Eye on Extremism October 17, 2016

Eye on Extremism October 17, 2016 The Wall Street Journal: Iraq Forces Begin Battle To Dislodge ISIS From Mosul “A diverse coalition of Iraqi forces launched a long-awaited offensive against Islamic State in Mosul, one of the last major cities still controlled by the militant group. In a nationally televised announcement early Monday, Iraq time, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the push to take back Iraq’s second-largest city. Reclaiming Mosul is seen as essential to the broader battle against Islamic State. The group has suffered a string of losses lately in its self-declared caliphate, including on Sunday, when Syrian rebels backed by Turkey and the U.S. drove the militants from the Syrian town of Dabiq.” Deutsche Welle: Turkey-Backed Rebels Seize Dabiq From 'IS' “Syrian rebels captured Dabiq and the neighboring town of Soran on Sunday, supported by Turkish armor, troops and airpower. Although the strategic significance of the area is minor, the IS had repeatedly described Dabiq as the backdrop for the final clash between Christian crusaders and soldiers of the Caliphate. ‘The Daesh myth of their great battle in Dabiq is finished,’ said Ahmed Osman, head of the Turkish-backed Sultan Murad group, using a pejorative acronym for the ‘Islamic State.’ Various sources, however, provided different accounts of the battle that started on the previous day, with the IS leaving 1,200 fighters to  defend the town and fight off the rebels from three sides. With one rebel faction reporting ‘fierce clashes’ with the IS, others say the terror group put up ‘minimal’ resistance.” ABC News: Three Arrested In Alleged Bomb Plot Targeting Somalis In Kansas “Three members of a Kansas militia group were charged Friday with plotting to bomb an apartment complex that's home to Somali immigrants in the western Kansas meatpacking town of Garden City, a thwarted attack prosecutors say was planned for the day after the November election. The arrests were the culmination of an eight-month FBI investigation that took agents "deep into a hidden culture of hatred and violence," Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said. A complaint unsealed Friday charges Curtis Wayne Allen, 49; Patrick Eugene Stein, 47; and Gavin Wayne Wright, 49, with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. Their first court appearance is Monday.” Wall Street Journal: U.S. Probes Third Attack On Ship Off Yemen's Coast “The U.S. is investigating a possible new missile attack against a navy destroyer in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, the navy’s Middle East-focused branch said Sunday. The crew on the ship, the USS Mason, had “indications of a possible inbound missile threat and deployed appropriate defensive measures,” the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement. All U.S. ships and sailors were safe, and the navy was assessing the situation, the statement said. If confirmed, the attack late on Saturday would be the third such attempt on the USS Mason in recent days as it patrols international waters near Yemen, where a bloody 18-month war is raging.” CNN: ISIS Regional Leader Killed In Turkey, Report Says “Mehmet Kadir Cabel, the regional leader for ISIS in Gaziantep, Turkey, was killed Sunday when police raided his cell house, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing police and the regional governor. Three police officers were also killed during the operation. Cabel's wife and two children were captured, along with at least 19 other suspected ISIS members. Gaziantep is about 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo. It was the site of a horrific bombing in August that killed 54 people at a wedding celebration. ISIS claimed responsibility. The blast disproportionately killed women and children, with it timed to detonate during a part of the festivities when those groups painted themselves with henna, authorities said.” The Times Of Israel: Police Say They Thwarted Temple Mount Stabbing Attack “A 25-year-old Palestinian was caught in Jerusalem’s Old City Saturday evening with a knife concealed in his clothes, and security forces said he had intended to carry out an attack in the Temple Mount area. The man, a resident of Nablus, told police who questioned him that he wanted to be ‘a martyr,’ according to initial reports. He was taken in for further questioning. Meanwhile, 15 Palestinians were reportedly injured in clashes with Israeli security forces in the Jalazoun refugee camp northeast of the West Bank city of Ramallah Saturday evening. Reports in Palestinian media said one of the wounded protesters was in critical condition after being shot in the head. The Palestinian Ma’an news agency identified him as 16-year-old Fares Ziad Atallah.” Voice Of America: Afghan Officials Claim Battlefield Advances In Lashkar Gah “Security forces in Afghanistan claim to have pushed the Taliban from parts of a key southern provincial capital and inflicted heavy casualties on the opposition as insurgent hostilities appear to have subsided in other conflict-hit provinces. The rebel group staged a major assault on Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, a week ago, forcing their way into parts of the nearly besieged city. Dozens of Afghan troops were killed in the ensuing days of clashes with many more wounded, prompting the U.S. military to conduct airstrikes in support of government forces. The security forces have retaken some areas they lost to the Taliban with the support of artillery and airpower, the provincial governor told VOA Sunday.” Associated Press: Clashes Erupt In Libyan Capital “Clashes have erupted in the Libyan capital between militias loyal to a U.N.