Eye on Extremism December 14, 2016

Eye on Extremism December 14, 2016 Counter Extremism Project Bloomberg Technology: How Will Trump's Cabinet Picks Impact Tech Sector? CEP Senior Policy Advisor Tara Maller discusses the alleged Russian hacking of the U.S. election and how President-Elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks impact the tech sector. Reuters: Islamic State Made Weapons In Mosul Up To Military Standards, Report Says “Islamic State militants have been producing weapons on a scale and sophistication which matches national military forces and have standardised production across their self-styled caliphate, an arms monitoring group said on Wednesday. Conflict Armament Research (CAR) said the jihadist group had a ‘robust supply chain’ of raw materials from Turkey, and the technical precision of its work meant that it could not be described as ‘improvised’ weapons production. ‘Although production facilities employ a range of non-standard materials and chemical explosive precursors, the degree of organisation, quality control, and inventory management indicates a complex, centrally controlled industrial production system,’ it said in a report following visits last month to six facilities once operated by Islamic State in eastern Mosul.” The Washington Post: ISIS Is On The Offensive And May Have Just Picked Up A Surface-To-Air Missile System “The Islamic State’s conquest of Palmyra appears to have netted the group a trove of weaponry, armor, ammunition and equipment that risks fueling a surge of gains by the militants in Syria at a time when attention has been diverted on the battle unfolding in Aleppo. Palmyra’s fall comes less than a year after Syrian government forces, along with Iranian-backed militias and Russian Special Operations troops, retook the city from the Islamic State. The group seized the city in 2014, partially destroying a number of its world-renowned archaeological sites.” The New York Times: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Egypt Church Bombing And Warns Of More To Come “Egypt faced the prospect of a surge in sectarian bloodshed on Tuesday after the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Coptic cathedral in Cairo that killed 25 people on Sunday. The group warned of more attacks to come. As Christians gathered in churches to pay their respects to the victims, most of them women, the Islamic State said it had sent a suicide bomber to the chapel on the grounds of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the seat of the Egyptian Orthodox Church. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, identified the bomber by his nom de guerre, Abu Abdallah al-Masri. The Egyptian authorities on Monday identified the attacker as Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa, but said he had used a different alias. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.” CNN: Pentagon: 3 ISIS Leaders Killed In Airstrike “Three ISIS leaders were killed last week by a coalition airstrike in ISIS' self-declared capital, Raqqa, Syria, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Two of the targets, Salah Gourmat and Sammy Djedou, were directly involved in plotting the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement. The third, Walid Hamam, was a suicide attack planner who was convicted in absentia in Belgium for a terror plot disrupted last year. Hamam was given a five-year sentence for being part of the terrorist network of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ringleader of the Paris attacks. Previously, Abaaoud had coordinated a gun and bomb plot being hatched in Belgium that was thwarted by a Belgian commando raid in the eastern town of Verviers in January 2015.” Washington Post: Aleppo Evacuation Deal For Rebels Stalls Amid Disagreements And Renewed Shelling “A deal for Syrian rebels and civilians to leave what remains of their shattered Aleppo stronghold appeared to break down Wednesday morning, as fighting raged and evacuation buses were waved away. Brokered by Russia and Turkey, the pact began with a cease-fire which were supposed to be followed by evacuations at dawn, ending one of the most intense and bloody battles of the five year civil war. But by late morning Wednesday, those terms appeared defunct. “The clashes are violent and bombardment is very heavy . . . it seems as though everything is finished,” Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.” Reuters: White House - Iran's Nuclear Vessel Order Does Not Violate Atomic Deal “The White House said on Tuesday that Iran's ordering of its scientists to develop systems for nuclear powered marine vessels does not violate the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. ‘Such an