Eye on Extremism - March 28, 2016

Eye on Extremism March 28, 2016 The New York Times: Tensions Erupt In Brussels, And Police In 4 Countries Make Arrests “The police in at least four countries arrested new suspects during the weekend in the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks, as memorials in central Brussels to the victims of Tuesday’s bombings were briefly overrun by hooligans. Angry protesters gathered near the Brussels stock exchange on Sunday. Chanting ‘Belgie barst’ — or ‘Break up Belgium,’ a Flemish slogan used by one of Belgium’s nationalist far-right parties — they brandished flares and threw water bottles at peaceful demonstrators who were holding banners proclaiming unity. The police used water cannons to drive back the far-right protesters, and the square was reopened after the brief clash. The episode, however, was a reminder of the tension in the city after the terrorist attacks that killed 31 victims, and of the anger fueling far-right parties here and around Europe who want to sharply limit immigration.” Wall Street Journal: Senior Islamic State Leader Killed “Islamic State suffered its second big loss in a month as American commandos killed one of its founders, U.S. officials said, adding to pressure on the core leadership at a time when the extremist group is expanding outside the Middle East. Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli was described by U.S. officials Friday as a top finance official for Islamic State and very close to the leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The death comes on the heels of an airstrike this month that the Pentagon says killed Abu Omar al-Shishani, a red-bearded Chechen who filled the role of war minister and was almost mythical among the militant fighters.” Reuters: Suicide Bomber Targeting Christians Kills 65, Mostly Women And Children, In Pakistan Park “A suicide bomber killed at least 65 people, mostly women and children, at a park in Lahore on Sunday in an attack claimed by a Pakistani Taliban faction which said it had targeted Christians. More than 300 other people were wounded, officials said. The explosion occurred in the parking area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park close to children's swings. The park is a popular site for members of Lahore's Christian community, many of whom had gone there to celebrate the Easter weekend holiday. Witnesses said they saw body parts strewn across the parking lot once the dust had settled after the blast.” NBC News: ISIS Soccer Game Suicide Bomb Kills At Least 26 In Iraq “The United States has condemned a ‘cowardly’ suicide attack that targeted a crowd at a soccer game near Baghdad, killing at least 26 people and wounding 71. The blast rocked Iskandariya, a mixed Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim town 25 miles south of the capital, at about 7:15 p.m. (1:15 p.m. ET) Friday at the end of an amateur game, regional security chief Falah al-Khafaji told Reuters. ISIS militants, who control swathes of territory in Iraq's north and west, were behind the attack, according to the Amaq news agency which is affiliated with the group. An apparent escalation of large bombings targeting areas outside Islamic State's primary control suggests that Iraqi government forces may be stretched thin after recent gains against the group in the western and northern provinces.” Reuters: Islamic State Driven Out Of Syria's Ancient Palmyra City “Syrian government forces backed by heavy Russian air support drove Islamic State out of Palmyra on Sunday, inflicting what the army called a mortal blow to militants who seized the city last year and dynamited its ancient temples. The loss of Palmyra represents one of the biggest setbacks for the ultra-hardline Islamist group since it declared a caliphate in 2014 across large parts of Syria and Iraq. The army general command said that its forces took over the city with support from Russian and Syrian air strikes, opening up the huge expanse of desert leading east to the Islamic State strongholds of Raqqa and Deir al-Zor.” The Jerusalem Post: ISIS Branch In Egypt's Sinai Planning Big Operation In Southern Israel “The ISIS affiliate in Egypt's Sinai peninsula plans to carry out a ‘big operation’ in southern Israel, which will include an attack on the resort city of Eilat, a militant close to the group warned. In an interview set to air Sunday on Aaron Klein Investigative Radio, a weekend radio show broadcast on New York’s AM 970 The Answer and NewsTalk 990 AM in Philadelphia, Abu al-Ayna al-Ansari, a Salafist movement senior official in the Gaza Strip, said that Israel and the US are among Islamic State's chief targets. ‘The Islamic State educates its people that Israel and the United States are the leaders of the infidels and we believe that Israel should be disappeared,’ Ansari told Klein. He said that Wilayat Sinai, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State, ‘will be the pioneers in this confrontation with Israel.’ Ansari vowed that ‘it is only a question of time when there will be a big operation in Eilat and in the south of Israel.’” The National: ISIL Has Its Eyes On Al Qaeda’s Global Network “Is ISIL really shifting its focus towards terrorist attacks abroad to compensate for its military losses in Iraq and Syria? This theory became popular in media and policy circles after the Paris attacks in November, and resurfaced last week after the strikes on the airport and metro in Belgium. ISIL undoubtedly wants to increase its foreign attacks because it has suffered a long series of military losses over the past 12 months since its defeat in Tikrit. But those who see the development as anything but part of the organisation’s evolution are missing the mark.” BBC: 'Suicide bomber' Claims To Be Missing Nigeria Schoolgirl “Authorities in Cameroon and Nigeria are investigating a claim from a would-be suicide bomber that she was one of a group of schoolgirls abducted in 2014. The Nigerian government is sending parents to Cameroon to attempt to identify the girl. She told investigators in Cameroon she was one of 270 kidnapped in Chibok by jihadist group Boko Haram. The abductions sparked international outrage and the #bringbackourgirls social media campaign. While about 50 of the girls managed to escape, 219 of these girls remain missing. They were taken by the militants from the Chibok community in northeastern Nigeria.” New York Times: Who Will Become A Terrorist? Research Yields Few Clues “The brothers who carried out suicide bombings in Brussels last week had long, violent criminal records and had been regarded internationally as potential terrorists. But in San Bernardino, Calif., last year, one of the attackers was a county health inspector who lived a life of apparent suburban normality. And then there are the dozens of other young American men and women who have been arrested over the past year for trying to help the Islamic State. Their backgrounds are so diverse that they defy a single profile.” The Hill: FBI Reversal In Apple Fight Draws Critics' Ire “The FBI’s last-minute decision to press pause in their legal fight with Apple over the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone is roiling the agency's critics who accuse it of acting disingenuously. For weeks, critics pressed the FBI on whether it tried hard enough to hack into the device on its own, before it sought a court order to force Apple to help. Then on Monday, the FBI unexpectedly asked to cancel the first hearing in the case, saying it may have found a way in without the help of the company’s engineers. The eleventh-hour shift gave new ammunition to critics who argued that the agency’s focus was on setting a precedent on encrypted communications, not investigating shooter Syed Rizwan Farook’s device. Others see the move as evidence of a possible solution to the broader debate: They say companies don’t need to build ‘backdoors’ to their products; the FBI simply needs to get better at hacking.” United States CBS News: John Kerry Issues Warning To Traveling Americans “In the wake of terror attacks in Brussels that killed dozens last week, Secretary of State John Kerry said Americans don't need to ‘live in fear’ while traveling abroad, but at the same time cautioned that Americans can and must be ‘vigilant.’ ‘Well it's really a matter of common sense, but there are guidelines and the State Department is ready to help anyone understand exactly what that means,’ he said Saturday in an interview for CBS' ‘Face the Nation,’ asked to explain how and whether American travelers should adjust their plans after the attacks. Kerry had just returned from Brussels, where he traveled Friday morning following the attacks. ‘It means avoid a crowded place where you have no control over who may be there, have a sense of vigilance to watch who's around you,’ he continued. ‘If you see a guy walking into an airport with a black glove in one hand and nothing on the other and there are two of them the same way and they are pushing a big suitcase, maybe that tells you something.’ When moderator John Dickerson responded that that doesn't sound like ‘much of a vacation,’ Kerry said ‘unfortunately’ the current state of the world requires people to be ‘vigilant.’” Syria BBC: Syria Civil War: Assad Hails Palmyra Recapture From IS “President Bashar al-Assad has hailed the recapture of Palmyra from so-called Islamic State (IS) as an ‘important achievement’ in the ‘war on terrorism’. A monitoring group has backed the Syrian government's claim that the city was recaptured overnight by the army. Military sources say the Syrian army now has ‘full control’ after days of fighting backed by Russian air strikes. Meanwhile, Syria's antiquities chief said the damage to the ancient city was less than previously feared. Palmyra is situated in a strategically important area on the road between the capital, Damascus, and the contested eastern city of Deir al-Zour. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said at least 400 IS fighters were killed in the battle for Palmyra.” The Los Angeles Times: In Syria, Militias Armed By The Pentagon Fight Those Armed By The CIA “Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in the bitter five-year-old civil war. The fighting has intensified over the last two months, as CIA-armed units and Pentagon-armed ones have repeatedly shot at each other while maneuvering through contested territory on the northern outskirts of Aleppo, U.S. officials and rebel leaders have confirmed. In mid-February, a CIA-armed militia called Fursan al Haq, or Knights of Righteousness, was run out of the town of Marea, about 20 miles north of Aleppo, by Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces moving in from Kurdish-controlled areas to the east.” Iraq