Eye on Extremism - May 9, 2016

Eye on Extremism May 9, 2016 Counter Extremism Project The Wall Street Journal: An Energy Mogul Becomes Entangled With Islamic State “In Syria, George Haswani sees himself as a patriot. In the West, he is a wanted man. Mr. Haswani acts as a middleman between Islamic State and the Syrian government, the terror group’s largest customer, Western security officials allege. Islamic State controls much of Syria’s energy infrastructure and sells stolen oil and natural gas at a discount—even to the regime it is ostensibly battling. Mr. Haswani outlined a history of the gas project in a five-page letter sent a year ago to the New York-based Counter Extremism Project, a nonprofit that promotes international efforts to fight Islamic militancy. The organization’s chief executive, former U.S. diplomat Mark Wallace, wrote to the businessman last March with questions over the allegations of his role in funding Islamic State.” Fox News: UN Envoy Says More Than 50 Mass Graves Found In Parts Of Iraq Re-Taken From ISIS “A top U.N. envoy in Iraq said Friday more than 50 mass graves have been found in Iraq territory that was once held by the Islamic State. Jan Kubis told the U.N. Security Council that three of the 50 graves were found on April 19 in the soccer grounds area of Ramadi. Kubis said that ISIS "remains a formidable and determined enemy that constantly adjusts its tactics and attack patterns,” and used the discovery as an example. The most recently discovered graves found in Ramadi in April might contain the remains of up to 40 people. He called on the international community to ‘take steps to ensure the accountability’ of Islamic State extremists.” Al Arabiya: ISIS Uses 2,000 Families In Iraq’s Fallujah As ‘Human Shields’ “ISIS in Iraq has trapped around 2,000 families in two villages south of a city in the western province of Anbar, and is using them as human shields, local media reported the head of a police department as saying on Saturday. ‘The terrorist organization ISIS has trapped around 2,000 families, most of the people are women, children and elderly in Albu Hawa and Hasi in the northern al-Amiriya district south of Fallujah,’ Lieutenant Colonel Arif al-Janabi, the head of the police district, told the local Anbar News outlet. ISIS also arrested dozens of young men from the two villages, Janabi added.” Reuters: Al Qaeda Chief Tells Jihadist Fighters In Syria: Unite Or Die “Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged rival jihadist fighters in Syria to unite or risk death but again decried fellow Sunni Muslim militants Islamic State as ‘extremists’ in an audio recording posted online on Sunday. As successor to Osama bin Laden, Zawahri has the allegiance of al Qaeda branches in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. But the group's dominance is being challenged by Islamic State, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq and followings in Libya and Yemen. In Syria, al Qaeda offshoot Nusra Front and Islamic State are the two most powerful groups fighting government forces. Once a single group, they split in 2013, largely due to a power struggle among leaders.” The New York Times: Muslim Leaders Wage Theological Battle, Stoking ISIS’ Anger “As the military and political battle against the Islamic State escalates, Muslim imams and scholars in the West are fighting on another front — through theology. Imam Suhaib Webb, a Muslim leader in Washington, has held live monthly video chats to refute the religious claims of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. In a dig at the extremists, he broadcast from ice cream parlors and called his talks ‘ISIS and ice cream.’ Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, an American Muslim scholar based in Berkeley, Calif., has pleaded with Muslims not to be deceived by the ‘stupid young boys’ of the Islamic State. Millions have watched excerpts from his sermon titled ‘The Crisis of ISIS,’ in which he wept as he asked God not to blame other Muslims ‘for what these fools amongst us do.’” The Wall Street Journal: Twitter Bars Intelligence Agencies From Using Analytics Service “Twitter Inc. cut off U.S. intelligence agencies from access to a service that sifts through the entire output of its social-media postings, the latest example of tension between Silicon Valley and the federal government over terrorism and privacy. The move, which hasn’t been publicly announced, was confirmed by a senior U.S. intelligence official and other people familiar with the matter. The service—which sends out alerts of unfolding terror attacks, political unrest and other potentially important events—isn’t directly provided by Twitter, but instead by Dataminr Inc., a private company that mines public Twitter feeds for clients.” CBS News: Exposing The ISIS Killing Machine “American soldiers have been drawn deeper into the war against ISIS and this past week a third U.S. serviceman was killed in northern Iraq. It's a fight that began more than a year and a half ago when ISIS was expanding it's territory and