Eye on Extremism - January 3, 2017

Eye on Extremism January 3, 2017 New York Times: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Istanbul Nightclub Attack “The Islamic State on Monday issued a rare claim of responsibility for an attack in Turkey after a New Year’s Day shooting at an Istanbul nightclub that killed at least 39 people, describing the gunman who carried out the assault — and who has not been identified or captured — as “a hero soldier of the caliphate.” The Turkish authorities are still searching for the gunman, who killed a police officer guarding the Reina nightclub before going on a shooting rampage with a rapid-fire rifle, but the state news media reported that eight suspects had been detained in connection with the attack.” BBC: Turkey Nightclub Attack: Arrests In Hunt For Gunman “Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said authorities had fingerprints and a basic description, and vowed to "speedily" identify the suspect. Some 600 revellers were in the Reina nightclub early on Sunday when the gunman attacked. There are some reports in Turkish media that the authorities know the man's identity but have not made it public. Police have released new images said to be of the suspect but have not yet named him. Turkish media reports quote police sources as saying he may have been from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan. Police are investigating whether the suspect belongs to an IS cell blamed for an attack in June on Ataturk airport in Istanbul.” Reuters: Gunman In Istanbul Nightclub Attack May Have Trained In Syria “The gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day in an attack claimed by Islamic State appears to have been well versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, a newspaper report and a security source said on Tuesday. The attacker, who remains at large, shot dead a police officer and a civilian at the entrance to the exclusive Reina nightclub on Sunday. He then opened fire with an automatic rifle inside, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground. In a statement claiming the attack on Monday, Islamic State described the club as a gathering point for Christians celebrating their "apostate holiday" and said the shooting was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.” NPR: Civilian Attack In Istanbul Marks Shift In Turkey-ISIS Dynamic “The Istanbul nightclub attack is the first time ISIS has claimed an attack on civilians in Turkey. In the past, Turkey turned a blind eye to ISIS. But now, it's increasingly becoming a political and security issue for Turkish authorities. Turkey has a very long border with Syria, and a lot of the jihadist fighters who came from the West, especially Europe, basically flew to Istanbul. And the border with Syria is just one bus stop away. Turkey also, for a very long time, turned a blind eye to jihadist infiltration to Syria on the grounds that some of these jihadists were just fighting a tyrannical regime, the regime of Bashar Assad.” New York Times: Suicide Bombins In Baghdad Kill At Least 36 “A suicide bomber detonated a pickup truck loaded with explosives on Monday in a busy Baghdad market, killing at least 36 people hours after President François Hollande of France arrived in the Iraqi capital. The Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attack. The bomb went off in a produce market that was packed with day laborers, a police officer said, adding that another 52 people were wounded. During a news conference with Mr. Hollande, Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s prime minister, said the suicide bomber had pretended to be a man seeking to hire day laborers. Once the workers gathered around, he detonated the vehicle.” Deutsche Welle: Syrian Warplanes Resume Strikes Near Damascus Amid Shaky Ceasefire “As the fragile Syrian ceasefire entered its third day on Sunday, Syrian government warplanes carried out several air strikes and ground-level clashes. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, jets bombed the villages of Kafr Kar, Mintar and around the town of Banan in the southern Aleppo countryside. Regime air strikes also hit the Wadi Barada region near Damascus, where the government says rebels last week deliberately targeted water infrastructure that supplies the capital.” Daily Mail: At Least Three People Dead After A Suicide Car Bomber Detonates An Explosives-Laden Vehicle At A Security Checkpoint In Somalia Outside The Main African Peacekeepers Base “A suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint in Somalia, killing at least three people. The car bomber detonated the bomb as security forces were searching cars at the checkpoint in the country's capital of Mogadishu, a few hundred metres from the main African peacekeepers (AMISOM) base. The checkpoint is also close to United Nations offices and the Peace Hotel, which is often frequented by foreigners and officials. The powerful blast blew roofs off nearby buildings. A second blast and heavy gunfire could also be heard at the checkpoint after the attack, but there were no immediate details.  