Eye on Extremism October 5, 2016

Eye on Extremism October 5, 2016 New York Times: U.S. Election Cycle Offers Kremlin Window Of Opportunity In Syria “Russia is using the waning days of the Obama administration to strengthen President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power, expand the territory he controls in Syria and constrain the options of the next American president in responding to the civil war, according to a number of American officials and Russian analysts. The strategy of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, they say, is to move aggressively in what he sees as a prime window of opportunity — the four months between now and the 2017 presidential inauguration — when Mr. Putin calculates that the departing President Obama will be unlikely to intervene in the escalating Syrian conflict and a new American president who might consider a tougher policy will not yet be in office.” Reuters: Rebels Fend Off Aleppo Assault As Nations Seek To Rebuild Peace Process “Syrian rebels said on Tuesday they had repelled an army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded residential areas, while nations spoke of rebuilding a peace process the United States broke off this week. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who announced on Monday that Washington was suspending talks with Moscow due to Russia's role in the offensive, said peace efforts must carry on. Turkey, long one of the main foes of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but which has lately repaired its damaged ties with his ally Russia, said it planned to make a proposal to Washington and Moscow to resurrect a ceasefire that collapsed last month. But on the ground there was no sign of peace with potentially the biggest and most decisive battle of the five-and-a-half year war unfolding as pro-government forces sought to drive anti-Assad rebels from their last major urban stronghold.” Reuters: U.S. Says Strike In Yemen Last Week Killed Al Qaeda Militant, Wounded Another “One al Qaeda militant was killed and another wounded in a strike in Yemen's Bayda province by the U.S. military on Sept. 29, U.S. Central Command said on Tuesday. Local officials told Reuters last week that two senior members of al Qaeda's Yemen branch were killed in a suspected U.S. drone strike in the central province of Bayda.” NPR: U.S. Considers Efforts To Help Religious Minorities Recover From ISIS “As U.S. military planners work to help Iraqis retake territory from ISIS, the State Department is thinking about how to help Christians and other religious minorities recover from what the Obama administration has called a genocide. The U.S. military is making plans to help Iraqis retake a major city from ISIS. And at the State Department, they're thinking about some of the non-military aspects of this battle. That includes how to help religious minorities recover from what the Obama administration calls a genocide. The ambassador at large for International Religious Freedoms, David Saperstein, says the U.S. has been helping minority communities document the atrocities carried out by ISIS in Iraq. That includes going over satellite photography to identify where there are mass graves.” The Washington Post: U.S. Service Member Killed In Afghanistan In An Operation Targeting ISIS “A U.S. service member was killed Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province during an operation against the Islamic State, defense officials said. The death occurred in Achin district, which is a few miles from the Pakistan border and considered the Islamic State’s base of operations in Afghanistan. Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the senior U.S. commander in the country, said the death occurred during a ‘larger United States-Afghan counterterrorism mission targeting the Islamic State, Khorasan’ — a reference to the group’s Afghan branch. An investigation will be carried out to determine what happened, but U.S. military officials said the service member was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) while on foot.” Voice Of America: Weakened IS May Find Havens In Rural Iraq, Syria “If expected military offensives rout the Islamic State group from the cities that are its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, military analysts and Kurdish commanders say the extremists would establish bases in rural areas to further their regional terrorism. ‘When they run out of options, and soon they will, [IS fighters] will act more violently outside their areas of control,’ said Radwan Badini, a politics professor at Salahaddin University in Irbil, in northern Iraq. ‘In the countryside of rural provinces in Syria and Iraq, IS will continue to have an influence and it will try to use these areas as operation centers to stage attacks on their immediate enemies.’” Al-Arabiya: From Iran To Al-Qaeda: How Hamza Bin Laden's Future Was Secured “On May 9, Hamza bin Laden, the son of late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, delivered an audio message in which he warned that “Jerusalem is a bride and our blood is her dowry.” His reemergence did not come as a surprise to those interested in the affairs of extremist groups and their ideology. However, there were those who underestimated the importance of his message and repercussions on the reality of rival extremist factions as they