it's been hard to shed light on the areas under its control because most reporters can't go there. But there have been some places where ISIS has been run off, and Sinjar is one of them. It's a small city that lies on a highway connecting ISIS territory in Syria to its territory inside Iraq and when ISIS fighters took control they began to systematically wipe out the Yezidi people who lived there.” New York Times: Sufi Muslim Leader Killed In Latest Hacking Attack In Bangladesh “A local Sufi Muslim leader in northern Bangladesh was found hacked to death in a secluded mango grove, the police said on Saturday. A girl in the district of Rajshahi happened upon the body of Mohammad Shahidullah in a dry pond under a mango tree as she was gathering dried leaves for a fire on Friday evening. Mr. Shahidullah was found about 25 miles from his home with two deep wounds in his neck and throat, said Abul Kalam Azad, a police official in Rajshahi. Mr. Shahidullah, who owned a grocery store in his village, had left home that morning, Mr. Azad said.” ARA News: ISIS Extremists Throw Syrian Man From Top Of Building For Being Gay “The extremist group of Islamic State (ISIS) threw a young man off the top of a building in Manbij city in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo for being gay, accusing him of ‘sodomy’, local sources reported on Saturday. Local activists confirmed that the man was arrested by the group’s Hisba police on charges of homosexuality and was barbarically thrown from the top of a building in central Manbij. Speaking to ARA News in Manbij, media activist Nasser Taljbini said that ISIS extremists have sentenced the man to death by throwing him from the top of a building in the city [Manbij], after accusing him of sodomy.” The Daily Beast: Cannes Film Festival On High Alert For Possible Terrorist Attack “The last major terrorist threat near to Cannes occurred back in February 2014, when, in the lead-up to the Paris attacks, French authorities arrested Ibrahim Boudina, an extremist who’d allegedly returned from fighting with ISIS in Syria. He was apprehended inside his father’s apartment building in Mandelieu-La Napoule, just down the coast from Cannes, where, according to CNN, police discovered ‘bomb-making instructions and three soda cans filled with the high-explosive compound TATP.’ Due to November’s Paris attacks, France is set to remain in a state of emergency until May 26, which allows authorities to conduct raids and place citizens under house arrest without prior authorization.” Premium Times: Nigerian Army Clears 7 Villages Initially Occupied By Boko Haram “The Nigerian Army says it has cleared seven more villages taken by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Borno in its bid to end terrorism in the North East. Sani Usman, the Acting Director Army Public Relations, stated this in a statement issued in Maiduguri on Sunday. As the ongoing clearance and rescue operations gained momentum, troops of 28 Task Force Brigade have successfully cleared enclaves of Boko Haram terrorists along Galtha Baba, Galtha Musa, Bulakurma, Shatimari, Chukruk, Bulangaje, and Disa villages.” United States CNN: U.S. Personnel On The Ground In Yemen “A small number of U.S. military personnel are on the ground inside Yemen as part of the effort to root out al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, the Pentagon said Friday. The personnel, who are providing assistance to the Emirati forces and the Saudi-led Arab coalition, arrived in the last two weeks. A U.S. official confirmed that the Saudi operations center in Riyadh that had been focused on fighting Iranian-back Houthi rebels in Yemen recently took on the additional tasks of targeting AQAP inside Yemen. The U.S. military personnel's role includes intelligence, advice and assistance, maritime interdiction of ships offshore, aerial refueling and medical support.” USA Today: U.S. Soldier Dies In Non-Combat Incident In Iraq “A U.S. soldier from Seattle has died in a non-combat incident in Iraq, the Pentagon said Sunday. 1st Lt. David Bauders, 25, died Friday at Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq, the Pentagon said. Bauders was serving with the Washington National Guard's 176th Engineer Co., which deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in April, Guard spokesman Capt. Joseph Siemandel told USA TODAY. Siemandel said Bauders' death remained under investigation and that no details were immediately available. Bauders was commissioned as an engineer in May 2013 after graduating from the University of Portland. The 176th specializes in construction, Siemandel said.” The Associated Press: US Struggles To Convince Iraqis It Doesn't Support IS “For nearly two years, U.S. airstrikes, military advisers and weapons shipments have helped Iraqi forces roll back the Islamic State group. The U.S.