Eye on Extremism June 9, 2016

Eye on Extremism June 9, 2016 The Wall Street Journal: Arab, Kurdish Forces Near Islamic State-Held Town In Syria “U.S.-backed Arab and Kurdish forces in northern Syria were closing in on the Islamic State-controlled town of Manbij from three sides, a militia spokesman said Wednesday, as thousands of civilians fled the area in anticipation of the battle to retake the strategic locale. The forces, supported with airstrikes carried out by a U.S.-led international military coalition, have seized more than 50 villages from Islamic State fighters since launching an offensive last week to recapture Manbij and the surrounding countryside from the radical group. The number of casualties on both sides wasn’t known. The operation to seize Manbij is part of a bid to take control of a 60-mile stretch of territory along the Syria-Turkey border through which Islamic State funnels foreign fighters.” The New York Times: Three Hospitals Attacked In Rebel Side Of Aleppo, Syria “Bombs from airstrikes hit three hospitals on Wednesday in the rebel-held side of Aleppo, Syria, including a pediatrics center supported by the United Nations, in what aid providers and opposition activists called a new atrocity in the fighting that has ravaged the city. The Middle East regional office of Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund, said in a statement that the attacks happened within a space of three hours on al-Bayan and al-Hakeem hospitals and the Abdulhadi Fares clinic. Unicef provided no details on casualties, damage or who was responsible, but it said the attack was the second on al-Hakeem hospital, which it helps operate.” CNN: Iraq Troops Free First Neighborhood In ISIS-Held Falluja, Military Says “Iraqi security forces have recaptured their first neighborhood in ISIS-held Falluja, the military announced Wednesday, in the wake of U.N. warnings that fleeing civilians faced a threat from government-allied militias. Iraq military spokesman Col. Mohammed Ibrahim told CNN that the neighborhood of al-Shuhada al-Thaniya in southern Falluja had been liberated, and Iraq's flag was now flying over a government building in the area. He said the operation to free the neighborhood had taken more than 48 hours as soldiers removed mines and explosives that ISIS left in its wake.” The Washington Post: Gunmen Kill Four At Trendy Tel Aviv Market Across Street From Israel’s ‘Pentagon’ “At least four people were killed and several seriously wounded in a mass shooting at a trendy Tel Aviv food market Wednesday night. The attacks occurred near Israel’s version of the Pentagon. Police said two assailants were in custody. One of the gunmen was wounded. Israeli authorities described the shooting as a terror attack. The attackers’ identities were not released. Police said the two gunmen were members of the same family from the Palestinian village of Yatta, near the city of Hebron in the West Bank. At about 9:30 p.m. local time, authorities were alerted to shots being fired in the crowded Sarona Market complex in central Tel Aviv. The open-air mall is across the road from the Ministry of Defense and the central headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces, one of the most secure sites in the country.” CBS News: ISIS Claims Deadly Attack On Army Checkpoint “Two suicide attacks in and outside the Iraqi capital killed at least 27 people and wounded dozens on Thursday, officials said. The deadliest attack took place in a commercial area of a majority Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. At least 15 civilians were killed and 35 wounded, police said. Another suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into an Iraqi army checkpoint north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people, police said. Seven civilians and five troops were killed in the attack in the town of Taji, about 12 miles north of the capital, a police officer said. At least 28 people were wounded, he added.” The New York Times: Bangladesh Says It Now Knows Who’s Killing The Bloggers “The young man, inching past a crowded checkpoint near a truck stand in Bangladesh’s capital, caught the attention of an alert police officer. His backpack, together with his appearance, from the unshaven beard to the long Punjabi tunic over baggy pants, set off the suspicion that he was an Islamist militant. The man was arrested after he was found to be carrying a machete, an unregistered pistol and six bullets. The discovery of the weapons raised alarms. For the last three years, atheist writers, freethinkers, foreigners, religious minorities, gay rights activists and others have been terrorized and killed in Bangladesh by shadowy figures who have struck with machetes and sped off on motorbikes.” The Wall Street Journal: Militants Kidnap 47 In Afghanistan “Unidentified militants seized 47 passengers traveling on a highway in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province on Wednesday, officials said, the latest in a series of kidnappings fueling concerns that the government is losing control of major routes. Armed men seized people from a bus and car after stopping the vehicles on the outskirts