announcement does not run counter to the JCPOA,’ a senior Obama administration official said on condition of anonymity, in reference to the nuclear deal. Iran said the order was in response to what it considers a U.S. violation of the deal.” The Jerusalem Post: Iranian President: 'Jihad' Against Israel Only Option Left For Palestinians “The Palestinians have no option left in their pursuit for an independent state apart from ‘jihad’ against Israel, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday. Iranian news agency Fars cited Rouhani as charging that the Palestinians should take advantage of allegations that Israel does not seek peace to wage violence in the name of Islam against the Jewish state. ‘Today, the world public opinion is faced with this strong argument that the Zionist regime has never been after peace, and this argument and reasoning should be used to show that there is no way, but jihad and resistance for the Palestinians against the usurper regime,’ he said in meeting with the leader of the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” Reuters: Iraqi Shi'ite Forces Aim To Clear Border Strip With Syria “Iraqi Shi'ite forces fighting Islamic State west of Mosul aim to clear a large strip of land on the border with Syria to prevent the militants melting into the remote desert region and using it as a base for counter attacks, a spokesman said on Tuesday. The Popular Mobilisation fighters - mainly Shi'ite, Iranian-backed paramilitary groups who form part of a wider Iraqi force waging the eight-week Mosul campaign - have deployed west of the city to cut the route to Islamic State-held territory in Syria. They have taken an air base south of the town of Tal Afar, about 60 km (40 miles) west of Mosul, and linked up with Kurdish peshmerga fighters to seal off the town's western flank.” Reuters: U.S. Sanctions Money Exchanges, Syrian Man For Financing Islamic State “The United States on Tuesday blacklisted two Iraqi and Syrian money service businesses for helping Islamic State move its money, along with a Syrian man it said was a financier for the jihadist group. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Selselat al Thahab Money Exchange based in Iraq, Hanifa Currency Exchange based in Syria, and Muhammad Jubayr al-Rawi, a Syrian man it said owned Hanifa Currency Exchange and has served as a senior Islamic State finance official, Treasury said in a statement. Between April 2015 and March 2016, Selselat al Thahab conducted more than 100 transfers into Islamic State territory, Treasury said.” ABC News: Terror Mystery: How US Man Went From Suburban Bliss To Jihad “From the outside, Samy el-Goarany seemed to have it all. The son of a successful real estate broker, he lived in a big house with an indoor swimming pool on two acres in New York's bucolic Hudson Valley. As a teenager, he got into a good college in Manhattan and seemed set to follow his father into real estate. Then he went off to Syria and joined the Islamic State group. When he was killed in fighting a year ago, his father told friends his son had died in a car crash, his body so badly burned it couldn't be recovered. But the true story of el-Goarany's death remained a secret until October, when federal prosecutors revealed details in a case against an Arizona man accused of aiding IS by recruiting American fighters.” United States Deutsche Welle: US Airstrikes Kill 'Islamic State' Militants Linked To Paris Attacks “The Pentagon on Tuesday said a US drone strike in Syria killed two leaders of the self-declared ‘Islamic State’ (IS) linked to attacks committed in Paris in November 2015, along with another French militant. ‘A coalition precision airstrike conducted on December 4 in Raqqa, Syria, resulted in the deaths of three ISIL leaders directly involved in facilitating external terror operations and recruiting foreign fighters,’ said Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis. The Pentagon identified the militants as Salah-Eddine Gourmat and Sammy Djedou, who partially facilitated the Paris attacks, and French national Walid Hamman, who Belgium in 2015 convicted in absentia for involvement in a foiled terror plot.” Time: White House Touts ‘Momentum’ In Fight Against ISIS: ‘We Are Killing Their Leaders’ “The White House Special Envoy for the operation to counter the terrorist network ISIS said the ongoing campaign has ‘momentum’ at a White House press briefing on Tuesday. Brett McGurk addressed reporters at the White House shortly after meeting with President Obama and other national security officials about the ongoing counter-ISIS operations. Earlier on Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that three ISIS leaders, including two who were