CBS News: ISIS Attacks Iraqi Base Housing U.S. Military Personnel “The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, attacked an air base in Iraq that houses U.S. military personnel, the Pentagon said Saturday. The Pentagon said no service members in the coalition fighting ISIS were affected by the attack at the Ayn al-Assad Air Base. Citing Iraqi officials, a U.S. military official said that between three and four fighters wearing explosive vests were killed in the attack, CBS Radio News correspondent Cami McCormick reports. The official said there were no casualties in the attack, McCormick reports.” Reuters: Iraqi Christians Fear Extinction, See No Relief From Islamic State “Iraqi Christians gathered in Baghdad this weekend to mark Easter but celebrations were tempered by fears Islamic State would eradicate their shrinking community, even as the army launched a U.S.-backed offensive to retake Mosul, their ancestral homeland. In mid-2014, Christians in Mosul were forced to flee when Islamic State seized the northern city and began destroying centuries-old religious sites, ending a presence that once numbered in the tens of thousands and dates back to Christianity's earliest years. U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched an offensive against Islamic State last week touted as the beginning of a broader campaign to clear areas around Mosul, though progress has been slow. Like millions of other Iraqis forced to leave home by the jihadist group's seizure of a third of the country, members of the Christian minority have moved from northern towns and villages to the capital or other cities, and many have joined the masses fleeing to Europe. Their numbers have fallen to a few hundred thousand from about 1.5 million before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.” Reuters: Iraq's Sadr Begins Sit-In Inside Green Zone To Push For Reforms “Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr entered Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily-fortified center of the capital housing government buildings and embassies, on Sunday to keep up pressure on the government to enact reforms. Thousands of Sadr's supporters began a sit-in at the district's gates more than a week ago and continued to camp out despite heavy rains earlier in the day, but Sadr took the protest forward by entering the zone itself. Sadr is urging Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to move ahead with a plan announced more than six weeks ago to replace current ministers with unaffiliated technocrats in a bid to tackle systemic political patronage that has abetted graft.” Turkey Reuters: Turkish Soldier Killed In Northern Iraq After Islamic State Fires Rockets: Army “A Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded in northern Iraq on Saturday when rockets fired by Islamic State during clashes with Iraqi Kurdish fighters landed in a base where Turkish troops were deployed, the army said. NATO member Turkey, part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, sent troops to northern Iraq in December, citing heightened security risks near Bashiqa, where its soldiers have been training an Iraqi militia to fight Islamist militants. Baghdad objected to the Turkish deployment.‘Islamic State targets identified in the region have been shot back at,’ the Turkish military said in a statement. Hurriyet newspaper quoted a later statement saying the army has fired artillery from the camp on Islamic State targets while additional targets have been struck by Turkish warplanes and jets from the U.S.-led coalition.” The Wall Street Journal: Turkish President Faces A Cool Reception In U.S. Visit “When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last traveled to Washington, for a state visit in 2013, President Barack Obama praised him for launching peace talks with Kurdish separatists and leading his country into a new era of economic prosperity. Mr. Erdogan can expect a very different reception when he returns this week for the Nuclear Security Summit. Mr. Obama has turned down Mr. Erdogan’s request to join him for the inauguration of a Turkish-funded mosque in Maryland, and the U.S. president has no plans for a formal one-on-one meeting with his Turkish counterpart, who is a vital ally in the fight against Islamic State, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal. Senior U.S. administration officials said the decision not to meet Mr. Erdogan while he is in Washington shouldn’t be taken as a slight because the two presidents met in November at the Group of 20 summit in Turkey, and spoke by phone in February.” The Washington Post: The Mass Migration Of Refugees From Turkey To Greece Has Stalled “The once-great wave of refugees motoring in cheap rubber rafts across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek islands has suddenly become a ripple. Where thousands arrived in a day, now hundreds — and some days far fewer — splash onto the Greek shores from Turkey, a possible sign that the largest mass migration of the 21st century is slowing or that refugees are changing course as Europe scrambles to erect new barriers. Migration officials and aid workers said that rough seas in recent days may be responsible for the dramatic reduction and that the pebble beaches of Lesbos, Chios and Samos could again see hundreds of boats a day arriving as they did earlier this