of Kunduz city, which was briefly held by the Taliban late last year. The highway connects Kunduz to the neighboring province of Takhar. The abductees were taken to the provincial town of Uqtash, a Taliban stronghold, local officials said. Most of Kunduz province is under Taliban control, with the government restricted mainly to the city. There was no immediate claim or motive in the assault.” Telegraph: Terror Attacks At 'All-Time High' As Study Finds World Is Becoming More Violent “Terrorist attacks are at an all-time high and there are more refugees now than at any time since the Second World War, according to a new study which suggests the world is becoming more violent. The worsening conflict in the Middle East, the lack of a solution to the migrant crisis and an increase in major terrorist incidents have all contributed to making the planet less peaceful, the 2016 Global Peace Index found. The index showed that most attacks it classed as terrorist were concentrated in five countries - Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The bloody civil war in Syria, which was rated the least peaceful country, and Iraq, have also had an effect elsewhere.” The Independent: Isis Nuclear Attack In Europe Is A Real Threat, Say Experts “The threat of a terrorist attack using nuclear material is the highest since the end of the Cold War, with Isis actively trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction, according to a leading international think-tank on proliferation. ‘Isis has already carried out numerous chemical weapons attacks in Syria; we know it wants to go further by carrying out a nuclear attack in the heart of Europe. This, combined with poor levels of security at a host of nuclear research centres in the former Soviet Union mean the threat of a possible ‘dirty-bomb’ attack on a Western capital is high,’ said Moshe Kantor, the president of the desInternational Luxembourg Forum.” Washington Post: American ISIS Fighter Who ‘Found It Hard’ Returns To Face Criminal Charges “Mohamad Khweis never stood out in any particular way. The Alexandria man graduated from Fairfax County’s Edison High School, earned a degree from Northern Virginia Community College and worked as a teller at an area bank. He racked up more than a dozen traffic and other petty charges, but in nearly every case, he quietly paid his fine or performed his court-ordered community service. He told a Kurdish broadcast outlet that he left the United States in December, as any American might, to travel to London.” The Wall Street Journal: Signs Of Bigger Islamic State Cell In Germany Emerge “A man who was detained in France and exposed an Islamic State terror cell in Germany told authorities that the cell contained many more people than the three arrested last week, according to officials familiar with his testimony. The revelations, part of new details emerging about the arrested suspects, add to concerns that the extremist group could be poised to strike again in Europe. Authorities in France, Germany and the Netherlands are examining testimony from Saleh A., who walked into a police station in the north of Paris in February claiming that he was part of an Islamic State sleeper cell of between 10 and 20 people, officials familiar with the investigation said.” The New York Times: Bracing For Terrorism: How France Is Preparing For The Euro Soccer Tournament “With some 2.5 million people descending on France for the European Championship soccer tournament, which kicks off Friday, French officials have acknowledged that even as they take all possible steps to prevent and deter terrorist attacks, there is no such thing as zero risk. In Paris, the police fear they will be so overstretched that they have asked the government to close huge and popular ‘fan zones’ for some matches. So far, the government has demurred, even while conceding the risks. The biggest targets, both foreign and French security officials fear, could be the planned outdoor fan zones equipped with enormous screens to televise games. More than 90,000 spectators could gather in the fan zone on the Champ de Mars, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in Paris; as many as 80,000 on the white sand beach, the Plage du Prado, in Marseille; and 20,000 on the central Place Bellecour in Lyon, among other places.” United States Voice Of America: US To Russia: Use Leverage To Distribute Aid In Syria “The U.S. has stepped up pressure on Syria’s key ally, Russia, to use its influence to get humanitarian aid to besieged parts of the country. The State Department said Wednesday that the U.S had asked Russia to use its military planes in Syria to deliver aid to communities that have been cut off by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. ‘Russia actually has air assets on the ground in Syria,’ department spokesman Mark Toner said. And Russia ‘ostensibly has the permission of the Syrian government to fly.’ The State Department declined to say how the U.S. request was conveyed to Russia. Also, there was no initial information suggesting Russia would agree to the request.” Sputnik: US-Led Coalition Conducts 35 Airstrikes Against Daesh In Iraq, Syria “In Syria, the coalition carried out 15 strikes near the city of Manbij, hitting 13 separate Daesh units and destroying fighting positions, vehicles, a cave entrance and a command and control node. In Iraq, the coalition carried out 17 airstrikes near ten cities, including four near Fallujah, hitting two separate units, a vehicle borne improvised explosive device factory, a weapons cache and a fighting position. In addition, the airstrikes destroyed three heavy machine guns and a front end loader, CENTCOM stated. Iraqi Security Forces and Shia militias, backed by US airstrikes, launched the offensive to retake Fallujah on May 22. The US-led coalition of more than 60 nations has been carrying out airstrikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq since the summer of 2014.” Syria Reuters: Islamic State Withdraws From Northwest Syria Frontlines “Islamic State fighters withdrew from frontlines with Syrian rebel forces north of Aleppo on Wednesday as they mounted a counter attack against the jihadist group near the Turkish border, an opposition source and monitoring group said. The sudden withdrawal from villages around the rebel-held town of Marea points to the pressure Islamic State is feeling from offensives being waged by other enemies further east, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. Islamic State had managed to besiege the rebel-held town of Marea in a significant advance late last month, stranding thousands of civilians there and prompting a U.S.-led coalition to air drop weapons to rebels, rebel sources said.” Iraq Fox News: 'We Were Told We Were Jihadists': Yazidi Teen Details Daring Escape From ISIS Training Camp “A Yazidi boy who escaped an ISIS training camp and made a daring trek to safety across the desert of northern Iraq told FoxNews.com in an exclusive interview about his hellish, nine-month ordeal under the black-clad terrorist army’s brutal grip. Ahmed was just 13 when ISIS laid siege to Mount Sinjar in early August of 2014. For days, the Yazidi, an ancient religious minority wrongly regarded by many in the region as devil worshippers, remained trapped in the towns that dot the mountainside, such as Tel Qasab, Tel Banat, Qahtania and Mojamaa Al Jazeera, as the world watched a humanitarian crisis unfold. Iraqi military choppers airlifted some to safety, while others formed convoys to flee down the only road leading off the mountain.” Turkey CNN: 3 Killed By Car Bomb Near Police Headquarters In Midyat, Turkey “Three people were killed Wednesday by a car bomb in the southeastern Turkish town of Midyat -- the second such attack on Turkish police targets in two days. Two civilians and a police officer died in the attack on police headquarters in the town in Mardin province, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters. The blast wounded 30 people, who were taken to nearby hospitals, he said, adding that the toll would likely have been higher if it were not for barriers in front of the building. He blamed the banned Kurdish separatist PKK group for the attack, saying: ‘We are not surprised by this, but the circle is tightening around them.’ Turkish jets hit PKK targets in Iraq and southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, state-run Anadolu news agency reported, citing military officials.” Reuters: Turkey Blames Kurdish Militants For Istanbul Car Bombing “Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's office blamed Kurdish militants for a car bombing that killed 11 people in central Istanbul, while a second bomb on Wednesday killed five people in the largely Kurdish southeast. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, meanwhile, said that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), blamed for Tuesday's attack in Istanbul, had recently sought to revive peace talks and offered to lay down their arms. A ceasefire with the PKK collapsed almost a year ago, setting off the worst violence the country has seen in two decades. Yildirim, in comments broadcast live by TRT television, said Turkey would not negotiate to end the violence.” Afghanistan Associated Press: Afghan Official: Taliban Kill 12 Captives Taken In Southeast “Taliban gunmen have killed 12 people they captured in recent ambushes, including policemen and soldiers, in Afghanistan's restive southeastern Ghazni province, an official said on Wednesday. All 12 had been abducted from their vehicles after being ambushed at different times this month as they drove along a major highway, said Gulam Mohammad Tahiri of the Afgan Army's 203 Corps. The dead included seven policemen, three soldiers and two officials with the national spy agency, Tahiri said, adding that the killings took place on Tuesday in the province's Andar district where the Taliban conducted what he described as a ‘ceremony’ and forced local people to watch the killings.” Saudi Arabia The Washington Post: Shiite Iraq’s Gains Against Islamic State Spur Fundraising In Saudi Arabia “Iraq’s current military offensive against the Islamic State in the city of Fallujah has sparked a flurry of new fundraising campaigns in Saudi Arabia. ‘You cannot control the sympathies of people,’ said