involved in the 2015 attacks in Paris, had been killed. At the White House, McGurk touted diminished ISIS territory, reductions in the number of foreign fighters flowing into ISIS-controlled areas, and efforts of the counter-ISIS coalition to reduce the amount of ISIS propaganda that lives online. He also said ISIS has the fewest ‘battle-ready’ fighters on hand now than ever before, 12,000 down from 15,000.” Times Of Israel: In Israel, Massachusetts Police Look For Help Tackling Terror “Police departments in the United States of America know crime. Though differences in methodologies make it hard to accurately rank it globally, the US is generally considered to have one of the highest violent crime rates among developed countries. So for American police departments, fighting street crime has been their primary focus. But terror attacks in Orlando, in San Bernardino, California, and on the Ohio State University’s campus have reinforced the need for local US police to know how to prevent and respond to terrorism as well. In Israel, where terror attacks are a daily threat, the national police, as well as the country’s other security services, are world-renowned for their prowess in addressing that threat.” Syria USA Today: Nearly Half A Million Killed. And Syria Civil War Is Far From Over “Since the Syrian civil war began five years ago, the country has been marked by devastation and extreme suffering among civilians. Here's a list of alarming statistics associated with one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world. 450,000: Estimated number of Syrians killed since the beginning of civil war in 2011. 4.8 million: Syrians who have fled the country since the start of the conflict. 6.3 million: People internally displaced inside Syria. 6,150: Average number of people displaced per day between January and August 2016. 1 million: Displaced people living in collective shelters, camps or makeshift settlements.” Reuters: Aleppo Evacuation May Be Delayed Until Thursday “The evacuation of rebel-held eastern Aleppo due to start at dawn has been delayed, perhaps until Thursday, with an opposition official blaming Iran and its Shi'ite militias allied to President Bashar al-Assad for the hold-up. A ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia, Assad's most powerful ally, and Turkey ended years of fighting in the city and has given the Syrian leader his biggest victory yet after more than five years of war. Officials in the military alliance fighting in support of Assad could not be reached immediately for comment on why the evacuation was delayed. Rebel sources said the ceasefire remained in place despite the delay in the evacuation plan.” Time: The Loss Of Palmyra Exposes Syria’s Weakness, And ISIS’s Bloody Persistence “The fall of Palmyra to ISIS over the weekend, months after the ancient city was retaken by Syrian forces and their allies, has blown the lid off the misconception that the jihadist group is being defeated, analysts say. The desert oasis was first captured by ISIS in May 2015. Militants blew up the historic 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and publicly executed anyone who deviated from their restrictive worldview. Almost exactly a year later, forces led by the Syrian regime, including Russia and Hezbollah, retook the UNESCO World Heritage site. The victory for the regime was followed by a triumphant concert, organized by Moscow, in the amphitheater of the city’s Roman ruins.” Iraq Reuters: Explosion In Central Baghdad Causes No Casualties “A percussion bomb went off shortly after midnight on Wednesday in the Karrada shopping district of central Baghdad, causing no casualties, police sources said. The same area was hit in July by a suicide bombing that killed at least 324 people, claimed by the hardline Sunni group Islamic State.” The Jerusalem Post: Iraq's Race To Replace Documents Issued By ISIS “When the Islamic State (ISIS) took over Mosul two years ago, it began issuing its own wedding licenses and birth certificates. Now that a US-backed coalition has launched an assault to retake Mosul, Iraqis in liberated areas need new documents. ‘When ISIS controlled the area, they changed the whole process,’ Bahar Ali, the director of the Emma Organization for Human Development in Erbil, Iraq told The Media Line. ‘Now that the Iraqi government controls some of the area, they need to change their documents again.’” Turkey Reuters: Turkey Talking To Russia On Ceasefire, Evacuation From Syria's Aleppo “Turkey is negotiating with Russia to open a corridor to evacuate Syrian rebel fighters and civilians from the remaining opposition-held districts of Aleppo, but no agreement has yet been reached, a senior Turkish official said. Rebel