year.” Afghanistan The Washington Post: Taliban Splinter Group Claims Attack On Christians At Pakistan Park; 60 Dead “A suicide blast claimed by Islamist militants ripped through crowds of families celebrating Easter at a park in the city of Lahore on Sunday, killing at least 60 people and injuring an additional 300 in an attack the jihadists said had deliberately targeted Christians. The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber in the parking lot of Gulshan e-Iqbal Park about 6:30 in the evening, transforming a joyful scene of picnicking families into a spectacle of chaos and horror. Many children were among the dead, local officials said. A spokesman for the Jamaat ul-Ahrar militant group, which is an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, asserted responsibility in a telephone interview Sunday.” Associated Press: Afghan Official Says Taliban Gun Down Provincial Judge “An Afghan official says insurgents have killed the top judge on a provincial appeals court. Jawed Salangi, spokesman for the governor of the eastern Ghazni province, said Sunday that Mohammad Anwar was ambushed and shot while in neighboring Wardak province the day before. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing in an email sent to reporters. Insurgent attacks on Afghan security forces and officials have intensified across the country in the past year.” Yemen Reuters: Suspected U.S. Air Strikes In Yemen Kill 14 militants: Residents, Medics “Air raids killed 14 men suspected of belonging to al Qaeda in southern Yemen on Sunday, medics and local residents said, in one of the largest U.S.-led assaults on the group since a civil war broke out a year ago. The air strikes took place as fresh signs emerged that tensions were easing between the Iran-allied Houthis who control most of northern Yemen and Saudi-led forces after a year of fighting that has killed more than 6,200 people. Residents in southern Yemen said an aircraft bombed buildings used by al Qaeda in the southern coastal Abyan province and destroyed a government intelligence headquarters in the provincial capital Zinjibar that the militants had captured and were using as a base. Medics said six people were killed. Earlier on Sunday a suspected U.S. drone attack killed eight militants gathered in courtyards in the villages of al-Hudhn and Naqeel al-Hayala in Abyan, residents told Reuters by phone. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has taken advantage of a war pitting the Houthis against forces loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to seize territory and operate more openly." Reuters: Houthis Swap Prisoners With Saudi Arabia: Spokesman “Yemen's Houthi movement said on Sunday it had exchanged prisoners with its foe Saudi Arabia as a first step toward ending a humanitarian crisis prompted by a year-long conflict that has killed at least 6,000 people. ‘A first step of understanding and respect for the humanitarian aspect [of the conflict] was the exchange of prisoners today,’ Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam said in a statement. The Houthis had handed over nine Saudi prisoners in exchange for 100 of their own fighters, he said. Riyadh and a coalition of Arab states entered Yemen's civil war a year ago in an attempt to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted him from power.” Egypt The Jerusalem Post: Hamas, Egypt To Restart Talks Over Ending Crisis “Hamas and Egypt are scheduled to resume discussions on Monday over ways of ending the crisis between the two sides – one that could lead to the reopening of the Rafah border crossing. The discussions between the two sides resumed earlier this month, days after Egyptian Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar accused Hamas of helping the Muslim Brotherhood kill attorney-general Hisham Barakat. Hamas leaders have strongly denied any involvement in the assassination, which took place June 2015. A senior Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo on Sunday evening, according to Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan. He said the delegation members would hold talks with officials from Egypt’s General Intelligence, the Mukhabarat. The delegation consists of Hamas officials Mahmoud Zahar, Khalil Al-Haya, Emad Al-Alami, Nizar Awadallah and Maher Obeid. On the eve of the second visit to Cairo, Zahar denied that the Egyptians had asked his movement to help the Egyptian army in the fight against Muslim extremists in Sinai. Zahar said the Hamas team’s visit to Cairo came as part of the movement’s desire to improve its relations with Egypt. He said the Egyptians have expressed readiness to ‘open a new page’ in their ties with Hamas.” Middle East NBC News: Soldier's Shooting Of Palestinian Sets Off Uproar In Israel “Amateur video appearing to show an Israeli soldier killing an already wounded Palestinian attacker sparked uproar in Israel on Sunday, reflecting the deep divisions in the country following six months of violence. As the Israeli military pressed on with an investigation, nationalistic politicians accused the army of abandoning the soldier, while political doves bemoaned the erosion of the nation's morals. Palestinians, meanwhile, said the shooting proved their claims that Israel is guilty of using excessive force and carrying out extrajudicial killings. The shooting took place last Thursday in Hebron, the