thought it meant nothing more than “the end of being embraced by the party which has looked after him for years.” The 24-yeard-old Hamza sought to synchronize his message with an earlier audio release of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda organization’s current leader. Both messages were released through al-Sahab foundation, al-Qaeda’s media wing.” The Washington Post: This ISIS Defector Said He Was An Innocent Bystander. A New Video Questions His Story. “Since his arrest on terrorism charges, German militant Harry Sarfo has been an unusually talkative Islamic State recruit, granting interviews from prison that were carried on front pages and news broadcasts across Europe and the United States. German authorities permitted the access to Sarfo, whose story seemed to represent such a cautionary tale. He described atrocities he witnessed in Syria and the Islamic State’s efforts to enlist him for plots in Europe, always emphasizing that he spurned these approaches before making an improbable escape. But in depicting himself as a disillusioned fighter who refused to commit violence, Sarfo left out some potentially incriminating scenes.” Voice Of America: Afghan Security Forces Work To Secure Kunduz “Afghan officials said security forces were still battling Taliban insurgents Tuesday in the key northern city of Kunduz, more than a day after the militants staged a multiprong offensive. The officials said the process of securing the city was being slowed Taliban gunmen hiding in civilian homes. Residents told VOA late Monday fighting was raging in central parts of the provincial capital, which briefly fell to the Taliban a year ago. A Taliban spokesman claimed its fighters raised the Islamist insurgency's white flag on the city's main square after Afghan forces retreated. However, NATO’s Resolute Support mission said in a statement late Monday the government controls Kunduz city and Afghan security forces were in control of the main square with additional reinforcements on the way.” Reuters: Turkey Suspends 13,000 Police Officers, Shuts Down TV Station “Turkish authorities suspended nearly 13,000 police officers, detained dozens of air force officers and shut down a TV station on Tuesday, widening a state-ordered clampdown against perceived enemies in the wake of July's failed coup. The police headquarters said 12,801 officers, including 2,523 chiefs, were suspended because of their suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any link to the coup attempt, which led to the deaths of more than 240 people. The suspensions were ordered hours after Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus announced that the cabinet had approved a 90-day extension to a state of emergency, renewing President Tayyip Erdogan's powers to govern by decree at least until January. Washington Times: ISIS Fratricide: 16 Terrorists Dead After Suicide Vest Detonates During Iraq Meeting “Sixteen terrorists died in Iraq last week when a would-be suicide bomber’s explosive vest accidentally detonated during a meeting outside Kirkuk. Senior ISIS leaders in the village of al-Mahaws died before an attack on Iraqi Security Forces because of a man’s faulty suicide vest. The development is one more bit of bad news for the Sunni terror group, which is preparing for an imminent attack on its Mosul stronghold by Iraqi forces, and reports that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been poisoned. “A number of the ISIS members were wearing explosive belts during the meeting, and the explosion took place due to a defect in one of them,” Al-Masdar News reported quoted Iraqi media Sept. 29. “The meeting was held to prepare for an attack on the positions of the security forces in Hamrin Mountains, al-Zawiya area and Ajil area in Salahuddin Province.” RT: French Tourism Firms Call For Special Police Force “Giants of the French tourism industry, including Disneyland and the Galeries Lafayette department store, have written an open letter to the French government, calling for the establishment of a special police force. The note on ‘serious crisis’ that affects French tourism was sent by Alliance 46.2, which includes 21 leading companies in the French tourism sector. As well as Galeries Lafayette and Disneyland Paris, Aéroports de Paris and SNCF railway operator were among the signatories.  According to the letter, the French tourism industry is concerned about the loss of competitiveness which was affected by last November’s terrorist attacks in Paris and numerous demonstrations against the labour reform that took place in the French capital this spring.” Reuters: Nigerian Lawmakers To Probe Use Of Funds For People Fleeing Boko Haram “The use of Nigerian government funds earmarked for assisting displaced people who are living in desperate conditions in the former stronghold of Boko Haram, is to be investigated because of suspicions of corruption, lawmakers said on Tuesday. More than two million have been displaced, and some 15,000 people have been killed, during the jihadist group's seven-year insurgency in which it has sought to create a state adhering to a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Last week UNICEF said 75,000 children could die in the next year in northeastern areas previously controlled by the group before it was pushed back by Nigerian troops and others from neighboring countries in early 2015.” United States The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Seeks To Redraw Ties With Russia In Syrian Conflict “The Obama administration has set about redrawing its relationship with Russia amid this week’s diplomatic breakdown over Syria, taking on one of its most complex foreign-policy challenges just three months before a new president takes office. Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry held out the possibility of once again working with Moscow after pulling out of talks over a Syrian cease-fire deal the day before. While he faulted Russia for prolonging the war by tying its interests to the Assad regime and turning a blind eye to its brutality, his comments also underscored Moscow’s influence in bringing any resolution to the conflict.” Syria Associated Press: Russia Sends More Air Defense Missiles To Syria “The Russian military said Tuesday it had beefed up its forces in Syria with state-of-the-art air defense missiles, an announcement that follows Washington's move to suspend contacts with Russia over Syria. The deployment immediately raised questions in the Pentagon, which wondered about its purpose. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a battery of the S-300 air defense missile systems had been sent to Syria to protect a Russian facility in the Syrian port of Tartus and Russian navy ships off the Mediterranean coast. Tartus is the only naval supply facility Russia has outside the former Soviet Union. The deployment adds more punch to the Russian military force in Syria, which already includes long-range S-400 missile defense systems and an array of other surface-to-air missiles at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.” Iraq Fox News: ISIS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Reportedly Poisoned “ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is at death’s door after being poisoned by a mystery assassin in Iraq, it has been reported. Three other senior jihadis were also afflicted by the toxin in Al-Ba’aj, southwest of Mosul – Islamic State’s biggest city in Iraq. The four have reportedly been rushed for treatment at a secret location. FARS, an Iranian news agency, say that ISIS is now arresting several suspects to find out who has struck a blow at the terror group’s self-proclaimed ‘Caliph’. The evil Iraqi cleric is known to have been personally responsible for the rape and torture of US aid worker Kayla Mueller.” BBC: Is So-Called Islamic State Finished? “Under fire from Russian, Turkish, Iraqi, Syrian and Kurdish forces, as well as US air power, so-called Islamic State has lost large swathes of land, as well as fighters and money. What does this mean for the Islamist militant group? Is it finished? On 13 August this year, the town of Manbij in northern Syria was liberated from IS. After the last fighter left, the town erupted: men sat on street corners, cutting off each other's beards; women tore off their face veils and set fire to them; an old woman lit a cigarette and laughed through the smoke. Previously, all of this was banned by IS. IS has lost other towns too, such as Kobane, al-Qaryatain, Tikrit and Fallujah.” Reuters: Iraq Begins Radio Broadcast To Mosul Ahead Of Offensive “Iraq launched a radio station on Tuesday to help Mosul residents stay safe during the upcoming military offensive to dislodge Islamic State from the largest city under its control, state TV said. The radio will give instructions on possible safe exit routes, places to avoid, where to find assistance and emergency numbers to call during the offensive. The Radio of the Republic of Iraq in Mosul is based in the town of Qayyara, 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of Mosul and home to an airbase which will serve as a hub for the U.S.-led coalition supporting Iraqi military units. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wants to capture Mosul this year and the push on the city could start as soon as this month, according to local military commanders.” Turkey Reuters: Turkish PM Threatens Kurdish Militia In North Syria, Warns Of Iraq Sectarianism “Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday Turkey's military was capable of removing the Kurdish YPG militia from northern Syria ‘just as it did Islamic State’, and warned of new sectarian clashes in Iraq after a planned offensive on Mosul. Speaking in parliament, Yildirim said Turkey's operations in Syria would continue until ‘all terrorist groups’ around the city of Al-Bab were eradicated and said the Kurdish militia was filling a vacuum left by Islamic State. He said U.S.