Saudi Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for his government’s Interior Ministry. But what Saudi Arabia can control, he said, are potentially fake campaigns to raise money in the name of the ‘children of Fallujah’ that actually funds terrorism. Charitable solicitation or giving for any cause outside the country has been monitored by the government since 2004, and all private donations going abroad must use official channels, he said. Some 226 people have been convicted of terrorism financing activities.” Egypt Associated Press: Egypt Rights Group Says 754 Extrajudicial Killings In 2016 “An Egyptian rights group that treats victims of torture said Wednesday that extrajudicial killings by security forces have surged, with 754 people killed so far this year. The Nadeem Center said it had documented the cases based on print, online and social media reports. It said there were 326 such killings in all of 2015. In a statement attached to its report, it called for ‘justice’ for what it described as ‘crimes’ of the state. Aida Seif el-Dawla, a psychiatrist and one of the center's co-founders, said by telephone that ‘most of the killings were from shootings or airstrikes’ that took place in the troubled Sinai Peninsula, where security forces have been battling a powerful local affiliate of the Islamic State group.” Associated Press: Egyptair Plane Lands In China After Bomb Threat “An EgyptAir plane that made an emergency landing Wednesday in Uzbekistan following a bomb threat resumed its flight and landed in Beijing, Egyptian officials said, the latest in a series of deadly or damaging air travel incidents involving Egypt. The officials said no bomb was found after the Airbus A330-220 and its passengers were searched by explosives experts. The plane took off for the Chinese capital four hours after it landed in the town of Urgench, about 840 kilometers (600 miles) west of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. According to the officials, an anonymous caller telephoned security agents at the Cairo airport to say a bomb was on board EgyptAir Flight 955, which had 135 passengers and crew on board. The agents immediately contacted the aircraft and ordered it to land at the nearest airport, the officials said.” BBC: Closing In On Egypt Air 'Black Boxes' “The Egypt Air disaster may have dropped out of the news briefly, but the investigation continues apace to find out why flight MS804 crashed. French investigators think they have heard locator-beacon signals from at least one of the ‘black box’ flight recorders, and now salvage experts are heading to the site to take a closer look. Hearing the beacons is one thing, but they won't know for sure what they have found until they send down a robotic submarine armed with bright lights and cameras. ‘Black boxes’ are, in fact, bright orange and have reflective strips, so they show up pretty well when you shine lights on them. The robotic submarine is on a special salvage ship, called the John Lethbridge. The sub has claws (manipulator arms) that can pick things up and bring them to the surface.” Middle East The Washignton Post: Israel And Russia: Bffs? Netanyahu’s Budding ‘Bromance’ With Putin “It’s no secret that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a thorny personal relationship with the leader of his country’s closest ally, President Obama. There is a long litany of faux pas and numerous public comments showing that there is no love lost between these two. That’s why it’s no big surprise that Netanyahu this week is on yet another trip — his third since September — to Moscow, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The trip was meant to mark 25 years of bilateral relations between Israel and Russia but, as many in both countries pointed out, it also indicated a blooming ‘bromance’ between the Russian president and the Israeli prime minister.” The Jerusalem Post: Analysis: The Terrorists Who Slipped Through The Net “Away from the spotlight, security forces have, in recent months, succeeded in foiling an increasing number of attempts by Palestinian terrorist organizations to carry out bombings and shootings in Israeli cities. But there is no such thing as hermetic defense and while the majority of these plots have been thwarted, security forces are not able to stop every killer before he or she attacks. The security quiet that Israelis have felt recently – in the longest lull since violence erupted last October – has been the result of steady operations by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) against terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank, and the terror funders, often from the Gaza Strip.” Libya Deutsche Welle: 'Islamic State' Loses Ground In Syria And Libya “The US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance is prepared to enter the northern Syrian town of Manbij, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The SDF made inroads in the past week by advancing to the outskirts of Manbij, where it aims to dislodge the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) militant group in control of the city. Army Colonel Christopher Garver, a spokesman for