-backed government and those supporting a rival Islamist-oriented administration that had ruled Tripoli until March this year, Libyan security officials said on Sunday. The clashes, which began late Saturday and continued into Sunday, followed Friday night's takeover by militiamen loyal to the Islamist administration of the offices of the U.N.-backed National Accord government. The sites captured included a residential compound for some 145 members of a consultative chamber formally called the Supreme State Council. The council issued a statement condemning the takeover of its offices, describing the move as ‘a desperate and bizarre attempt to confuse the political landscape and derail efforts to bring stability to the country.’” The New York Times:  Chibok Schoolgirls, Reuniting With Parents, Tell Of Boko Haram Slavery “They were taken deep into the Sambisa Forest to Boko Haram’s stronghold, where the more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok were offered a choice: Join the militants or become their slaves. About half of them chose to join and marry the fighters and were taken away, never to be heard from. Those who refused endured more than two years of servitude, washing, fetching water and cooking for Boko Haram. The girls, nearly all of them Christians, lived in grass huts and were forced to convert to Islam. At first they ate rice and maize. But then food became scarce. During their captivity in the forest, a few of them died.” NBC News: CIA Prepping For Possible Cyber Strike Against Russia “The Obama administration is contemplating an unprecedented cyber covert action against Russia in retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the American presidential election, U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. Current and former officials with direct knowledge of the situation say the CIA has been asked to deliver options to the White House for a wide-ranging "clandestine" cyber operation designed to harass and "embarrass" the Kremlin leadership.” United States CNN: US, UK Considering Economic Sanctions Against Syria, Russia “The United States and United Kingdom are considering economic sanctions against Russia and Syria because of the crisis in Aleppo, US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Sunday. The two spoke in London at the end of talks with European and Middle Eastern allies seeking a multilateral approach in resolving the Syrian crisis, including a sustained cessation of violence and humanitarian aid deliveries to the beleaguered Syrian city. Up to a quarter of a million people are trapped in Aleppo as the Syrian military, backed by Russian warplanes, pounds its streets into rubble.” Voice Of America: Kerry: Road Map Urgently Needed To End Violence In Yemen “The United States, Britain and the U.N. peace envoy to Yemen called Sunday for the warring parties in the country to immediately and unconditionally declare a cease fire. ‘This is the time to implement a cease fire unconditionally and then move to the negotiating table,’ U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after meeting in London with U.N. peace envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and his counterparts from Britain, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, which is leading an air campaign in Yemen. Kerry said they were calling for the implementation of the cease-fire ‘as rapidly as possible, meaning Monday, Tuesday’ as they all agreed a road map is needed to urgently end the violence in Yemen.” The Washington Post: ‘Band-Aid On A Bullet Wound’: What America’s New War Looks Like In Afghanistan’s Most Violent Province “Earlier this month, a small district center just south of this desolate U.S. base came under attack from Taliban militants who threatened to overrun the local police. Frantic calls arrived from Afghan officials: They needed air support. In a U.S. command center, a steel hut of plywood walls and a dozen video monitors piping in drone feeds and satellite imagery, soldiers began directing aircraft to the area. Redhanded 53, the call sign for a gun-metal-gray twin-engine propeller plane loaded with sensors, arrived overhead just in time to watch a truck loaded with explosives slam into the main police station. Within an hour, the Americans had marshaled an armed Predator drone in the skies over the battle in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.” Reuters: U.S., Britain Call For Immediate Ceasefire In Yemen “The United States and Britain called on Sunday for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Yemen to end violence between Iran-backed Houthis and the government, which is supported by Gulf states. A Saudi-led campaign in Yemen has come under heavy criticism since an air strike on a funeral gathering in the Yemeni capital Sanaa that killed 140 people according to a United Nations' estimate and 82 according to the Houthis. On Saturday, a U.S. admiral said a destroyer had again been targeted in the Red Sea in an apparent failed missile attack launched from the coast of Yemen. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said if Yemen's opposing sides accepted the ceasefire then the special envoy to the U.N., Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, would work through the details and announce when and how it would take effect.” Syria The Washington Post: Syria Talks In Switzerland Produce Only A Decision To Keep Talking “Talks in Switzerland on stemming the bloodshed in Syria resulted in no breakthrough Saturday, but the discussions did yield a decision to keep seeking ways to achieve a truce and resume negotiations. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who called the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and diplomats from seven Middle Eastern countries, characterized the gathering that lasted more than four hours as a brainstorming session that brought some new ideas to the table. However, he declined to specify what those ideas were. No date was set for another meeting of the foreign ministers who took part, but their staffs are expected to continue talking together about possible approaches.” CNN: Syria: US, Russia, Regional Powers Fail To Reach Breakthrough In Talks On Conflict “Talks in Switzerland on the crisis in Syria have ended with no apparent breakthrough. The Lausanne meeting only included regional powers with influence on battlefield outcomes in Syria, alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura. Despite the lack of a breakthrough, Kerry said the parties reached a consensus on a ‘broad agreement’ on a number of important points, specifically a ‘desired outcome on ending conflict,’ in his remarks to the press. The US State Department said that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan were among the regional powers represented.” BBC: Syria Conflict: IS 'Ousted From Symbolic Town Of Dabiq' “Turkish-backed rebels have captured the symbolically important Syrian town of Dabiq from the Islamic State group, rebel commanders and monitors say. Dabiq was under ‘full control’ of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. The small northern town holds great value for IS because of a prophecy of an apocalyptic battle, and features heavily in its propaganda. The advance on Dabiq is part of a wider offensive by Syrian rebel groups. Ahmed Osman, the commander of the Sultan Murad rebel group, told Reuters news agency that the group had also recaptured the neighbouring village of Soran.” Iraq CNN: ISIS In The Crosshairs: Battle For Mosul Begins “The offensive to liberate Mosul from ISIS control has begun, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a televised statement early Monday. ‘Our dearest people in Nineveh province, the victory bell has rung, and the operations to liberate Mosul have begun,’ he said. ‘I am announcing today the beginning of these heroic operations to liberate you from the brutality and terrorism of ISIS. God willing, we will meet soon on the ground of Mosul where we will all celebrate the liberation and your freedom.’ Only forces with the Iraqi army and National Police will enter the city ‘and no others,’ the Prime Minister said.” The New York Times: Kurdish Troops Advance On ISIS-Held Villages East Of Mosul “Kurdish forces on Monday morning began advancing on a string of villages east of Mosul, the start of a long-awaited campaign to reclaim Iraq’s second-largest city from the Islamic State, which seized it more than two years ago, officials said. About 4,000 Kurdish pesh merga troops are involved in the operation to retake 10 villages, the opening phase of a battle that could take weeks or months and could involve nearly 30,000 Iraqi and Kurdish troops, with American warplanes providing air support. Iraqi counterterrorism forces, which work closely with American Special Operations commandos in Iraq, are also expected to join the Kurdish forces in the coming days. The operation began hours after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced in a brief speech aired on state television just before 2 a.m. that the long-awaited campaign to liberate Mosul had begun.” Turkey Associated Press: 3 Killed, 8 Wounded After Suicide Bombings In Turkey “Suicide bombers blew themselves up Sunday during a Turkish police raid against suspected Islamic State militants near the Syrian border, killing three police officers and wounding eight other people, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Gaziantep governor Ali Yerlikaya, speaking to the agency, said police received a tip about a group of IS militants hiding in a house in the city's Sahinbey district and launched an operation to apprehend them. The militants blew themselves up when they realized they could not escape, the agency reported. It was not clear how many suicide bombers were involved. ‘Unfortunately, three of our police officers were martyred and eight people, including four Syrians, were wounded,’ he told Anadolu. The news agency said police officers were among the wounded and one person was in critical condition.” Reuters: Turkey's Erdogan Says Iraq Cannot Handle Mosul Assault Alone “Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Iraq could not deal alone with driving Islamic State from the city of Mosul and that the presence of Turkish forces in a nearby military camp was an insurance against attacks on Turkey. Turkey has been locked in a row with Iraq's central government about the presence of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq, and over who should take part in the planned U.S.