-led plans for an assault on the Iraqi city of Mosul were not clear and that there was a risk Mosul could become the scene of new sectarian clashes after any operation to remove Islamic State from the area.” CNN: Turkish Police Use Post-Coup Powers To Shut Down TV Station “Dramatic scenes unfolded Tuesday as Turkish police raided a television news station that had been ordered off the air by emergency decree. The raid on Istanbul-based IMC TV, an opposition-affiliated, pro-Kurdish channel, came as the station was reporting on the government's closure of another television channel. Turkish authorities cut IMC's transmission in the middle of the broadcast. The sights and sounds of attempted coup 01:38 ‘Free media will not be silenced,’ IMC staff chanted as authorities entered the control room, ordering journalists to stop broadcasting scenes from the raid on their social media accounts.” Reuters: Turkish Soldier Killed In Base Attack In Mainly Kurdish Southeast “A Turkish soldier was killed and four were wounded in a rocket attack on a military base in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast on Tuesday, the local governor said, accusing members of the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) of being behind the action. The military launched an operation and scrambled F16 fighter jets after militants fired rockets at a gendarme outpost near the town of Lice in Diyarbakir province, security sources said. ‘An attack has been made by the divisive terrorist organization on military personnel,’ the Diyarbakir governor's office said in a statement, using terminology regularly used to describe the PKK. ‘An aerial operation has been started to neutralize the attackers.’ The PKK has repeatedly targeted security forces since it abandoned a two-year ceasefire in July 2015. No representatives of the movement were immediately available to comment.” Afghanistan Deutsche Welle: Rights Groups Warn On Deportations Ahead Of Afghanistan Talks “Human rights organizations warned on Tuesday against making support for Afghanistan conditional on Kabul's acceptance of returned migrants, ahead of two days of international talks in Brussels on financial and political aid for the war-torn country. The director of the German pro-immigration advocacy group Pro Asyl, Günther Burkhardt, called an EU-Afghan deal on returning Afghans from the EU to their country of origin a ‘complete blackmail of the Afghan government,’ and described such deportations as ‘irresponsible’ in view of the ‘desolate’ security situation in Afghanistan. Burkhardt said it was shocking to witness ‘the breathtaking speed with which the European Union is jettisoning human rights,’ saying that the deal made it possible to deport even unaccompanied minors.” Yemen Reuters: Yemen's Houthis Voice Conditions For Possible Peace Talks “Yemen's Houthis toughened demands for the resumption of talks to end the 19-month-old civil war, saying President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi must go and an agreement must be reached on the presidency. The comments from the Iran-aligned forces are likely to complicate United Nations efforts to bring the parties back to talks based on proposals made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in August. Hadi's internationally-recognized government, which is supported by an alliance of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, is battling the Houthis who took over the capital Sanaa in September 2014. ‘Any talks or negotiations by Yemeni delegates must be on the condition that the United Nations offers a written and comprehensive peace plan,’ delegates from the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh said in a statement on Saba news agency.” BBC: Yemen Conflict: French-Tunisian Hostage Nourane Houas Freed “A French-Tunisian woman who was kidnapped in Yemen last December while working for the International Committee of the Red Cross has been released. Nourane Houas was flown to Oman after being freed on Monday, the ICRC said. Oman said her release had been secured at the request of the French authorities and ‘in co-ordination with Yemeni parties’ whom it did not name. Ms Houas was seized by armed men on her way to work in the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by Houthi rebels. She was travelling with a colleague when their car was intercepted, but her colleague was released unharmed a few hours later.” Voice Of America: UN: Humanitarian Crisis In Yemen Rivals Syria “The United Nations is appealing to the international community to pay more attention to Yemen, which it considers one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Most media attention is on Syria, where the country's devastating, long-running civil war has killed more than 250,000 people and forced more than 11 million to flee their homes. But U.N. officials fear this focus on the horrors playing out in Syria is overshadowing the desperate needs of more than 12 million people in war-torn Yemen. Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the war has destroyed the livelihoods of Yemen's people, robbed them of basic services and pushed the economy to near total collapse. He said children are one of its main victims.” Libya Reuters: Residents In Libya's Sirte Face 'Collapsed' Health System, Food Shortages: Charity “The health system in the Libyan city of Sirte has collapsed and thousands of residents are facing shortages of food and medicine as pro-government forces battle to seize control of the coastal city from Islamic State, a medical charity said on Tuesday. Over the past two days, forces led by brigades from Misrata have pressed further into Sirte's neighborhood Number Three, advancing building by building as they try to finish a five-month-old campaign. Islamic State now controls a residential strip of less than 1 km long in their former stronghold. The International Medical Corps, which has been assisting Libyans who have fled Sirte, said once Islamic State was ousted from the city, government and aid agencies would face a huge challenge rebuilding infrastructure and re-establishing services.” Reuters: Civilians Killed By Shelling In Libya's