the US-led military campaign against IS, said the SDF suffered casualties during the week-long campaign to surround the Syrian city near the Turkish border, adding that about 12 SDF troops were killed and more than 100 wounded.” Reuters: Libyan Brigades Edge Closer To Islamic State Stronghold Of Sirte: Security Sources “Forces aligned with Libya's new unity government advanced on the eastern and southern outskirts of the Islamic State stronghold of Sirte on Wednesday, taking control of at least one military camp, security sources said. The brigades, who are based in the western city of Misrata, launched their counter-offensive against Islamic State last month, pushing the militants back along the coastal road to the west of Sirte and saying they intended to recapture the city. The brigades are aligned with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which has been trying to establish its authority over Libya's competing political and armed factions since arriving in Tripoli in March.” Nigeria Deutsche Welle: Chad Sends 2,000 Troops To Niger To Fight Boko Haram “Chad sent thousands of troops to Niger to engage the Boko Haram militant group following a week of attacks in the Niger's border town Bosso. ‘About 2,000 soldiers with tanks went into Niger yesterday. They should link up with the Nigerien forces in Diffa and advance on Bosso,’ a Chadian military source told Reuters news agency. Niger's defense ministry on Saturday said the militants staged an overnight attack on the border town, leaving 30 Nigerien troops and two from Nigeria dead. The ministry added that there were also ‘several deaths’ among the militants.” Voice Of America: Nigeria Oil Militants Reject Talks With Government “A Nigerian rebel group has rejected the government's offer of talks to end pipeline attacks that are disrupting the country's oil production. The Niger Delta Avengers said on its Twitter account Wednesday that it is not negotiating with any government committee. It also said the group blew up an oil well known as RMP 20, belonging to the Chevron corporation in the Warri North area, at 1 a.m. local time. The Avengers have claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks in southern Nigeria on facilities owned by Chevron, Shell and ENI. Analysts say the damage has cut Nigerian oil output by at least 25 percent, more than a half million barrels per day.” United Kingdom The Jerusalem Post: London Police Blast Open Suspicious Vehicle Parked Outside Israel Embassy “British police detonated a suspicious vehicle parked outside the entrance to the Israeli Embassy in London on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said.  According to initial investigations, police decided to blast open the car's windows after the unidentified vehicle was found parked outside the mission without an identifiable driver. The blast was conducted in order to allow authorities access to search the insides of the vehicle. The British authorities did not find any suspicious items inside the car.” Germany The Washington Post: Germany’s Grand Refugee Experiment “Germany is about to embark on a radical social experiment. It will determine whether the huge wave of refugees that washed over Europe last year will be a boon to the continent, or a catastrophe. No wonder Berlin’s legendary air (celebrated in the unofficial city anthem ‘Berliner Luft’) feels particularly bracing these days. Last week, Germany’s legislature debated a new law on integration, the country’s first. It requires asylum seekers to take lessons in language, culture and values in exchange for faster access to the labor market. The government has promised to subsidize 100,000 new ‘working opportunities,’ many of them low-paid workfare jobs. Labor laws will be relaxed to make hiring refugees easier.” Europe Daily Mail: Euro 2016 Will Be Cancelled If A Terror Attack Takes Place, Officials Admit “Euro 2016 will be cancelled if a terror attack takes place, according to a senior counter-terrorism official in France. Millions of foreign visitors and the world's press are set to descend on the country for a month of sporting action from Friday creating huge challenges for its overstretched security services. But officials fear even a minor attack or even attempted attack risks ending the football competition immediately. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior counter terrorism official told AFP: ‘If there are any deaths, it's simple - three-quarters of foreign teams will leave France,' said the counter-terrorism official. 