Mohamed Ahmed, a police officer, told Reuters: 'So far we know three of the security forces died. We believe al Shabab is behind the attack.” The Times Of Israel: Egypt Destroys 12 Gaza Smuggling Tunnels “Egypt discovered and destroyed 12 smuggling tunnels linking the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian army said Monday. Egyptian army spokesman Tamer al-Rifae said that the tunnels, in the north of the Sinai, had been destroyed, though he did not specify when the demolitions were carried out. Earlier Monday, Hamas published a report in which it said that it had lost 21 members of its armed forces while digging tunnels under the Gaza Strip in 2016, some of them to Egypt and some into Israel.” BBC: Israel Will No Longer Return Bodies Of Palestinian Hamas Militants “Israel will not return the bodies of Palestinian militants to their families, but will bury them instead, officials said. Israel said it was taking measures to ensure the return of Israeli remains from Palestinian territory. But the country's security cabinet announced the move after the release of mocking videos from the armed wing of Hamas. The decision will now become a permanent change in policy, it said. The two video clips published by the Hamas military wing show a mock birthday for Oron Shaul, who Israel said was killed during the Gaza War in 2014. In one, his face has been digitally inserted over someone else's body, bound and in army fatigues. He is visited by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a clown's costume, who blows out the candles on a birthday cake.” The Australian: Kuwait Files Terrorism Charges Against Australian Extremist “Kuwait has filed charges against a former Sydney extremist accused of being a key player in a major arms smuggling syndicate aimed at supplying Islamic State with surface-to-air missiles. The Australian last year revealed the NSW Supreme Court ordered more than $500,000 be seized by the Australian Federal Police from the accounts of Hicham Zahab, his wife Aminah, son Muhammad and daughter-in-law Mariam Raad under proceeds of crime laws. At least one, if not all four, is suspected to be in Syria. The AFP suspected the family of "using international travel cards and a computer consulting company based in the Middle East to remit funds out of Australia for the use and benefit of Islamic State.” Associated Press: Boko Haram Leader Says Violent Campaign Continues “Boko Haram's leader has declared in a new video that he is alive, denying Nigerian government claims that his Islamic extremist group has been crushed. President Muhammadu Buhari said last week that soldiers had driven Boko Haram from its last forest enclave in the northeast, boasting ‘the terrorists are on the run, and no longer have a place to hide.’ In a video posted on YouTube, Abubakar Shekau announced: ‘I am here, well and alive’ and that ‘the battle is just beginning.’ He urged his followers, in graphic terms, to continue the campaign. Nigeria's military has claimed to have killed Shekau at least three times, and earlier this year declared he had been fatally wounded. This week, the army said it seized Shekau's Quran in the Sambisa Forest assault — wanting to indicate he was on the run.” The Guardian: ISIS Would Use Chemical Weapons In Attack On UK, Says Minister “Islamic State wants to carry out a mass casualty attack in Britain and has ‘no moral barrier’ to using chemical weapons, a minister has said. The security minister Ben Wallace said there were reports of Isis using chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq, where it controls large areas, and that Moroccan authorities had apprehended a cell in February which was harbouring substances that could be used to make either a bomb or a ‘deadly toxin’. He also pointed to a recent Europol report that warned of the chemical threat and the potential realisation of ‘everybody’s worst fear’.” United States Reuters: U.S.-Led Strikes In Iraq, Syria Have Killed At Least 188 Civilians: U.S. Military “At least 188 civilians have been killed in U.S.-led strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria since the operation began in 2014, the U.S. military said in a statement on Monday. The Combined Joint Task Force, in its monthly assessment of civilian casualties from the U.S. coalition's operations against the militant group, said it was still assessing five reports of unintentional deaths from four strikes in 2016 and one from 2015. The military's overall estimate was far below those of other outside groups, such as Air Wars, which monitors civilian deaths from international air strikes in the region. The group has estimated about 2,100 civilians have been killed in Iraq and Syria since the coalition's campaign started. U.S. military officials expressed regret for the deaths.” Associated Press: US General Praises Iraqi Forces Fighting In Mosul “A senior U.S. military commander on Sunday praised Iraqi forces fighting to recapture the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State group, saying they were ‘at their peak’ and adjusting well to changing realities on the battlefield. Brig. Gen. Rick Uribe told The Associated Press he agrees with the forecast given by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that it would take another three months to liberate Mosul, the last Iraqi urban center still in the hands of the extremist group. ‘We are on pretty close to where we want to be,’ Uribe said, adding that military planners knew that while the initial push toward the city would be quick, progress would become ‘significantly’ slower on the city's fringes. Speaking in Irbil, capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Uribe said Iraqi forces north and