defences in Aleppo collapsed on Monday, leading to a broad advance by the Syrian army across more than half of the remaining insurgent pocket in the city and a retreat of opposition fighters to a few districts. ‘Efforts are still underway to open a corridor for the rebels and civilians in Aleppo, and evacuate them from the region. There has been no agreement on this issue yet,’ the Turkish official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.” Associated Press: The Latest: Turkey Detains 568 For Alleged Kurdish Ties “The Latest on Turkey's investigation into a deadly weekend attack near a soccer stadium in Istanbul. Turkey's Interior Ministry says 568 people have been detained on account of their alleged affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The PKK and the Turkish state have been locked in conflict for decades. Ankara and Western governments consider it a terrorist organization. The detentions coincide with a broader crackdown that has taken a toll on government opponents of many different ideological inclinations. Lawmakers and members of a pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) have been a focal point of the latest wave of arrests.” Associated Press: Report: Turkey Detains 2 Kurdish Lawmakers In Terror Probes “Turkish media say counterterrorism police have continued to detain members of a pro-Kurdish political party in the wake of deadly suicide bombings. State-run Anadolu Agency is reporting that two lawmakers of the Peoples' Democratic Party have been taken into custody in Ankara, the capital. The report said they were taken into custody within the scope of two separate terror-related investigations in the southeastern cities of Batman and Diyarbakir. Widespread detentions of HDP officials by the Turkish security forces have taken place following a Saturday bombing near an Istanbul soccer stadium that killed at least 44 people and wounded 149. The attack was claimed by Turkey-based Kurdish militant group TAK.” Deutsche Welle: Turkey's Anti-Kurdish Crackdown Continues “There was little attempt by Turkish security forces to hide their intent. In Istanbul, counter-terrorism police entered HDP's local headquarters and turned over desks and boxes of books, leaving furniture and papers strewn across the floors, in what the government described as a ‘counter terror probe.’ On the walls, Geldik Yoktunuz (‘we came but you weren't here’) and Yine Gelecegiz (‘we will be back’) was spray-painted onto the walls alongside the crescent and star of the Turkish flag. According to HDP more than 290 party workers were arrested across the country on Monday, including the party's Istanbul provincial chairman Aysel Güzel. The sweep was just the latest round in a campaign that has seen pro-Kurdish members of parliament, writers, and elected city mayors imprisoned on charges of sympathizing with the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).” Voice Of America: Bombings, Arrests In Turkey As Government Battles Opponents “Officials in Turkey say police have detained over 500 people since Monday because of their suspected ties to Kurdish militants. Members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), parliament's second largest opposition group, are reported to be among the detained. Police launched raids across the country after a group called the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks. Turkish officials accuse the group of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is banned in the country. The bombs exploded late Saturday near a sports center in Istanbul. The explosions killed at least 44 people and wounded more than 150 others. Officials say the blasts targeted security officials.” Afghanistan ABC News: Afghanistan: Refugees Sent Home From Pakistan Face Poor Prospects And Forced Marriages, Aid Group Says “Hundreds of thousands of Afghans who previously fled violence to Pakistan are now returning home to uncertain futures after being told they are no longer welcome by their neighbour. Aid agency Save the Children said it has evidence the upheaval is seeing young girls being forced into marriage, and they warn of long-term consequences. Afghan Mohammad Zahidullah, 18, was torn four months ago from life as he knew it across the border in Pakistan. ‘I was in high school in Pakistan.’ he said. For the past four months, Zahidullah and his father, brothers and sister have shared a tent a vacant plot in Nangarhar province. His family was among 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees who had made homes and lives in Pakistan, desperate to escape war.” The New York Times: Afghanistan Vice President Accused Of Torturing Political Rival “A political rival of Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum of Afghanistan said on Tuesday that he had been tortured and raped with an assault rifle after being abducted by General Dostum last month. In an interview with The New York Times, the political rival, Ahmad Ishchi, said he was badly abused by the general, who was the acting president at the time because President Ashraf Ghani was out of the country, and by the general’s men. ‘I can kill you right now, and no one will ask,’ Mr. Ishchi said General Dostum told him. He claimed the vice president stepped on his throat and pressed down after he had already been beaten and bloodied.” Yemen Reuters: Eleven Headless Bodies Found In Yemen's Port City Aden - News Website “Eleven headless bodies have been dumped in a nature reserve in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, a local news website reported on Wednesday. The Aden al-Ghad news website quoted a security source in the city as saying that the male bodies were found on Tuesday evening in the al-Hiswa reserve, west of Aden. It was not immediately clear who killed the men and why, but Aden al-Ghad said the condition of the bodies suggested they had been dumped there more than a month ago. Yemen's second largest city has been suffering from lawlessness, as armed groups including Islamic State and al Qaeda continue to maintain influence nearly a year and-a-half after supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by Arab coalition troops, drove the Iran-aligned Houthis out.” Egypt Associated Press: Islamic State Claims Responsibility For Egypt Church Bombing “The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Tuesday for a suicide bombing at a Cairo church two days earlier that killed 25 people, highlighting a new escalation of violence in Egypt against civilians and Christians in particular. In a statement circulated online, it said the bomber had killed and injured 80 people, vowing ‘to continue war against apostates.’ The Egyptian government had earlier released footage showing images said to be that of the alleged suicide attacker. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Monday identified the bomber as 22-year-old Mahmoud Shafiq Mohammed Mustafa in the attack, which killed mainly women. IS named the bomber by what appeared to be a nom de guerre, Abu Abdullah al-Masri.” Daily Mail: ISIS Savages Blow Up A Prisoner Using A Bomb Before Butchering 11 More Accused Of Being Spies In Sickening Footage From Egypt “ISIS savages have blown up a prisoner using a bomb and butchered 11 more civilians accused of being spies in a gruesome new execution video from Egypt. Footage shows an extremist strapping explosives to a man dressed in an orange jump suit in the Sinai peninsula. The fanatic, wearing military clothes, walks away before the prisoner - accused of being an Egyptian Army 'informant' -  is blown to pieces in a massive bomb blast. ISIS has had a presence in the region since November 2014 when Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to the terror group. In October last year, jihadists bombed a Russian airliner carrying holidaymakers from a Red Sea resort in an attack that crippled the country's economy.” Middle East The Jerusalem Post: Iranian Adversary Reveals It Bought $5 Billion Of Weapons From Israel “Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said Tuesday that his country has signed $5 billion worth of long-term contracts over the years to buy weapons and security equipment from Israel. Aliyev was speaking during a state visit to Baku by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the purpose of which, in part, is to help Israel sell arms, reportedly missile-defense systems. Netanyahu and Aliyev signed four economic cooperation agreements in the fields of agriculture, prevention of double taxation and mutual quality standards during a two-hour meeting attended by security and defense advisers from both nations. Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) also was in attendance to discuss cooperation between the two countries and sign the agreements.” The Times Of Israel: Hamas Official Says Group Is Now ‘Leading’ Missile-Maker In Arab World “A senior Hamas official said that the terror group has built a so-called ‘real army’ to fight Israel and that it has become the leading manufacturer of missiles in the Arab world. Fathi Hammad, a member of the group’s political bureau and a former interior minister in Gaza, said Hamas ‘has made a resolute decision to remain steadfast and wage jihad, as the only means to liberate Palestine,’ according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) which picked up a media interview he gave on Al-Aqsa TV on December 8. Hammad called Israel’s 2005 Disengagement from