIS has prevented the sale of oil to merchants who are unable to pay in the new currency." Al Eqtisadiah: ISIS Loses 12% Of Its Territory And 35% Of Its Money According to a research institute, ISIS lost 12% of its territory during the first six months of the year while suffering a sharp decline in its revenues. According to an analysis by IHS, the jihadist organization currently controls 68,300 square kilometers in Syria and Iraq; this compared with more than 90,000 square kilometers in early 2015. IHS warned that ISIS territorial defeats have forced it to focus its efforts on terrorist attacks and economic sabotage. According to estimates by the research institute, the monthly revenue of the extremist group fell from about $80 million in mid-2015 to $56 million in March 2016 and has likely dropped an additional 35% since then. Hezbollah Egypt Today: Hezbollah Dissident: Arrest Of Shour Is A Good Step For Drying Up Financing Of Nasrallah A Hezbollah defector claimed that the Ivory Coast police arrest of Mohammed Ali Shour was a good step in efforts to dry up Hezbollah's funding. He was detained in Abidjan International Airport after authorities found a sum of 1.7 Euros in his possession, which he plotted to smuggle to Hezbollah.  The defector remarked that Shour's arrest is a painful blow to Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah, which lost this amount of money, and to its chief figure for laundering Hezbollah money by virtue of his close connections with several currency exchange companies. The defector stressed that the arrest of Shour is a good step for drying up Hezbollah's financing and reducing its activities via financial institutions. Muslim Brotherhood The Seventh Day: September 6th (The Date For) Ruling In A Lawsuit Demanding The Invalidity Of Decision To Seize Funds Of School Belonging To The Brotherhood The First Circuit of the Court of Administrative Justice, presided over by Councilor Yehia Dakruri, Deputy Chairman of Egypt's State Council Club, decided to postpone the lawsuit filed by the legal representative of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Ali Bin Abi Taleb School. The lawsuit demands the cancellation of the decision to seize the school's funds. The next session will be held on September 6th. Almasry Alyoum: (Egypt's) Minister Of Awqaf Demands Harsher Punishment For Electronic Publishing: Brotherhood Militias Are Imminent Danger Egypt's Minister of Religious Endowments (Awqaf), Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa, warned of the "imminent and strong danger posed by the so called Muslim Brotherhood electronic militias and battalions." He stressed that the group is directing all of its energy and is remarkably active in the social media networking sites. He added the Brotherhood also purchases a great deal of space in the international media, aided by suspicious funding from countries and institutions, which "sponsor and harbor terrorism." Veto: Hassan Malek Disowned Brotherhood: I'm Not A Member Of The Group The defense of Muslim Brotherhood leader Hassan Malek asked the court to give his client the opportunity to speak while not behind bars. In his comments, he said: "I'm being detained for nine months on charges of leading the Muslim Brotherhood. A military ruling was issued against me in this indictment and I served the penalty, but I am not a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood nor am I a member. I am a merchant. Since the June 30th Revolution, I have not traveled, not smuggled money or left my country." The Egyptian Prosecution charged Malek with crimes harming the security of the nation and undermining its economic foundations. He was also charged with agreeing with fugitive leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood abroad on a scheme to find ways and alternatives to preserve the group's funding sources while harming the Egyptian economy by smuggling foreign currency abroad. Veto: Sources: Brotherhood Intends To Establish Art Production Company In Turkey A source close to the Muslim Brotherhood revealed its intention to set up a company for TV and cinema production in Turkey. The source said the group worked recently to create a website that combines all global art productions that serve what he calls the "Islamic ideology" and the "national project." This site also features the history of the group since its inception. The source explained that the production company is likely to carry the group's name and will be based in Turkey. It will produce materials destined for "faithful" families including series, movies and animated television series. Houthi Abarah Press: Bullets Resolve Financial Disagreements Among (Houthi) Rebels Against the backdrop of ongoing rifts among Houthi leaders and the growing number of assassination incidents caused by disputes over financial issues, two of the militia's leaders were killed in Ibb province. This came after a disagreement about the amounts of money seized by one of the Houthi leaders in the region. A media source in the province disclosed that Salem Hizam and his brother Adel were shot dead by a Houthi gunman named Jamil Alshiaani. They were assassinated on orders of Hasan Akil, the Houthi security official in the region, as punishment for their alleged seizure of funds donated by the province's citizens to support the so-called "war effort." Elaph: Houthis Spent $1 Billion On Recruitment In Yemen A source close to the Yemeni prime minister revealed that the economic violations committed by Houthis during 2015 include 28 items. Most notable is spending $1 billion on recruitment as well as looting the budgets of diplomatic missions and the benefits of Foreign Ministry employees, estimated at about $38.5 million. In addition, Houthis seized $131.9 million from the budget of local authorities. The source added that the Houthis paid salaries to state employees, just to their minimum level. They also trimmed numerous benefits for state employees. These benefits were an important component for improving the living conditions of public sector employees, whose numbers are estimated at more than 10 million people. Under the Houthis, public employees can hardly obtain their daily basic needs.