-backed assault on Mosul. ‘We won't let Mosul be given to Daesh (Islamic State) or any other terrorist organization. They say Iraq's central government needs to approve this but the Iraqi central government should first deal with their own problems,’ Erdogan said. ‘Why did you let Daesh enter Iraq? Why did you let Daesh enter Mosul? They were almost going to come to Baghdad. Where are you, the central government of Iraq?’ he said in a speech at a ceremony in the Black Sea town of Rize, broadcast live on TV.” Egypt Associated Press: Egypt's El-Sissi Predicts Long War Against Sinai Militants “Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in comments published on Saturday that his country's war against Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula would be long, but that conditions in the vast and arid region were improving. In an interview with Egypt's three state-owned newspapers, he acknowledged that both the militants and government forces were getting better at fighting each other in the strategic area bordering Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. ‘Conditions in Sinai are improving and (our) efforts are continuing because the war is long,’ said el-Sissi, whose comments came one day after Islamic State militants attacked an army checkpoint in Sinai, killing 12 soldiers and wounding at least six more. ‘The terrorists are evolving and we are improving our operations,’ he said.” CNN: Egypt Launches 'Revenge' Airstrikes On ISIS In Sinai “The Egyptian military has launched airstrikes on ‘terrorist positions’ in the Sinai peninsula ‘to avenge the blood’ of its soldiers killed in an attack on a military checkpoint Friday, according to an army statement. While the military did not specifically name the group, ISIS claimed responsibility for Friday's attack that left at least 12 soldiers and 15 of the assailants dead. According to the army statement, released Saturday, the three-hour air operation targeted several concentrations of militants, destroyed ammunition and weapons storage facilities, destroyed seven vehicles and killed an unspecified number of militants. The attackers hit the checkpoint using four-wheel drive vehicles, the Egyptian military said. It's the latest attack in a battle for control over the Sinai Peninsula between Islamist militants and Egyptian forces.” Middle East The Jerusalem Post: ‘Southern Israel Is Secure, But Hamas Is Getting Ready’ “Communities near Gaza have enjoyed a prolonged period of quiet since 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, a calm that is shattered every few months by Salafi jihadist rocket attacks from the Strip – a reminder of the fragility of the ‘calm.’ Since the end of the 2014 war, the Eshkol region has experienced a population growth of around 8%, as new families settle in the area – a reflection of the sense of security that is widespread in the area, despite the presence of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups just across the border. Lt.-Col. (res.) Ilan Aizekson is the security coordinator for the Eshkol Regional Council, a role that places him in a gray area between the military and civilian worlds. Aizekson communicates continually with the officers of the Southern Gaza Territorial Brigade, and receives the latest security updates. When necessary, he ensures that the Eshkol Council snaps into emergency mode.” The Washington Post: Israeli Leader Denounces Rights Group’s ‘Falsehoods’ About Settlements In West Bank “Israeli leaders blasted the human rights group B’Tselem on Sunday as a traitor and a slanderer after it denounced Israel's 49-year-long military occupation of the West Bank. The group's leader last week called the occupation a thriving land grab and a civil rights disgrace that Israel has no intention of ending, no matter what its politicians say. On Friday, B'Tselem's executive director addressed the U.N. Security Council and called for ‘decisive international action’ to end the military rule of the occupied territories. The group is respected abroad but finds itself facing withering criticism at home. Israel's long-running military rule over the Palestinians, especially the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, have been a target of escalating rhetoric and harsh condemnation by the White House and State Department. The settlements — with a population of 400,000 Jews — are on land in the West Bank that the Palestinians want for a future state.” Libya Reuters: Rival Faction Challenges Libya's U.N.-Back Government In Tripoli “A Libyan faction opposed to the U.N.-backed government seized a building used by parliament in Tripoli, proclaiming its own authority and demanding a new government in a challenge to Western plans to end the instability in the country. Libya's internationally backed government, which has struggled to impose its authority on rival factions, condemned the takeover of the Rixos Hotel as a bid to scuttle its attempts to form a stable government in the North African OPEC member. Later on Saturday, the U.N.-backed government posted images on social media of its presidential council and ministers holding a meeting in the main offices of parliament in a different part of Tripoli.” Telegragh: Libyan Government Forces Near Victory In Sirte “Forces aligned with Libya's UN-backed government, supported since August by US airstrikes, have pushed militants back into a small residential area in the coastal city of Sirte in a four month old campaign.  