the Gaza Strip a liberation ‘under the watch of Hamas,’ thanks to its ‘Jihad [holy war].’” The Times Of Israel: Car-Ramming Foiled At West Bank Checkpoint, Police Say “Police said an East Jerusalem woman tried to carry out a car-ramming attack Tuesday at the flashpoint Qalandiya crossing in the West Bank. The incident began when the woman, 31, a resident of the Beit Hanina neighborhood, approached the crossing at high speed in her vehicle. Troops opened fire, forcing her to stop. She then emerged from the car, shouting Allahu akbar (God is great). The incident began when the woman, 31, a resident of the Beit Hanina neighborhood, approached the crossing at high speed in her vehicle. Troops opened fire, forcing her to stop. She then emerged from the car, shouting Allahu akbar (God is great).” Haaretz: ISIS: Israel Carried Out Three Strikes In Sinai In Recent Days “Israeli forces carried out three strikes in Egypt's Sinai in the past three days, the Islamic State group's Amaq news agency reported on Tuesday. The strikes took place in northern Sinai, south of the port city of al-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid. Early on Tuesday, sirens warning of an incoming rocket went off in southern Israel, near the border with Egypt. The military said a rocket launch was detected, but no evidence that a rocket had fallen in Israel was found. Therefore, the army believes that the rocket had exploded on the Egyptian side of the border.” Libya Reuters: Migrants In Libya Facing 'Human Rights Crisis': U.N. Report “Migrants in Libya are suffering consistent and widespread abuse, including arbitrary detention, forced labor, rape and torture, a United Nations report said on Tuesday. Record numbers of migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, have been trying to reach Europe via Libya, usually in flimsy inflatable boats provided by smugglers. Armed groups have taken effective control of official detention centers for migrants amid the political chaos that now reigns in Libya and they also run their own centers, competing and cooperating with criminal gangs and smugglers.” CNN: Libyans Use 'Leftovers' To Defeat ISIS “Earlier this month, the Libyan city of Sirte was liberated from ISIS. The terrorist organization was driven out of the small coastal city by U.S. airstrikes and ‘a bunch of guys with guns.’ That's how photographer Manu Brabo described Libyan forces who fought to reclaim ISIS's ‘most important nest and stronghold’ in the country. They came from nearby cities. They were painters, bakers, fathers. Anywhere from 16 to 60 years old, according to Brabo. ‘Most of them are fighting in flip-flops and shorts,’ Brabo said. In May, these Libyan forces launched an operation to defeat ISIS. Their resources were limited. They reused tanks and ammunition from the Libyan Civil War in 2011.” Nigeria Reuters: Hunger Gnaws At Host Families In Boko Haram-Hit Northeast Nigeria “When Boko Haram militants stormed Kaka Mohammed's hometown of Bama in northeast Nigeria two years ago and kidnapped one of her sons, she escaped with her disabled daughter carried in a wheelbarrow and her other two children fleeing on foot. Mohammed and her children, among the 1.7 million Nigerians uprooted by Boko Haram, were taken in by a family in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, the jihadists' former stronghold. But both the displaced and host families are going hungry amid a deepening food crisis and the threat of imminent famine. ‘As soon as there is peace I want to return home - I don't want to live here any more,’ said 30-year-old Mohammed, who lives with a woman named Zana Malambanwe and her family.” United Kingdom RT: Terrorist Plan To Bomb British Christmas Shoppers Foiled – Six Arrested “British police say they prevented a major terrorist plot to bomb Christmas shoppers from being carried out by raiding properties in London and the Midlands and arresting six suspected Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) sympathizers. In the early hours of Monday, armed forces conducting a raid on a suspected bomb-making property seized four men from Derby, as well as a man from Burton and a woman from London, all aged 22 to 36, after army bomb squads had cordoned off the streets.  