south of Mosul have made progress since a new advance was launched last week after a two-week lull in fighting.” Syria The New York Times: U.N. Encourages, But Stops Short Of Endorsing, Syria Cease-Fire “The United Nations Security Council on Saturday unanimously endorsed a resolution encouraging a new cease-fire in the war in Syria, adding international support for an agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey that has been in force for two days. The resolution called for ‘rapid, safe and unhindered’ access for the delivery of humanitarian aid, but stopped short of officially endorsing the truce. Language referring to an endorsement was removed from the text before the final vote because Western powers wanted to clarify the role of the United Nations in the agreement. The cease-fire was announced by Russia on Thursday and is supposed to stop the fighting between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and the rebels seeking his ouster. The truce was arranged in preparation for peace talks next month in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.” Turkey BBC: Syria Conflict: UN Welcomes Russia-Turkey Truce Efforts “The UN Security Council has voted to back efforts by Russia and Turkey to end fighting in Syria and plans for fresh peace talks next month. The resolution, drafted by Russia, also calls for rapid access for humanitarian aid to be delivered across the country. Turkey and Russia led a ceasefire deal that has mostly held since Thursday. The resolution helps pave the way for talks in Kazakhstan between the Syrian government and opposition, which have the backing of Russia, Iran and Turkey.” The New York Times: Nightclub Massacre In Istanbul Exposes Turkey’s Deepening Fault Lines “When a lone gunman murdered dozens of New Year’s revelers early Sunday, he targeted a symbol of a cosmopolitan Istanbul that is increasingly under threat: a dazzling nightclub where people from around the world could party together, free from the mayhem and violence gripping the region. It was there, at the Reina nightclub on the Bosporus — a hot spot for soap opera stars and professional athletes, Turks and well-heeled tourists — that those hoping to move past a particularly troubled year died together. The assault was the second in two weeks in Turkey, and it further exposed the fault lines in a country that is increasingly tearing apart amid terrorist attacks and political instability.” CNN: Istanbul Attack: Dozens Killed At Turkish Nightclub, Official Says “At least 39 people were killed and at least 69 wounded in an attack in a nightclub early Sunday as they were celebrating the new year, Turkey's Interior Minister said. ‘We are face to face with a terror attack,’ Interior minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters. Twenty-one of the dead have been identified, he said. Of those, 16 were foreign nationals and five were Turkish. US officials also called it a terrorist attack, making it the first of 2017. Soylu also said that ‘the efforts to locate the terrorist are ongoing. Security forces have begun the necessary operations. God willing soon (the attacker) will be apprehended.’ Around 1:15 a.m. Sunday, the gunman shot a police officer who was guarding the front gate at the Reina nightclub, killing him, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said.” Reuters: Turkish Military Says 18 Islamic State Militants Killed In Clashes In Syria “Turkey's military, backing Syrian rebels in a four-month-old operation against Islamic State militants in northern Syria, said on Tuesday that 18 of the jihadists had been killed and 37 wounded in clashes and artillery fire on Monday. In a round-up of its operations over the past 24 hours, the army said its warplanes destroyed four Islamic State targets and Russian aircraft hit jihadists in Dayr Kak, 8 km (5 miles) southwest of the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab.” Afghanistan Reuters: Afghan Minister Suspended Over Phone Tax Investigation “Afghan President Ashraf Ghani suspended his minister for telecommunications and information technology on Monday while he is investigated over a levy on mobile telephone charges, officials said. The removal of Communications Minister Abdul Razaq Wahidi adds to a lingering political crisis in Afghanistan, heightened in November when parliament passed no confidence votes against a number of ministers over poor performance and budgetary issues. Yasin Sameem, a spokesman for the communications ministry, said the decision to suspend Wahidi was taken after an audit into the collection of a 10 percent tax on mobile phone topups imposed in 2015.” Sputnik News: Afghan Security Forces Eliminate 26 Taliban Militants During Operation - Reports “Afghanistan's security forces have conducted a clearance operation in the northern country's province of Faryab, killing 26 Taliban militants, local media reported citing local officials on Monday. The security forces have advanced in Faryab and killed at least 26 Taliban militants during the operation, though the militant group had reportedly rejected the claims of the officials about the scale of casualties, the Tolo News media outlet reported. Afghanistan is suffering from the activity of the Taliban, a militant group seeking to establish a strict Sharia law in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” Egypt Reuters: Roadside Bomb Kills Police Officer, Soldier