volatile West Bank city that has been a focal point of the latest wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The military said two Palestinians stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier before troops shot and killed the pair.” France Reuters: Dutch Anti-Terrorism Police Arrest Suspect At France's Request Dutch anti-terrorism police on Sunday arrested a 32-year-old man in Rotterdam on suspicion of preparing an attack on France and also detained three other people, national prosecutors said. ‘French authorities on Friday requested the arrest of the French citizen, who had been identified in a terrorism investigation,’ prosecutors said in a statement. He was suspected of ‘involvement in preparing a terrorist attack’. The arrests were carried out by a specialized anti-terrorism police squad, and the Dutch intelligence agency AIVD and prosecutors also took part in the operation, prosecutors said.” Arabic Language Clips Combating Terrorism Financing Almaghrib Today: "(Moroccan) Judge Alkargi Calls For Concerted International Efforts To Confront Extremism Judge Abdullah Alkargi, a member of the National Council of Judges' Club of Morocco, underscored the need for a procedural battle against terror financing, because this is the kind of a proactive step that will head off the crime. He explained that "after realizing that the execution of terrorist operations often requires huge sums of money, given the nature of the operation and its scope, the international community has no recourse but to crack down on the perpetrators and masterminds of terror operations by tracking their incoming funds. This is called "drying up the sources of terror financing." As to the fight against the financing of terrorism in Morocco, the judge emphasized that due to the importance of this issue, Morocco has moved to criminalize the financing of terrorism along the lines of legislation, through the 03-03 Law, including setting up new legal institutions to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Fighting Terrorism Moheet: Assiri: Saudi Arabia Covers The Cost Of Building The Center To Counter Terrorism Brig. Gen. Ahmed Assiri, Spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Defense and the Military Islamic Alliance, highlighted the intellectual aspect in the fight against terrorism, which is afflicting the region. Assiri also revealed that Riyadh had donated money earmarked for construction of the center to counter terrorism, which will belong to the Alliance. He made this statement during a meeting of the Alliance's military commanders, on Sunday, in Riyadh. He explained that it was agreed by the Islamic Alliance countries to track terrorist financing so as to dry up its sources. Assiri noted that Sunday's meeting was the first step for the member-countries of the Islamic Alliance. ISIS New Sabah: ISIS Forms Battalions To Compensate For Its Dead And Extorts Members Through Photos And Intimidation A report issued by Iraqi judges indicates that the terrorist ISIS organization has been employing several methods to lure local supporters. The document claimed that while ISIS often brainwashes youth to join its ranks, it has downplayed the importance of financial temptation in the luring of new supporters. The report asserted that ISIS's leaders are the ones that control almost all of the funds, while the simple gunmen receive negligible rewards. According to the judges, who specialize in ISIS cases, the jihadist group has formed non-combat battalions to make up for the loss of its dead soldiers. These units are used to extort ISIS gunmen intending to flee by publicizing videos and photographs proving their alleged involvement in the organization, and threatening to kill them. Albawabh News: A Professor Of Political Science: ISIS Has Established Powerful Incubators In Europe Dr. Nourhan el-Sheikh, Professor of Political Science at Cairo University, stated that the influence of ISIS has doubled in recent months inside the European continent. She explained that the terror organization has succeeded in forming "incubators" in Europe. She said, "Unfortunately, the organization's incubators are fed by intellectual, religious, media, and financial sources." She added that these incubators have influence even in the heart of major European capitals like Berlin. Dr. Nourhan asserted that ISIS's activities depend on the pumping of substantial funds to support it in the West. Muslim Brotherhood Albawabh News: Complaint Accuses Members Of (Brotherhood-Affiliated) Ansar Alsonna Almohamadia Society Of Receiving Money From Abroad Dr. Samir Sabry filed a complaint with the Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution against members of "Ansar Alsonna Almohamadia" Association, including its head, Dr. Abdullah Shaker Mohammed Al-Genedi. Sabry claimed that the Association was established in 1926 for preaching and social assistance to the needy, far removed from extremism and political activities. However, immediately after the events of the January 25th Revolution, the Association revealed its true colors. Its director got closer to a group of political figures who advocated armed jihad, especially Muslim Brotherhood Deputy Supreme Guide Khayrat al-Shater, senior Brotherhood official Safwat Hijazi, leading member of the Islamic Group Asem Abdulmajed and Tareq El-Zomor. They established a new entity parallel to the