Benghazi: Hospital Official “At least three civilians died and 12 were injured when shells landed in a residential area of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Tuesday, a hospital official said. For more than two years, forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar have been fighting Islamists and other opponents in Benghazi, with civilians sometimes caught in the crossfire. Haftar's forces have made significant gains in recent months but have not been able to secure some areas. They launch regular air strikes against groups holding out in pockets of the city. Fadel al-Hassi, a spokesman for special forces loyal to Haftar, said the shelling had come from a position occupied by ‘terrorist groups’ without giving further details.” United Kingdom BBC: Human Rights Report Warns Over 'Anti-Foreigner Sentiment' “Xenophobia in the UK has been stoked by ‘considerable intolerant political discourse’, a European human rights watchdog claims. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance said racist violence had been ‘on the rise’ in the UK. There had been an increase in anti-Muslim violence since 2013 as well as record levels of anti-Semitic incidents in 2014, it said in a report. The government launched a new hate crime action plan in July. A review is also under way in to police handling of hate crime in England and Wales following a sharp rise after the Brexit referendum. In response to the report the UK government said it was proud of its equalities legislation and questioned aspects of the report.” BBC: Cardiff Man Samata Ullah Charged With Terrorism Offences “A 33-year-old man from Cardiff has been charged with six terrorism offences. Samata Ullah was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command in a street in the city on 22 September. The six charges include being a member of a proscribed organisation (so-called Isis), terrorist training, and directing terrorism between 1 December, 2015 and 22 September, 2016. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. Metropolitan Police said the arrest was ‘pre-planned’ and supported by the Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit.” Germany Deutsche Welle: The Bundeswehr's Fight Against 'IS' In Incirlik “A few weeks after the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015, Germany's parliament gave the green light for a controversial military mission. The Bundestag granted the Bundeswehr a mandate to help the anti-‘Islamic State’ (IS) Operation Counter Daesh (the Arabic word for the terrorist group IS). Consequently, German soldiers were allowed to fly reconnaissance missions over Syria and Iraq for the anti-IS alliance. The missions are staged from Turkey's Incirlik Air Base, less than 300 kilometers (186 miles) away from the Syrian border and Aleppo. For four months, the Turkish government did not allow German parliamentarians to visit. Now seven German MPs from various political parties are traveling to Incirlik. At the moment, 250 Bundeswehr soldiers are stationed there. The parliamentary mandate, which the Bundestag must extend by December 2016, provides for a cap of 1,200 soldiers.” BBC: Germany Drops Turkey President Erdogan Insult Case “German prosecutors have dropped an investigation into a TV comedian accused of insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The prosecutors in the western city of Mainz said they had not found sufficient evidence to continue the inquiry against Jan Boehmermann. In March, Boehmermann recited a satirical poem on TV which made sexual references to Mr Erdogan. Mr Erdogan then filed a complaint alleging that he had been insulted. In a statement on Tuesday, the prosecutors said that ‘criminal actions could not be proven with the necessary certainty’. It was ‘questionable’, the statement added, whether Boehmermann's poem constituted slander, given the satirical context in which the comedian recited it. In April, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Germany said her government would allow the potential prosecution of the comedian, triggering criticism that she did not stand up for free speech.” Associated Press: Germany: Man Indicted For Joining Al-Shabab In Somalia “Prosecutors have indicted a German man accused of joining the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab in Somalia on terrorism charges. German federal prosecutors said Tuesday that the indictment against the 28-year-old identified only as Abshir Ahmed A., in line with German privacy rules, was filed Sept. 12 at a Frankfurt court. The suspect was arrested at Frankfurt airport as he returned home in July. The charges include membership in a foreign terrorist organization and violation of weapons control laws. Prosecutors say the man is believed to have joined al-Shabab in Somalia in 2012, undergoing weapons training and then being deployed in a defensive position for the group. They say that health problems forced him out of that posting.” France The Daily Caller: Another Female ISIS Cell Broken Up By Authorities “Morocco arrested 10 women suspected of being part of an Islamic State cell that planned attacks in the country. Authorities have broken up a number of ISIS cells in recent months but never one made up of a group of women. Morocco’s Interior Ministry said the cell operated in several regions throughout the country, and that it reflects the