In Egypt “A police officer and a soldier were killed by a roadside bomb in Egypt's northern Sinai peninsula on Saturday, security sources said. The bomb was detonated remotely when the victims' armored vehicle passed by during a security operation, the sources said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai has gained pace since the military toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against him. The militant group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 and adopted the name Sinai Province. It is blamed for killing hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police since then.” Reuters: Egypt Hands Over Remains Of Air Crash Victims “Egypt began on Saturday handing over to their families the bodies of those who died when EgyptAir flight MS804 crashed into the Mediterranean in May with the loss of 66 passengers and crew, the state news agency MENA reported. The remains of crew members were handed over on Saturday, with the handover of Egyptian, French and other foreign passengers expected to begin on Sunday. Among those who died when the Airbus A320 went down during its flight from Paris to Cairo were 40 Egyptians and 15 French nationals. Egyptian investigators said earlier this month that traces of explosives had been found on the remains of victims, but French investigators said it was not possible at that stage to draw conclusions about what might have caused the crash.” Reuters: Egypt Court Backs Government In Red Sea Islands Dispute “An Egyptian appeals court on Saturday upheld an agreement to give control of two islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, providing a boost for the government in a case that has prompted rare street protests. The territorial deal, announced in April, caused public uproar among many Egyptians who said the uninhabited islands of Tiran and Sanafir belonged to their country. The case has become a source of tension with Saudi Arabia, which has provided billions of dollars of aid to Egypt but recently halted fuel shipments amid deteriorating relations. Last week, the Egyptian government approved the deal to hand over the islands and sent it to parliament for ratification, despite the legal dispute over the plan.” Libya Reuters: Deputy Leader Of Libya's U.N.-Backed Government Resigns “A deputy leader of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) announced his resignation on Monday, saying the U.N.-backed administration had failed to tackle urgent problems arising from years of conflict and political disarray. The resignation of Musa al-Koni casts doubt on the future of the government in its current form, just over a year after it was launched under a U.N.-mediated deal that had only partial support from Libya's rival factions. Western powers backed the GNA to tackle Islamic State, boost Libya's oil production, and help stem the flow of sub-Saharan migrants from Libya to Europe.” United Kingdom Daily Mail: British Man Who Joined Kurdish Forces To Fight Against ISIS Is Killed In Northern Syria During Battle To Recapture Raqqa  “A British chef who flew to Syria to fight ISIS was killed during a gun battle just before Christmas, Kurdish activists claim.  Ryan Lock, from Chichester, died during an offensive by anti-Islamic State forces near Raqqa in northern Syria on December 21. The 20-year-old, who had no military background, flew to Rojava to join the Kurdish People’s Defence Units (YPG) last August. He told friends and family he was going to Turkey on holiday, but in a Facebook status admitted he was actually flying to Syria to join Kurdish militia.” Germany Associated Press: Syrian Arrested In Germany Over Alleged IS Attack Plan “A Syrian man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of seeking 180,000 euros ($190,000) from the Islamic State group to buy vehicles that he intended to use for one or several bomb attacks, authorities said Monday. The 38-year-old, who came to Germany in late 2014 as an asylum-seeker, was arrested on Saturday in Saarbruecken, close to the French border. He is accused of collecting money to be used by him or someone else to carry out murder. Prosecutors accuse him of contacting someone in Syria ‘who he knew was in a position to obtain IS money for terror financing’ last month via the Telegram encrypted communication service. The suspect allegedly asked for 180,000 euros so that he could buy and repaint vehicles that he intended to fit out with explosives before driving them into crowds.” USA Today: Germany Detains North African Men To Avoid Repeat Of New Year's Sexual Assaults “German police said Sunday they screened hundreds of mostly North African men at Cologne’s main rail station on New Year’s Eve to prevent a repeat of sexual assaults and robberies on the holiday a year earlier. Police also installed video surveillance equipment to monitor the square outside the railway station, to scrutinize people headed to celebrations in the city center. ‘This was clearly about preventing similar incidents to last year,’ Cologne Police Chief Juergen Mathies said at a news conference. Nearly all the 650 people detained for screening were from North African countries, police said, because suspects a year earlier were described as having a North African or Arab appearance.” Deutsche Welle: Germany Counts Down To 2017 Amid Heightened Security “After a year marked by a series of terror attacks, and parliamentary elections looming in 2017, people in Germany are ringing in the New Year with a certain sense of caution. Deutsche Welle's Dana Regev, reporting from Cologne which is in the spotlight this year following mass assaults and sexual crimes against women last New Year's Eve, wrote on Twitter early in the evening that hundreds of people had already started gathering to watch the light installation outside the city's famous cathedral. ‘That's my city,’ one reveler said, adding ‘and I love it.’ In Berlin, where days ago 12 people were killed and dozens wounded in a truck attack on a Christmas market, security forces set up barricades at landmarks where crowds were expected to gather, such as Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate.” BBC: Merkel: Islamist Terror Is 'Greatest Threat' To Germany “Islamist terrorism is the biggest challenge facing Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said in her New Year message. Referring to the deadly truck attack in Berlin by a Tunisian asylum seeker, she said it was ‘sickening’ when acts of terror were carried out by people who had sought protection. She said 2016 had been a year of ‘severe tests’. But she also said she was confident Germany could overcome them. Earlier in the year, a teenage Afghan refugee wounded five people in an axe attack on a train in Wuerzburg and a Syrian whose asylum application had been refused blew himself up outside a bar in Ansbach, wounding 15 other people. The attacks have led to some criticism of Mrs Merkel's policy of admitting more than a million refugees and migrants in 2015.” France BBC: Francois Hollande: Fighting IS In Iraq Prevents Terrorism In France “French President Francois Hollande has met French soldiers in Iraq and told them their work against so-called Islamic State (IS) is helping to prevent terrorism at home. Mr Hollande is due to discuss the anti-IS fight with senior Iraqi officials. He is the most prominent head of state to visit Iraq since a US-led 60-member coalition began air strikes against IS. France's defence ministry says its aircraft have destroyed more than 1,700 targets since joining in 2014. As part of the coalition there are 500 French soldiers in Iraq, advising local forces.” The Jerusalem Post: 'ISIS Seeking To Launch Mass-Casualty Chemical Attacks In Europe' “Islamic State militants have aspirations to launch mass-casualty chemical attacks on targets in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, the British security minister said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday. Ben Wallace also said British authorities feared that as the militant group was driven out of strongholds in the Middle East such as the Iraqi city of Mosul, Britons fighting for the group would return home and pose a growing domestic threat. The report said no specific chemical plot had been identified but security services had been carrying out exercises to prepare for the possibility. Islamic State used sulfur mustard gas in an attack on the Syrian town of Marea in August 2015, according to global watchdog the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.” ISIS Mashreq News: ISIS In Sinai Imposes Restrictions On Trucks Carrying Goods To The Gaza Strip “Informed sources {in Sinai} disclosed that the smuggling of Egyptian goods, especially cigarettes, through tunnels into the Gaza Strip is facing enormous hurdles. This is due to the imposition, by ISIS in Sinai, of harsh limitations, including cutting off roads to trucks carrying goods. The same sources confirmed that members of the Jihadist organization recently told tunnel owners to stop smuggling certain goods into the Gaza Strip, especially cigarettes. They also threatened to harm anyone disobeying their orders. Some sources claimed that ISIS in Sinai recently confiscated cigarettes and destroyed them. Meanwhile, ISIS militants have started pursuing trucks headed for the Palestinian town of Rafah, forcing drivers to take a detour and use bumpy roads.” Counter-Terrorism Elfagr: Kuwait: Draft Law To Create Special Agency To Fight Terrorism And Extremism “Kuwaiti parliamentary sources revealed that "several members of Parliament will submit a proposal for a law to create a special entity to fight terrorism and extremism, which will be separate from the State Security {Agency}. This draft law comes in response to the spread of terrorist acts at the regional and international levels, which requires strengthening the internal front and prosecuting terrorists and those who adopt extremist ideology." The sources added that "the new agency will enjoy legal status and will be directly overseen by the Deputy Prime Minister in his capacity as Interior Minister. The major goals of the {proposed} agency will be to crack down on extremists, monitor terrorist operations, and trace terrorists' funding sources in order to dry them up.” Muslim Brotherhood The Seventh Day: Egypt: Member Of Muslim Brotherhood's International Organization Detained In Possession Of Reconnaissance Drone “The Supreme State Security Prosecution, headed by First Attorney General Khaled Diaa, ordered the detention of a [female] member of the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood for 15 days pending investigation. She was apprehended upon arrival from Turkey, in possession of a reconnaissance drone. Informed sources revealed that the accused member, named Reem Qutub Bassiouney Jbara, is employed