official religious institutions, with the aim of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in elections and demonstrations. This new entity issued statements, decisions and Fatwas to help the Muslim Brotherhood gain access to power. Sabry added that "Ansar Alsonna" was involved in fundraising for the new entity, claiming the proceeds were earmarked for Somalia and Palestine. However, it kept all the money, which came to 1,797,470 pounds ($230,000) ostensibly for aid to Somalia and 1,743,827 pounds ($223,000 dollars) for Palestine. In addition, Qatar pumped another 181 million pounds ($23.2 million) into "Ansar Alsonna." The Association utilized these funds to generate chaos in Egypt and finance the purchase of arms by terrorists. Albawabh News: Eid: Human Rights Organizations Pass Funding On To The Brotherhood Sources within the Muslim Brotherhood confirm that in the past, civil society organizations were used as conduits of foreign funding for its members. These organizations would conceal their real sources of funding, which came chiefly from the USA and the UK. Sameh Eid, a dissident Brotherhood leader and researcher of Islamic movements, claimed that the Brotherhood defends Egypt's human rights organizations thanks to the strong bond and collaboration between them in the transfer of funds to individuals belonging to the Brotherhood in Egypt. This is especially true in view of the State's tightening controls over bank accounts in the country. Eid explained that the leaders of the Brotherhood have helped to launch human rights organizations and have provided them with money to finance their activities and serve as the Brotherhood's mouthpiece abroad. Almo5tsr: Boheira Schools… Neglect, Private Lessons And Members Of Terrorist Brotherhood Are The Main Problems Although the current 2015-2016 school year is nearing its end, the schools in the rural areas of Egypt's Boheira Governorate still suffer from severe neglect. Many of the schools have no walls or blackboards. Furthermore, these schools are not on the agenda of education officials. They are dominated by teachers, private tutors and extremists who are members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Albawabh News: After Joining The Brotherhood Al-Watan TV Channel…Wife Of Artist Hisham Abdullah Opens Fire On Him Sameh Eid, a dissident Brotherhood leader and researcher on Islamist movements, claimed that the vast majority of the Muslim Brotherhood youth oppose spending funds on the group's media channels and ads in major newspapers around the world. He explained that the youth members refuse to spend money on media personalities who are not from within the group and were previously loyal to rulers hostile to the Brotherhood. Eid asserted that the dispute between the youth and leaders of the group may lead the young members to stop paying their monthly membership fees. On the other hand, a fugitive Muslim Brotherhood activist named Ahmed Almogheer disclosed, through his Facebook account, the fee charged by Egyptian actor, Hisham Abdullah, for his appearance on the Brotherhood Al-Watan TV channel. He claimed that the actor gets $20,000 per month, and asks, "What is the artist's motivation to work with the channel? Who signed him on and what are the terms of his contract? What is the role of his wife, political activist Ghada Najib, in the TV station?" The Seventh Day: Brotherhood Leader Suspected Of Financing Terrorists Detained In Possession Of $96,000 An Egyptian security source disclosed that the country's security services had detained a Brotherhood leader at Cairo International Airport entering from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi is suspected of being responsible for providing money to the group's activists for execution of acts of sabotage in Egypt. The incident started when Egyptian agricultural engineer and Brotherhood member, identified as "Islam S.," arrived from Saudi Arabia. The man, who resides in Riyadh but grew up in the Sharbin area of Egypt's Dakahlia Province, was detained at Cairo Airport in possession of $96,860. Authorities discovered that he is on the Board of Directors of the Riyadh-based "Egyptian Care Fund" whose activities have been suspended since 2013 for being controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood. Authorities claimed the Fund's money was being used by the Brotherhood in Egypt to carry out acts of sabotage. Freepen: Brotherhood Conspiring Against (Egypt's) Dollar Certificates Currency exchange companies owned by the Muslim Brotherhood continue to buy the dollar-denominated savings of Egyptians in the Gulf countries for the highest price possible. Banking experts have warned that such Brotherhood schemes are aimed at harming dollar-denominated certificates offered by banks in Egypt. Experts claim that the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated companies in the Gulf region intend to absorb hard currency held by Egyptians abroad through illegal means, including exchange rates for the dollar that are substantially higher than their market value. This is to attract them to deposit their savings in Brotherhood companies rather than in the State treasury. The experts called on the Egyptian government to confront the Brotherhood's plots so as to avoid worsening the dollar crisis in Egypt, which could have a negative impact on all aspects of economic activities.