organization’s recent effort of integrating more female militants. French authorities warned of more women joining ISIS after a terror attacks on the Notre Dame Cathedral and a train station were foiled in early September. A majority of the alleged terrorists were women, and a police officer was stabbed during the arrest of three members.” Europe The Daily Caller: Europe Revolts: Czech President Supports Deporting Migrants, Serbia May Close Borders And Hungary To Amend Constitution “Days after a Hungarian referendum smacked down European Union (EU) migrant quotas, the rebellion against open borders and economic migration grows stronger in Europe. Though the referendum is not technically valid due to insufficient voter participation, it passed with 98 percent approval, prompting Hungarian PM Viktor Orban to propose a constitutional amendment to stop refugee resettlement unless the National Assembly — Hungary’s parliament — approves. And in the Czech Republic, President Milos Zeman is calling for the expulsion of all economic migrants, a number likely in the hundreds of thousands.” Financing of Terrorism 7al: Syria: Prosecution Of Dollar-Buyers On Charges Of Terrorist Financing “The Central Bank of Syria has published a list of violators of regulations concerning the purchase of foreign currency. The list contains the names of 386 persons who bought dollars and disposed of them, contrary to their declared intentions. The list features 270 citizens who violated government resolution No. 84 which restricts the allowable purchases of foreign currency. This group makes up the largest percentage of offenders. 93 others purchased foreign currency for the purpose of traveling abroad but ultimately did not travel {out of the country}. In addition, 21 citizens exceeded the allowable foreign currency purchases for travelling. The Central {Bank} said it would not stop prosecuting violators of foreign exchange regulations until they returned the dollars they purchased. The Bank warned that violators who fail to return the foreign currency to the bank or one of its branches within a specified period will be subject to prosecution on charges of money laundering and terror financing with the imposition of a fine valued at 100% of the sum of foreign currency they bought.” Muslim Brotherhood Misrday: Egypt: Detention Of Muslim Brotherhood Cell Recruiting New Members “The Dakahlia Security Directorate recently announced the detention of six Muslim Brotherhood members hiding out in the area of Abu Simbel in Gamasa. They were discovered in possession of funds aimed at attracting new recruits to the group. Gamasa Investigation Police arrested the six in possession of 137,450 pounds ($15,600) and anti-army and police pamphlets.” Alhadth: Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Businessman Hassan Malek Remanded In Custody For The Twelfth Time “On Monday, Egypt's Giza Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Abu Bakr Awadallah, extended the detention of businessman Hassan Malek for the twelfth time. The arrest was extended for 45 days pending investigations on charges of membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, funding it, plotting to harm the Egyptian economy through foreign currency exchange companies owned by him and financing demonstrations rejecting the June 30th Revolution in Egypt.” The Seventh Day: Expert: It Is Egypt's Right To Request That The International Telecommunication Union Shut Down Muslim Brotherhood Media Channels “Dr. Mahmoud Alam Eddin, head of the Journalism Department at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University, said that Egypt has the right to submit grievances to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) against the Muslim Brotherhood's media channels and their provocative content. This is in addition to submitting a complaint to Turkey, demanding the closure of these satellite channels. Alam Eddin asserted that one of the current problems of the Egyptian media is the chaos in the field of satellite television broadcasting. He therefore called for a law regulating the establishment of these satellite channels. The media professor at Cairo University avowed that he no longer watches Brotherhood channels. He claimed these channels lost their luster due to publishing "lies" and fallacious information.” Houthi Bl3raby: Iran Pumps Hundreds Of Thousands Of Tons Of Fuel A Month To Houthis “Shipping sources claimed that Iran has been financing the Houthi militia in Yemen by pumping hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel per month over the past year or more. The sources confirmed in a press statement that roughly 200,000 tons of fuel per month have been received by the Houthis from Iran since August 2015. This means that Iran violated the marine embargo imposed by the Arab coalition forces since March 2015. The sources added that Houthi militia, via businessmen loyal to it, procure Iranian fuel from ports outside Iran. Then the fuel is shipped to the port of Hodeida, overlooking the Red Sea in western Yemen, which is subject to the control of Houthi militants. The sources noted that businessmen conclude these deals at modest prices, after which they sell {the fuel} in the local Yemeni markets at prices comparable to those in the international markets, a move which represents a generous act of support from Tehran to the Houthis.”