'And if Daesh claims an attack and promises more, everyone will leave. In any case, how could we continue to have a football party while we're burying victims?' Despite putting unprecedented security measures in place for Euro 2016, France remains deeply concerned over the jihadists' ability to strike a soft target.” The Washigton Post: Big Brussels Neighbors, Once Wary, Stepping Up Cooperation “They both have their headquarters in Belgium’s capital and they profess many of the same values and goals, but until recently the NATO defense alliance and the European Union economic bloc have acted like wary neighbors with little to say to one another. That’s despite the fact that 22 prosperous Western democracies with more than 450 million citizens are members of both organizations, and both have been key to building and keeping the postwar order in Western Europe. This summer, the old standoffish ways are to change dramatically and the keyword will be cooperation, primarily because of Russia’s new military might and assertiveness, the threat of armed Islamic extremism and Europe’s continuing migration crisis.” Arabic Language Clips Counter Extremism Al-Ahram: In The Presence Of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed ... (Egypt's) Minister Of Awqaf Delivers A Lecture Against Extremism In The UAE Dr. Mohammad Mokhtar Gomaa, Egypt’s Minister of Religious Endowments (Awqaf), delivered a lecture in the UAE as part of the program to protect society from extremism. The lecture on Wednesday was attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. It was the first in a series of lectures to be delivered in the UAE during the holy month of Ramadan to protect society from extremism. The Egyptian minister stressed at the outset that the extremist ideology represents a tremendous danger not only to religion but also to the nation and humanity as a whole. This is because extremist groups that claim affiliation to Islam shed the blood of innocent people, slaughter the elderly and women and kill the children falsely in the name of religion and of the Koran. This harms Islam and Muslims and their future, Gomaa noted. ISIS Alhayat: Warning That ISIS Set To Start A 'More Serious' Stage A report released by the Secretary-General of the United Nations indicated that the intensified pressure on ISIS in Syria and Iraq has driven it to "transfer funds to affiliated groups outside the conflict zone." It noted that the core leadership of the organization is currently "suffering financial pressure" which forced it to cut the salaries of fighters in Raqqa by 50 percent late last year. The report added that ISIS's funding sources still rely mainly on "taxes, extortion and smuggling of oil revenues." This is despite the fact that some countries have reported that the organization's ability to produce oil in Syria and Iraq "collapsed." The UN's report asserts that "the Iraqi government's decision to stop paying salaries of employees who live in areas controlled by ISIS cut the flow of funds estimated at $2 billion dollars a year. This is at a time when ISIS's revenues from oil trafficking declined by between 30 to 50 percent. The report underscored that "Libya has turned into a money transfer center for ISIS to finance other terrorist groups, where smuggling activities generate substantial profits for the (terror) group." The UN estimates that ISIS fighters number up to 30,000 in Syria and Iraq. Alwan News: Elmakrahy: Audio Recording Of Mahmoud Ezzat Is An Attempt To Raise Funds For The Brotherhood General Farouk Elmakrahy, Egypt's former assistant to the Interior Affairs minister, said that the recent audio recording by Mahmoud Ezzat, Acting Muslim Brotherhood Guide, represents an attempt to revive the group. Elmakrahy noted during a TV interview on Wednesday that Ezzat has been trying to raise money through this recording. He added that the recording also serves to emphasize that the Brotherhood still exists, thus making it easier for Ezzat to raise funds from the international arm of the group. Mansheet: Obliging (Brotherhood) Defendants In The Burning Of Power Cables To Pay The Cost Of Damages Egypt's Ministry of Electricity and Energy launched a campaign for a thorough inventory of all electricity towers destroyed or set on fire by Muslim Brotherhood operatives or their proxies in the two years since the June 30th Revolution. The report will be forwarded urgently to the judiciary to ratify a court ruling compelling Brotherhood defendants to pay the cost of the damages. At the same time a special legal team is weighing the possibility of obtaining the funds via seized Brotherhood projects and affiliated companies, which are now being run by the state. This is because the perpetrators of the attacks do not have the vast sums of money necessary to cover the costs. Gulfeyes: Emirati Court Returns The Case Of Yemenis Accused Of Belonging To The Muslim Brotherhood To The Pleading Stage The Federal Supreme Court in the United Arab Emirates, in its session held on Tuesday, decided to return the case of those accused of establishing a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the country to the pleading stage before making a final ruling. The 19 defendants on trial include four Emiratis, the other 15 being Yemeni nationals. They are standing trial for establishing and supporting a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE, in addition to other charges associated with these alleged activities. The court decided in its recent session to hold the next review on June 16th. This is to allow one of the defendants to declare the source of the money found in his possession. The amount, which was confiscated, comes to 3.6 million dirhams ($980,000) and the Court has asked him for an itemized breakdown of the sources of these funds.