-led coalition has carried out more than 5,000 airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq at a total cost of $7 billion since August 2014, including operations in Syria. On Tuesday a U.S. Navy SEAL was the third serviceman to die fighting IS in Iraq. But many Iraqis still aren't convinced the Americans are on their side. Government-allied Shiite militiamen on the front-lines post videos of U.S. supplies purportedly seized from IS militants or found in areas liberated from the extremist group. Newspapers and TV networks repeat conspiracy theories that the U.S. created the jihadi group to sow chaos in the region in order to seize its oil.” The Wall Street Journal: Judge Tries New Approach With Terror Defendants: Deradicalization “As U.S. officials grapple with the balance between punishment and rehabilitation for American sympathizers of Islamic State, one judge is embarking on an unprecedented experiment. U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, a senior federal judge in Minnesota, has recruited a researcher from Germany to evaluate a group of young Somali-American men who attempted to travel overseas to join Islamic State. The goal: figure out why each defendant became radicalized and propose a plan to turn each away from violent extremism. A deradicalization program like this has never been attempted in the U.S., experts say, and other prosecutors around the country are paying attention to Minnesota as a possible model.” Syria The Jerusalem Post: Report: Russia Establishes Military Base In Palmyra, After Driving ISIS Out Of The City “The Syrian opposition claimed Sunday that the Russian army is currently establishing a military base in the historic city of Palmyra, liberated from ISIS at the end of March. The Syrian Revolution Coordinator group in Palmyra claimed on its Facebook page that ‘Assad and ISIS allow Russia to conquer and vandalize Palmyra and its culture.’ According to the statement, ‘since the regime recaptured the city at the end of March, it has become fairly clear that Assad the criminal has granted to Russia and its army in Palmyra great authority, so they can display their abilities to our city, its residents and its archaeological ruins.’” Reuters: Syrian Warplanes Counter-Attack Rebels Near Aleppo “Syrian warplanes attacked Islamist militants near the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, both sides said, as the government tried to push back a insurgent advance in the area. Dozens of air strikes hit near the town of Khan Touman, which rebels took from forces loyal to the government and its ally Iran late on Thursday, insurgents and state media reported. Aleppo - one of the biggest strategic prizes in a war now in its sixth year - has been divided into government and rebel-held zones through much of the conflict. The surrounding region is also crossed by valuable supply routes into neighboring Turkey. The Syrian army said it had hit what it described as terrorist groups hard on Sunday, but did not give details of any territorial gains.” Iraq CNN: Attack At Funeral Kills 6 People In Iraq; ISIS Claims Responsibility “Mourners gathered for a funeral near Baghdad grappled with even more loss Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked the funeral tent, killing six people, police said. Another 11 people were wounded in the blast in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, police said. The funeral was for a member of the Sahwa -- Sunni tribal forces that have fought against al Qaeda. Some members of the Sahwa, also known as the Awakening Council, are now fighting ISIS. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement circulated on social media by supporters of the terror group.” RT: Millions In ISIS-Occupied Northern Iraq Threatened With Catastrophic Dam Collapse “Iraqi and US diplomats have warned of a serious danger to millions of people around the giant Mosul dam, which is undergoing repairs and could breach at any moment, releasing a killer flood wave capable of wiping out entire cities and even flooding Baghdad. Just as the UN has warned of up to 2 million people projected to be displaced in Iraq this year by the fighting with Islamic State (IS, ISIS/ISIL), an even more apocalyptic threat looms in the country’s largest dam on the Tigris River, which, according to TASS, could affect up to 6 million people, with as many as 2 million of them living in and around Mosul.” Turkey Newsweek: Turkey Bombards Isis In Syria, Killing 55 Militants “Turkish shelling killed 55 Islamic State militant group (ISIS) insurgents in northern Syria on Saturday, military sources said, in retaliation for weeks of rocket attacks on a Turkish border town. Artillery fire hit the regions of Suran and Tal El Hisn north of Aleppo, as well as Baragidah and Kusakcik, taking out three rocket installations and three vehicles in addition to killing the militants, the sources said on Sunday. The Turkish border town of Kilis, which lies just across the frontier from ISIS-controlled territory in Syria, has been regularly struck by rockets in recent weeks, killing about 20 people and wounding 70 more, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.” Voice Of America: Erdogan Blasts West For Leaving Turkey To Fight IS Alone “Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing Western powers who are battling Islamic State extremists in northern Syria of failing to help his government fight the jihadists on Turkish soil. ‘They have left us alone in our struggle against this organization (Islamic State), which is shedding our blood both through suicide bombings’ and by cross-border rocket attacks on the Turkish border town of Kilis. Erdogan spoke Sunday in Istanbul. His remarks came a day after authorities say Turkish shelling killed 55 IS insurgents in northern Syria, in retaliation for weeks of rocket attacks that have killed more than 20 people in and near Kilis.” Reuters: Turkish Warplanes Attack Kurdish Militant Targets In Iraq: Sources “Turkish warplanes hit targets belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Sunday, military sources said, as three soldiers and 12 militants were reported killed in separate clashes over the weekend. The F-16 and F-4 2020 aircraft destroyed bunkers, ammunition depots and gun installations in four northern Iraqi regions, including Qandil, where the PKK has camps, the sources said. The air strikes were launched early on Sunday and the aircraft returned safely to their bases, according to the sources. Turkey has been regularly attacking PKK targets in mountainous northern Iraq since the collapse of a ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish state in July last year.” Afghanistan Reuters: Afghanistan Hangs Six Death Row Prisoners In Crackdown On Taliban “Afghanistan hanged six prisoners convicted of terrorism offences, as part of a tougher new policy towards the Taliban promised by President Ashraf Ghani in retaliation for last month's suicide attack which killed at least 64 people in Kabul. The death sentences, carried out at the Pule Charkhi prison on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday, drew an immediate response from the Taliban which said the departments of state involved in the executions would be treated as ‘military targets’ and threatened a wave of suicide attacks.” Yemen Reuters: Yemen Peace Talks Struggle As Air Strikes Shake Truce “Yemen's Houthi movement accused a Saudi-led coalition of launching air strikes that killed seven people on Sunday, shaking a truce that has largely held through more than two weeks of U.N.-backed peace talks in Kuwait. The Iran-allied Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed exiled government are trying to broker a peace through the talks in Kuwait and ease a humanitarian crisis in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country. The year-long conflict has drawn in regional powers and killed at least 6,200 people, according to the United Nations. Political sources from the Houthi group's rivals in Yemen's government say the bombing in the Nehm area east of the capital Sanaa was directed at Houthi forces that were massing in the area in violation of a ceasefire that began on April 10.” Egypt The Jerusalem Post: Egypt's Islamist Authority Blasts ISIS Organ Harvesting “Dar al-Ifta, Egypt's official religious institution tasked with drafting edicts, issued a fatwa according to which human organ harvesting is ‘a violation of Sharia,’ the London-based daily Arab newspaper a-Sharq al-Awasat reported on Sunday. According to the edict, issued on Saturday, ripping out human organs from a live captive to transplant them in another body is prohibited, whether or not it endangers someone's life. While ISIS has long argued that Sharia permit harvesting organs of ‘apostate captives’ to save Muslims' lives, even if doing so would lead to captives' death, an Egyptian cleric told a-Sharq al-Awasat: ‘It is only allowed to harvest organs from a dead body, since a live person is better than a dead one.’” The Washington Post: Militants Kill Eight Egyptian Police Officers In A Cairo Suburb “Militants fired on a bus carrying police officers in a Cairo neighborhood on Sunday, killing eight of them, in an attack that was claimed by Egypt’s Islamic State affiliate as well as another radical group that believes in armed resistance against the government. The police, all in plainclothes, were inspecting security in the southern Cairo suburb of Helwan early Sunday when four gunmen in a pickup truck attacked them, according to Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency. Those killed included a lieutenant. It was the deadliest assault on security forces since November, when gunmen killed four police officers at a security checkpoint. In that attack, Wilayat Sinai, the local Islamic State branch, claimed responsibility. If it is also behind Sunday’s attack, it would further highlight the terrorist network’s capabilities of striking inside the Egyptian capital.” Libya International Business Times: Isis In Libya: Colonel Gaddafi's Henchmen Join The West To Purge Isis From North Africa “Commanders who were once loyal to disposed despot Colonel Gaddafi have returned to Libya to join the West in purging Islamic State (Isis) from Sirte. Gaddafi loyalists who defended the dictator during the 2011 revolution have been recruited