The arrests, which have been described as stopping a ‘significant’ terror plan, come after months of close surveillance by the MI5 and a coalition of police forces.” Germany Reuters: Germany To Deport 50 Rejected Afghan Asylum Seekers This Week - Report “Germany will on Wednesday carry out its first group deportation of Afghans whose asylum applications have been rejected, in line with an agreement with Kabul, the news magazine Der Spiegel said on Tuesday, citing government sources. More than a million migrants from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere have arrived in Germany this year and last, prompting concerns about security and integration and boosting support for anti-immigrant groups such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In 2016, Afghans are the second biggest group of asylum seekers in Germany after Syrians, according to data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).” France BuzzFeed News: French Nuclear Plant Technician Continued Working While Under Investigation For Terrorism “A French radiation protection technician has been banned from working at nuclear power plants by a Paris court more than three years after he began posting in support of armed jihad on Facebook. The 31-year-old technician, referred to in court proceedings as Rida E., was permitted to access nuclear plants for several months while he was being investigated by French authorities for suspected ties to terrorist groups in Syria. He was convicted on Dec. 7 of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. Rida E., a French citizen who immigrated from Morocco as a child, took a nuclear physics course after high school and then found work as a technician analyzing radiation risks in nuclear facilities. In 2012, he was hired by CERAP, a private agency authorized to train and send technicians and engineers to France’s nuclear plants.” Europe Reuters: EU Ministers Shy Away From Halting Turkey Accession Talks “EU foreign ministers said on Tuesday the bloc would not push ahead with membership talks with Turkey but rejected calls by Austria and European lawmakers to freeze the process because of Ankara's security crackdown. The bloc has criticised Ankara's sweeping dismissals and arrests over a failed July putsch but is wary of upsetting Turkey too much as it needs its cooperation on curbing immigration to the bloc and dealing with the conflict in Syria. Turkey has jailed some 36,000 people pending trial and sacked or suspended more than 100,000 over their alleged support of the coup plotters. The EU worries that Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to go after his critics. Several foreign ministers arriving for a meeting in Brussels argued against calls from Austria for a tough stand against Ankara. The European Parliament has also passed a resolution calling for a freeze in talks.” Fox News: Western Europe Cracks Down Amid Fears Of Holiday Attacks “Security forces across Western Europe have been rounding up terror suspects during the month of December as concerns grow over the possibility of a holiday-timed attack after intel suggested that there may be plans for attacks in a number of countries. Dozens of suspects have been arrested in recent weeks in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other countries. It’s seen as a pre-emptive strike by law-enforcement officials hoping to avoid the worst-case scenario. Since the beginning of December, nearly 30 people have been arrested for alleged involvement in terrorist activities. On Monday, 11 people were arrested in France in connection with the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice. In an unrelated incident, authorities in the UK arrested six people on suspicion of preparing to launch a terrorist attack.” Daily Mail: Danish Student Faces Six Months In Prison As She Goes On Trial For Fighting ISIS In Syria  “A young Danish-Kurdish woman who fled her homeland to fight ISIS in Syria could receive up to six months in prison for fighting against the extremist group. Joanna Palani, 23, is facing punishment from Copenhagen City Court after she violated Denmark's 'foreign fighter' rule, which aims to stop Danes who fight alongside terror groups. Miss Palani is being tried under that same law, although she was ironically fighting against the jihadis. The tough law is in place to strengthen domestic counter-extremism efforts, due to Denmark having one of the largest number of foreign fighters in Syria per capita. This isn't Miss Palani's first run-in with the Denmark government. Last year her passport was confiscated by police and the Danish intelligence service PET.” The Jerusalem Post: Report- ISIS Supply Lines Reached Turkey And Europe “Islamic State is well known for its atrocities, such as massacring thousands of Yazidis and beheading journalists. However, the organization also built up a force of more than 50,000 fighters, many of them foreign volunteers who traveled through Turkey from points in Europe, Chechnya, Tunisia and the Far East to join in 2014. Initially ISIS relied on more than 2,000 vehicles it captured from the Iraqi army in June of 2014 to make its gains in Iraq and solidify control of a corridor along