by the Qatari "Al Jazeera" TV channel. The sources added that she had been trained to operate the spy drone and was supposed to use it to document events {in Egypt} and then to send the images to the Doha-based channel.” Veto: Egypt: Postponement Of A Lawsuit To Halt Decision To Ban Muslim Brotherhood Society And Appropriate Its Funds “The Second Circuit Court of the Administrative Court at the State Council, headed by Judge Sami Abdel Hamid, Deputy Chairman of the State Council Club, ruled to postpone to February 26th a lawsuit filed by Muslim Brotherhood legal representative, Osman Anani. The court demanded the suspension of implementation of the Prime Minister's decision, issued on October 2nd, 2013, to form the Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee. This was based on an earlier ruling issued by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters on September 23rd, 2013 to ban the Brotherhood. The lawsuit claimed that the Court of Urgent Matters, which issued the ban against the group, was not competent to handle this case.” Elwehda: Egyptian Parliament Rejects New Government Draft Bill On Seizure Of Brotherhood Funds “The Legislative Committee of the Egyptian Parliament rejected, during its Sunday evening session, a draft law submitted by the government on the formation of a judiciary committee to seize, manage and utilize funds belonging to terrorist groups and entities and those affiliated with them. The Legislative Committee explained that the draft law violates the constitution, adding that existing laws already deal with procedures to appropriate funds belonging to these entities. The parliamentary committee agreed with the decision to reject the law by the legislative department at the State Council (a judicial body) which, in its response to Parliament, underscored that "the government's draft law violates the constitution. The State Council has ruled that the new law basically aims to expedite the confiscation of funds owned by the Muslim Brotherhood." Bahaa Eddin Abu Shaqa, head of parliament's Legislative Committee, explained that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued two laws in 2015 outlining measures to seize funds belonging to terrorist entities. These laws also determine the bodies entrusted to manage these funds.” Bwabtk: Egypt: Custody Of Brotherhood Business Leader Hassan Malek Remanded For The 13th Time “The appeals judge in the Egyptian Giza Criminal Court on Sunday remanded in custody, for the thirteenth time, Brotherhood businessman Hassan Malek, for 45 days, pending further investigation. Malek has denied in court all charges against him, including participating in demonstrations against the "June 30th Revolution" or financing them. He also denied plotting to harm the Egyptian economy, pointing out that his money was impounded by the Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee.” Albawabh News: Expert Reveals Sources Of Funding For Muslim Brotherhood Demonstrations In Egypt “Mukhtar Noah, a dissident Brotherhood leader, said that all the money spent by the Muslim Brotherhood on propaganda campaigns abroad, intended to tarnish the image of the Egyptian state, come from the wealth of the Muslim Brotherhood's Deputy Supreme Guide, Khayrat al-Shater. Noah explained that the group uses revenues from real estate companies and {other} funds inside Egypt, to send them abroad for its activities. Noah claimed that there are other funds which originate from Qatar, Turkey and the United States. These supplement the wealth of al-Shater, who assigned certain individuals to manage his finances. The funds are used for several purposes, including paying salaries and allowances to some of the group's leaders, financing TV channels abroad and publicity for the group in foreign newspapers and magazines. Noah asserted that Brotherhood members do not know the exact sums of money being spent on foreign propaganda. This information is known only to al-Shater and a handful of his closest associates.” Houthi Gulfeyes: Houthi-Controlled Prosecution In Sanaa Orders Banks To Seize Assets Of Yemeni President And His Advisers “An official document confirms that the Houthi group issued a decision to seize all the assets belonging to Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and several senior officials. The Criminal Prosecution, under the control of the Houthis and ousted president Ali Saleh, ordered the confiscation of all assets and banking accounts owned by Hadi, several of his advisers and heads of Yemeni political parties. According to the memorandum, the Prosecutor ordered banks to seize all their assets and accounts and to bar {their owners from} using them.” Nshr News: Yemen: Houthis Raid Medical Center And Loot Its Contents “Local sources disclosed that militias affiliated with the Houthis and ousted Yemeni president Ali Saleh stormed a medical center, located in downtown Ibb city. Militants looted all the contents and money they found there. The sources added that the medical center is owned by Dr. Abdul Karim Munasar, an Ibb-based bone specialist, who joined the Houthi group prior to 2011. The sources revealed that this incident seems to be related to internal Houthi disputes, mainly financial in nature. Meanwhile, other local sources attributed the raid to Dr. Abdul Karim's attempt to get closer to the new local Houthi leaders who appear to be gaining influence and control.”