to battle the extremists in Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace. The West's forces are ready to back a huge operation to expel Isis (Daesh) from the Mediterranean coast with British and American special forces already conducting intelligence-gathering operations around Sirte. The anti-IS alliance fears that IS will use the city as a springboard to launch attacks against European cities this summer.” United Kingdom Express: Terror On The Seas: Fears For British Fleets As Radicalised Naval Officer Joins ISIS “Ali Alosaimi’s defection has led to fears that the terror cell could wage jihad on the seas thanks to the 28-year-old’s exhaustive knowledge of Britain’s shipping fleet. Former Royal Navy chief Admiral Lord West said: ‘This suddenly raises the spectre of IS damaging shipping, someone with his knowledge opens up a whole new area where terrorism can take place.’ The threat of such a knowledgable state insider turning his back on Britain to fight in the middle east has struck fear in security officials. Details of the officer’s defection emerged after an investigation by the Mail on Sunday revealed the would-be jihadi had boasted of his naval skills while applying to join the terror death cult.” Africa Daily Signal: Anthrax Terror Plot Shows ISIS’ Reach Into East Africa “Kenyan police announced this week that they had arrested a man interning at a Kenyan hospital who was planning a major anthrax attack on the country. Police in neighboring Uganda arrested two alleged accomplices, and Kenyan police are still searching for two others they claim were involved in the plot. Authorities believe the man, Mohammed Abdi Ali, is part of an Islamic State-linked East African terror network that has been radicalizing East Africans and facilitating their travel to Libya, Iraq, and Syria, where the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is most active.” Arabic Language Clips Terrorism Financing Aljarida: (Tunisia's) Sidi Bouzid: Uncovering Of Takfiri Cell Which Financed Terrorists The Tunisian National Guard’s Research and Inspection Division in Sidi Bouzid Governorate uncovered a takfiri cell in Sidi Ali Ben Aoun district. It was involved in the provision of logistical support and aid to terrorist groups entrenched in a mountainous area in Sidi Bouzid Governorate. The cell's 40 members, aged 26-32, were lured in by a dangerous terrorist who is on the run. Alkhbr: ISIS Targets Oil Fields To Drain [Resources Of] The Iraqi Government While the Iraqi government believes that the repeated attacks by ISIS on oil fields are designed to control them and exploit their wealth, observers claim that ISIS's current scheme primarily intends to deprive the government, as much as possible, of sustaining a sufficient oil supply. ISIS's ultimate goal is to drain the government's financial resources which enable it to fight the group. In less than two months ISIS attacked the Ajil and Alas oil fields 21 times. The most recent attack took place last Tuesday night. The attacks caused serious damage to the two oilfields, located in the province of Salahuddin in northern Iraq, which produce an average of 200,000 barrels per day. Alwafd: (Egyptian) Security Expert: The Financing Of Terrorist Groups Has Increased Recently Egyptian security expert, Maj. Gen. Mohsen Hifzi, reacted to the terrorist incident in Helwan, which killed eight members of the police forces, by saying that "recently the financing of terrorist groups has increased." He added on Sunday evening that Egypt had not learned the lesson from previous incidents, including the killing of Egyptian soldiers in Sinai when they were traveling to receive recruitment certificates. Hifzi noted that these well-orchestrated terror operations indicate that terror groups are closely monitoring the movements of security forces. The Egyptian security expert also criticized the fact that the targeted policemen were not carrying weapons. ISIS Voice Of Iraq: Internet In Mosul … Way To Spy And Source Of Revenue For ISIS ISIS has imposed a monthly fee on Mosul residents for use of the Internet. This comes amid fears that the terror organization is exploiting the Internet as an instrument to monitor and spy on them. One of the local residents, who asked to remain anonymous, said, "ISIS does not prevent the use of the Internet; on the contrary, it considers it to be a source of income, by imposing a monthly fee on residents and shop owners for this service." Muslim Brotherhood Alkhbr: Egypt: Seizure Of 16 NGOs Affiliated With The Brotherhood Egypt's Ministry of Social Solidarity decided to seize the properties owned by 16 non-governmental organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Boheira Governorate, in northern Egypt. It explained that these organizations had violated the terms of their license. This decision comes ahead of the disbanding of these organizations and the transfer of their money to the Ministry's Civil Society Organizations' Support Fund. Albawabh News: Detention Of Brotherhood Employee At The (Egyptian) Authority For Reconstruction