The Libyan brigades, mostly from the city of Misrata, say they are close to victory in Sirte, but have struggled to defend themselves against sniper fire and landmines. Several brigades stationed close to Sirte's seafront advanced several hundred meters eastwards through Sirte's Giza district. The pro-government forces said the progress is going smoothly and that their moral is high.  The push comes after months of intense fighting in Sirte between government forces and extremists, who gained a foothold in the country following the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.” Nigeria The Jerusalem Post: Boko Haram Faction Ready To Negotiate Release Of 83 More Chibok Girls “The Islamic State-allied faction of Boko Haram which last week freed 21 of more than 200 Chibok girls kidnapped in April 2014 in northeast Nigeria is willing to negotiate the release of 83 more of the girls, the president's spokesman said on Sunday. Around 220 girls were taken from their school in 2014 in Chibok in northeastern Borno state, where Boko Haram has waged a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state, killing thousands and displacing more than 2 million people. A faction of the militant group released 21 of the girls on Thursday after the Red Cross and the Swiss government brokered a deal. They were brought from the northeastern city of Maiduguri to the capital Abuja to meet state officials.” BBC: How Did Nigeria Secure The 21 Chibok Girls' Release From Boko Haram? “In the early hours of Thursday morning, 21 of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls were released by their Boko Haram captors in the town of Banki close to Nigeria's border with Cameroon, security sources told the BBC. They were handed over to a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross who provided assistance during the transfer of the girls. A few hours later this group of young girls, whose kidnap from their school dormitories in the town of Chibok triggered international condemnation more than two years ago, were arriving in the capital Abuja to be received by the country's vice-president.”  Germany Reuters: Syrian Bombing Suspect In Germany Spoke To IS Contact About Attack Plans: Newspaper “A Syrian refugee arrested on suspicion of planning a major attack in Berlin spoke to a member of Islamic State in Syria by telephone about a possible target a day before German police discovered explosives in his apartment, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Jaber Albakr was detained on Monday, two days after police discovered about 1.5 kg of explosives in his apartment. He was found dead in prison on Wednesday. Authorities said he had committed suicide. Germany's Welt am Sonntag (WamS) cited investigation sources as saying U.S. intelligence had provided a tip-off about Albakr after tapping several phone calls between him and an Islamic State member in Syria. During the calls, 22-year-old Albakr spoke about his attack plans, the newspaper said.” Deutsche Welle: German Police 'Forced To Choose' Between Mafia And Terror “Organized crime is an ever-mutating, highly-professionalized phenomenon that is doing unquantifiable damage to Germany through encrypted networks - that was the central theme of Friday's joint press conference in Wiesbaden between Holger Münch, head of the German federal police (BKA), and Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere. But nevertheless, the basic figures remained stable. The organized crime numbers for 2015 that Münch and de Maiziere presented showed a tiny reduction in the overall number of organized crime investigations, compared to the year before - from 571 in 2014 down to 566. There was similarly little change in the number of German-dominated organized crime groups (190 in 2014 and 198 in 2015), Turkish-dominated groups (55 in 2014 compared to 50 in 2015), or in Polish-dominated groups (44 in 2014, 40 in 2015). Meanwhile, the dominant criminal business remained drugs (36.7 percent of the total).” France The Guardian: Memorial Service Held For Victims Of Bastille Day Terror Attack “The names of the 86 victims who died in the 14 July attack in the French city of Nice have been read aloud, and a white rose for each has been pinned to a monument, at a national ceremony marking three months since the killings. Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a 19-ton truck along the beach front, mowing down people who had gathered to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day, before police shot him dead. The names of the 86 victims who died in the 14 July attack in the French city of Nice have been read aloud, and a white rose for each has been pinned to a monument, at a national ceremony marking three months since the killings. Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a 19-ton truck along the beach front, mowing down people who had gathered to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day, before police shot him dead.” Europe Voice Of America: Kosovo Sees Drops In Foreign Fighters To Mideast “The number of fighters joining extremist groups in the Middle East from Kosovo, once the highest per capita in Europe, has come to a virtual halt, according to government officials, analysts, and ex-fighters. The turnabout comes after a government crackdown in Kosovo on extremist recruiting, an increased education campaign to show the ills of radical groups, and a waning appeal of Islamic State militancy, experts say. ‘Kosovo has done great work in getting local Muslim communities directly involved in efforts to educate their