the Euphrates river in Syria. However, US-led airstrikes and stiff resistance by Kurds and the Iraqi army destroyed most of ISIS’s armored vehicles by mid-2015. The extremists embarked on a standardized and massive program of local factories for weapons development.” Counter-Terrorism Elwehda: Egyptian Expert: Terrorism Exacerbates Economic Woes “Dr. Adel Amer of the Egyptian Center for Legal, Economic and Social Studies, said that terrorist incidents inflict heavy economic losses on the state. This is due to imbalances in the state's budget and a slowdown in financial and investment transactions. He stressed that terrorism is the {foremost} enemy of development since it affects financing, which is the backbone of the economy. He added that {economic} development is necessary for creating {and sustaining} political and security stability. Amer noted that terrorism has influenced inflation, which has risen to 22% during the last five years, while the poverty rate increased by 36% in the 2012-2016 period. The expert pointed out that Egypt is one of the countries affected most profoundly in the tourism sector. This is because tourism represents 6.5% of Egypt's GDP, and with auxiliary services related to tourism, this sector dominates around 12% of the GDP.” Muslim Brotherhood Garidaty: Egypt: Lawsuit Demanding Seizure Of "Muslim Brotherhood Towers" And Transferring Them To State Ownership “Mit Ghamr District Court in El Dakahleya today scheduled a session for January 18th, 2017 to review a lawsuit demanding governmental agencies' seizure of real estate properties owned by the Muslim Brotherhood, along with collection of general and sales taxes. The lawsuit claims that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization, thus demanding the appropriation of residential towers and lands it owns. Khaled Elbery, who filed the lawsuit, specified 26 properties allegedly owned by the group, and demanded their seizure. He also demanded the transfer of these assets to state ownership.” Gulfeyes: Yemen: UAE Accuses Muslim Brotherhood Factions Of Waging Fake Battles To Obtain Funds “Armed factions in Taiz, especially those belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, are suffering from the refusal by the UAE, a member of the Arab Alliance, to cooperate with them. The UAE has taken a public stance hostile to the Brotherhood. The country accused Brotherhood-affiliated factions of committing fraud in order to obtain funds. Media sources affiliated with the Saudi-backed Arab Alliance revealed that a senior Emirati officer, who is now in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, accused armed Muslim Brotherhood factions in Taiz of launching "phony" battles with the Yemeni army and the Houthis. The officer claimed these factions provide lists with fake names of militants in order to obtain the highest financing possible. Another source disclosed that, back in late October, the UAE had expressed doubts regarding the authenticity of lists it had received with the names of fighters. This drove the UAE to dispatch a special committee to check into this issue.” Houthi Alasema News: Houthi Leader Accused Of Stealing 3 Billion Riyals “Security sources in Yemen disclosed that a Houthi leader known as Abu Taha embezzled nearly three billion Yemeni Riyals ($ 12 million) in state funds. Abu Taha was in charge of managing the Houthis' finances. The money was stolen from revenues belonging to Yemen's Armed Forces. Abu Taha used the pretext that he would deliver the funds {owed} to merchants residing in Sana'a. However, to date he has not provided documents proving that he disbursed these large sums of money to the designated beneficiaries. This case is just one of many dubious transactions which have placed question marks on the Houthis' financial activities, ultimately aimed at strengthening their military capabilities. At the same time, the Houthis are refusing to disburse salaries to state employees, who have not been paid for four consecutive months.” Al-Qaeda Infirad: Mauritania denies cutting a deal with al-Qaeda “Mauritanian President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz denied that his government signed a non-aggression deal with al-Qaeda in 2010. He stressed that this is proven by the fact that Mauritania suffered terrorist attacks after 2010. He also dismissed rumors that Mauritania had paid $30 million to al-Qaeda in exchange for not being targeted. President Ould Abdel Aziz confirmed that what was published about the release of terrorist prisoners as part of the non-aggression pact with al-Qaeda is unfounded, explaining that the two terrorists mentioned in these reports are still in prisons in a remote location inside the country.”