For Forging Land Contracts Worth 3 Million Pounds The Public Funds Investigation Department in Giza detained Ibrahim Abdel Aziz Abdeen, an employee at Egypt's General Authority for Reconstruction Projects & Agricultural Development. He is facing charges of impersonating the Assistant of the Minister of Agriculture, deceiving citizens and forging contracts and documents of state lands in exchange for some 3 million Egyptian pounds ($340,000). Col. Walid Qanawi, Head of Security at the General Authority for Reconstruction Projects, said that the suspect, together with other employees who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, formed a group within the Authority under the name of "The Youth Coalition," aimed at provoking riots and terrorizing other employees. Alnabaa: The Dispute Over The Muslim Brotherhood Funds In Turkey Flares Up Since the outbreak of the Muslim Brotherhood's internal crisis at the end of 2015, and the ensuing clashes, the group has, in effect, been divided into two separate management fronts. Each faction is followed by a number of Brotherhood offices and supporters. However, the financial affairs remain in the hands of the "front" controlled by veteran leaders. Muslim Brotherhood Secretary-General Mahmoud Hussein was appointed by Mahmoud Ezzat, Deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, to administer these funds, which are obtained from membership dues, donations and companies associated with the group. In the past, Hussein used this money to subdue anyone who defied his control, forcing them to leave the "Youth Front", which opposes him, and to join the" front" of the veteran leaders. The first step he carried out was to prevent the flow of funds to the offices managed by his opponents in Egypt. He started with the Brotherhood offices in Beni Suef and Faiyum, which had submitted a request to Hussein to allocate money to support the families of the Brotherhood detainees. These requests were denied by Hussein. However, with the escalation of the crisis and the intervention of several brokers close to the Brotherhood, Hussein ultimately agreed to transfer money to these two "rebellious" offices, but only in the minimal amount required. The Seventh Day: Seif Thabet: Decision (By Brotherhood Committee) To Seize My Father's Assets Has Not Affected The Performance Of The (Juhayna) Company Egyptian businessman, Seif El-Din Safwan Thabet, the CEO of Juhayna Food Industries, said that the decision to seize his father's funds has not affected the company's performance or future investments. He stressed that the decision relates only to the personal assets of his father. Thabet did not deny the existence of a link between his family and the Muslim Brotherhood. He mentioned that it is well-known that the grandfather and uncle of his father, who came from the al-Hudaybi family, served as Guides of the Brotherhood group. He noted: "Our family has individuals affiliated with the (Brotherhood) group, individuals belonging to the former regime and supporters of the current regime as well as those who are working within the army and police, like any other (typical Egyptian) family... I don't distance myself from them." The Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee announced the seizure last August of the funds of Safwan Thabet, owner of Juhayna Food Industries Company. The seizure did not entail appropriating the company's funds or assets. The Seventh Day: Mustafa Bakri: Journalists' Union Pays The Families Of Brotherhood Prisoners 1500 (Egyptian Pound) A Month Mustafa Bakri, an Egyptian journalist and Member of Parliament, asserted that the situation of the journalists is not related to what has been happening over the past few days, but that the case goes back to an earlier period. This was clearly revealed in the report by the Union's "Freedoms Committee." The report took the side of the Muslim Brotherhood defendants, who entered the media lacking the necessary skills. Bakri stressed during a TV interview that the defendants have been accused of involvement in acts of terrorism and of belonging to a banned organization. Some of them face life imprisonment, Bakri stated, adding, "But we were surprised that the Union regards them as 'political martyrs' paying them 1500 pounds ($170) monthly and allowing their families to hold sit-ins in the Union." Houthi Ababiil: Houthi Militias Imposed War Effort (Tax) On Beggars Eyewitnesses claim that the allied militias of the Houthis and ousted Yemeni president Ali Saleh forced beggars in Sanaa's 'Ali Mohsen Market' to pay part of the money they collected for the war effort. They added that the deployment of armed Houthis in public places, markets and parks has led to a rise in the number of incidents of looting and mistreating citizens. According to Yemeni press reports, the armed Houthis have resorted to using these methods in their quest for new income sources to meet their daily needs. This is due to the militia's inability to cover costs despite its domination over many state institutions and funds in the capital.