members against the dangers of radicalization,’ said Sarah Bedenbaugh, a Balkan expert at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. Kosovo is the smallest country in the Balkan region with a Muslim-majority population. The country gained its independence in 2008 after a long-fought war with Serbia.” Financing of Terrorism Marsadmasry: Egyptian Expert: Scope Of Terror Financing In The Sinai "Beyond Imagination" “Egyptian {Major} General Mahmoud Khalaf, an adviser at the Egyptian Nasser Military Academy, stated that the size and scope of the financing of terrorism {in the Sinai} is mind-boggling. Khalaf claimed the Egyptian armed forces recently seized large quantities of weapons and machine guns which had been smuggled across the Egyptian border. They were supposed to have reached northern Sinai today, but were confiscated enroute. He denied that {the recent} terrorist operations are related to the opening of the Rafah crossing. Khalaf stressed that the sealing of {Egypt's} desert and sea borders during the night "is not 100% but is up to 98.5%." He emphasized that although the armed forces are making a major effort to secure the borders, the borders with Libya and Sudan still pose the greatest danger.” Albawabh News: The Financing Of Terrorism In Sinai Through Drug Trafficking “Egyptian security sources revealed details on Saturday concerning the arrest of the most dangerous terrorist cell in the province of Beni Suef. It was plotting to smuggle large quantities of weapons and drugs to terrorists in northern Sinai. The sources added that the National Security Service has been working to penetrate terrorist organizations to extract information and methods of smuggling arms to Takfiri militants in Sinai. The sources stressed that terrorist organizations have turned to drug trafficking after other methods of financing were abolished.” ISIS Moheet: Libya: ISIS Militants Are Paid Up To $215 In Daily Wages “Libyan authorities announced the arrest of four Egyptians belonging to ISIS in a desert region near the city of Bayda, the seat of Libya's temporary government. A statement by Colonel Idriss Mohammed el Kateb, the Security Chief of Jebel Akhdar area, confirmed the detainees' admission of belonging to the extremist organization and carrying out terrorist operations in the Libyan city of Benghazi. El Kateb asserted that the suspects "confessed to carrying out numerous homicides in the al-Sabri district" in Benghazi. He added that "among these terrorists are those who specialize in planting mines and producing sticky bombs." During their interrogations they disclosed they were being paid wages of up to 300 (Libyan) dinars ($215) in cash per day.” Muslim Brotherhood Rassd: Egyptian Media Personality Calling For Confiscation Of Funds Owned By Sympathizers With Muslim Brotherhood “Egyptian TV host Ahmed Moussa called to confiscate all assets belonging to Muslim Brotherhood members or sympathizers. Moussa said during his show yesterday: "State entities have full count of the members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and thus it must seize all their funds and properties, without exception, money or apartments, lands or companies, through judicial procedures." He added: "We must implement these measures legally towards all the members of the group, and their sympathizers. The sympathizer is more dangerous than the member. Anyone who is sympathetic and supporter of the Brotherhood intellectually or organizationally, must face the seizure of his property whatever it is located.” Elfagr: Egyptian Academician: Muslim Brotherhood Hijacks Citizens' Minds Via Services They Provide “Dr. Jaber Nassar, President of Cairo University, noted that the Muslim Brotherhood has hijacked the minds of citizens through the services they provide, and then control them with ease. He added that he observed the student union elections in the nineties, and saw unveiled girls wearing "pants and T-shirts" voting for the Brotherhood because they were won over by the services they provide. Nassar went on to say: "Most of our non-veiled daughters carry an abaya in their bags because they are subject to brainwashing in university mosques." He asserted that the decision to close the prayer sites at Cairo University is one of the most important decisions taken by the university. He stressed, "We want the religion of truth, while they want the religion of falsehood.” Houthi Elnahar-News: Expert: Houthi Group Can Rely Upon Their Sources Of Funding In The Foreseeable Future “The financing sources of Houthi group in Yemen are still flowing. These range from the imposition of levies to control of the black market, which has expanded throughout the country. This is in addition to the sectarian funds coming from local and foreign backers, mainly Iran. Abdel Nasser Almuwadea, a Yemeni economic analyst, asserted that the Houthi group can rely on its sources of funding for the upcoming period. Almuwadea stated, "The Houthis have private funds, parallel to the formal banking system. During the past few months they have created what looks like their own central bank as well as a mechanism for transferring the funds they obtain from abroad. They also enjoy returns on the black market, especially those from fuel sales and other sources." He added, "They have private financial sources which they will continue to own and spend on their military and militants, despite their loss of control over the {country's} Central Bank.”