Eye on Extremism December 15, 2016

Eye on Extremism December 15, 2016 Reuters: Aleppo Evacuation Mission Under Way After Convoy Attacked “An operation to evacuate thousands of civilians and fighters from the last rebel bastion in Aleppo was under way on Thursday despite an earlier attack on a medical convoy by pro-government forces. As buses and ambulances moved into the besieged enclave, the International Committee of the Red Cross said efforts to evacuate around 200 wounded people, part of a wider ceasefire deal, had begun. Russia, a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said the evacuation of 5,000 Syrian rebels and their family members from eastern Aleppo had started.” The Wall Street Journal: In Syria, Russia Acts As U.S. Pulls Back “The recapture of Aleppo by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces presents a stark example of Washington’s pullback in the Middle East at a time when Russia and its partners have stepped in to drive events in the nearly six-year conflict, said U.S., European and Arab officials. The Obama administration was sidelined as Russia and Turkey held negotiations this week to provide humanitarian relief for the inhabitants of the besieged northern Syrian city. The U.S., its allies and the United Nations have accused Syria and its allies of indiscriminately killing civilians in Aleppo; Syria and Russia say they only kill terrorists, not civilians. Civic and rebel groups in the city that have received U.S. support pleaded for outside intervention. Some State Department officials say the U.S. has lost its chance to stave off the humanitarian crisis.” NPR: 'We Want To Live Live Everyone Else' , Say Orphans From Aleppo “Aleppo is under attack. Civilians trapped in the siege in Syria — including children from an orphanage — are turning to social media with a message to the world: End the violence.  In the video, a group of about two dozen children in sweaters and knit caps stand in three rows, as if to sing a Christmas carol or recite a poem. Instead, they have a message for "those concerned with human rights and the rights of children." The video was recorded in Arabic, then translated to English and posted by Aleppo Today TV, an independent Syrian TV channel. "We are scared of the airstrikes ... Please get us out of Aleppo. We want to live like everyone else," says Yasmeen Qanouz, 10.” Al Jazeera: After Aleppo, What Happens To Syria's Besieged Towns “Every night, Muhammad Darwish goes to sleep under four blankets. It is his only hope of keeping warm. Like everyone in the besieged Syrian mountain town of Madaya, the 26-year-old has few other choices if he is to avoid freezing to death. There is no fuel to warm his home or cook hot food. "The weather is so cold because we are in the mountains," said Darwish, a dentistry student and one of the only medics left in Madaya. "The temperature is -5C at night. We are afraid of dying from the cold." Last year, the Syrian mountain resort of Madaya drew the world's attention when medical workers published harrowing photos of its its malnourished residents showing wide-eyed babies without access to milk, and elderly men with cavernous rib cages.” Wall Street Journal: Assad’s Choice: Fight Rebels But Give Way To ISIS “In recent days, the Syrian regime and its foreign allies scored a major victory and suffered a humiliating defeat. The starkly different outcomes of two pivotal battles—for Aleppo and Palmyra—showcased the priorities of the regime and its Russian and Iranian sponsors: to fight moderate Sunni rebels rather than the Sunni extremists of Islamic State. After all, there was no Islamic State in Aleppo, where Syrian forces this week seized most of the rebel-held areas to cap a brutal six-month siege. At the same time, Syrian forces surrendered the historic city of Palmyra to an Islamic State offensive without much of a fight.” National Post: ‘If You Turned In A Kurdish Family, They Gave You A Car’: Under ISIL Rule, Mosul Descended Into Darkness “The first and second stones did not kill her. But the woman accused of adultery by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant would not survive the third. The woman’s killing in a public square was, for those who witnessed it, the cruelest moment in the descent of this once proud city into fear, hunger and isolation under 2 1/2 years of rule by the militants. Iraq’s second-largest city Mosul was once arguably the most multicultural place in Iraq, with a Sunni Muslim Arab majority but also thriving communities of Kurds, Shiites, Christians and Yazidis. Together, they had created Mosul’s distinct identity, with its own cuisine, intellectual life and economy.” The New York Times: A Hotline For Americans And Russians To Avoid Catastrophe In Syrian Skies “Not long after the government-held city of Palmyra in central Syria fell to Islamic State fighters, the United States and Russia both scrambled warplanes on Wednesday to attack militant targets there. This was exactly the kind of scenario the Pentagon feared after Moscow sent fighter jets and troops to Syria in the summer of 2015 to bail out the beleaguered government of President Bashar al-Assad: Russian and American fighters streaking toward each other in Syrian air space, raising the danger of a midair catastrophe. But it is also why the two countries, despite their disputes over how to calm the Syrian civil war, as well as over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine, last year set up a special hotline to help prevent disasters in the air.” The Times Of Israel: IS In Sinai Claims Rocket Attack On Israel That Missed Target “The Islamic State terror group claimed Wednesday that it was responsible for firing two missiles on Monday from the Sinai Peninsula, aimed at an Israeli border crossing with Egypt but which missed the mark and landed in Egyptian territory. The Islamic State affiliate in Egypt, known as Sinai Province, published photos on one of its news agencies from the attack on Monday documenting ‘the bombardment of the Nitzana border crossing on the border with Palestine with two grad rockets.’ On Monday, incoming rocket alert sirens sounded in southern Israel, as a result of the missiles launched in Sinai. The Islamic State group claimed Israel responded with a series of airstrikes against it in the northern Sinai peninsula. The IS news agency said that Israel carried out three strikes over the course of three days in the area of Sheikh Zuweid in the northern peninsula. The Israel Defense Forces would not respond to the allegation.” CNN: Voices Of Iraq: Minorities On The Edge Of Extinction “In the offices of a Kurdish government ministry created to promote ethnic and religious harmony, a Jewish man -- one of the last in Iraq -- reflects on his nation's past of persecution and a future darkened by ISIS. ‘Iraq,’ says Sherzhad Memsani, ‘is a graveyard for ethnic and religious minorities. We never expected another Holocaust would happen. But it did.’ ISIS killed and tortured Iraqis who did not subscribe to their extreme brand of Islam. Thousands of others fled their homes to escape the militant group's brutality. Now, some of Iraq's religious and ethnic minority communities teeter on extinction.” The Daily Beast: How Schoolgirls Slaughtered 56 People In Nigeria In One Attack “They waited until it was the Friday before the Eid el Maulud celebrating the birth of Prophet Muhammad when the Madagali market would very busy, very crowded. And then they struck: Two schoolgirls blew themselves up. In that one attack on December 9 in Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa state 56 people died. There was little doubt that a faction of Boko Haram was behind it. Witnesses said that the girls walked innocently into the section of the market where vegetables and second-hand clothing were sold, acting as if they had something they wanted to buy, before they triggered their bombs.” Reuters: Life After The Caliphate: Boko Haram's Nigerian Former Stronghold Now A Safe Haven “In the northern Nigerian town of Bama the streets are eerily quiet. Houses lie empty, riddled with bullet holes, and symbols of the jihadist group Boko Haram are painted on the walls. Bama, once the militants' stronghold, was liberated from the Islamist fighters by the Nigerian army in March 2015, but is only reached safely by helicopter - the roads still too dangerous because of the risk of ambush by the insurgents. Despite its ghostly atmosphere and violent history, the town is now a safe haven for around 10,000 people, among more than two million in Nigeria who have fled areas held by Boko Haram. Two years ago, when militants seized Bama and rounded up all the men, 55-year-old Malam Wana hid in his house for a month, surviving on grain and sending his wife out to collect water.” Time: Islamist Terrorists Are Now Targeting Asia’s Domestic Helpers As Recruits For Suicide Missions “An Islamist cell on the Indonesia island of Java successfully radicalized a domestic helper who had worked in Singapore and Taiwan, and convinced her to attempt a suicide bomb attack on the offices of Indonesia’s President. That’s according to an interview given by the 27-year-old helper on Indonesian television Tuesday, cited in the Straits Times. Dian Yulia Novi was arrested with six accomplices at the weekend, accused of plotting to detonate a massive bomb at the presidential palace in Jakarta. She is the first would-be female suicide bomber arrested in Indonesia.” The Jerusalem Post: Kenya Deports Iranian Nationals Over Israeli Embassy Terror Plot “A court in Kenya instructed authorities to deport two Iranian citizens who were accused in the beginning of December 2016 of plotting a terror attack against the Israeli embassy located in African country's capital of Nairobi, according to Israel Radio Wednesday. The court order was released after the Kenyan prosecution and the Iranian Embassy in Kenya reached a mutual agreement in regard to the completion of the criminal process against the two Iranians. The pair were arrested two weeks ago while driving a car with a diplomatic license plate near the Israeli embassy. Upon their arrest, it was discovered that they had a video documenting the building where the embassy is located.” The New York Times: French Terrorism Suspects Appeared Anything But “One was a well-liked elementary school assistant. Another was a hard-working cargo handler. The third was a friendly grocer. They were longtime friends in their quiet suburban neighborhood, and they joked with teenagers and greeted children with a smile. Yet in the early hours of Nov. 20 agents from France’s internal security agency swooped down, plucking the three and one other from their apartments, charging them with plotting a terrorist attack, and locking them up in a prison outside Paris. Here was a new type of terrorism arrest: decently paid men in their 30s giving no warning signs of radicalization — no beards, no robes, no proselytizing.” United States CNN: US Says 75% Of ISIS Fighters Killed “At least 75% of ISIS fighters have been killed during the campaign of US-led airstrikes, according to US officials. The US anti-ISIS envoy said the campaign has winnowed ISIS' ranks to between 12,000 and 15,000 ‘battle ready’ fighters, a top US official said on Tuesday. The figures mean the US and its coalition partners have taken out vastly more ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria than currently remain on the battlefield, two years since the bombing campaign began. Last week a US official said the coalition had killed 50,000 militants since 2014. But it's also clear Obama will depart office without fully quashing the terror group, leaving a still-significant battle for Donald Trump when he becomes commander in chief in January.” Fox News: Family Fights For Release Of US Pastor Jailed In Turkey On Terrorism Charges “Andrew Brunson, 48, pastor of a Protestant church in Izmir, was locked up Friday after first being detained in October. The government accuses him of having ties to an American-based cleric, Fetullah Gulen, who Ankara blames for a July coup attempt. ‘The government of Turkey -- led by an Islamic party -- has begun increased crackdowns on Christians, and Pastor Andrew, if convicted, may face years in prison based on extremely serious -- and false -- charges,’ said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing Brunson's family.” Syria Reuters: Twenty Islamic State Militants Killed In Turkish-Backed Syria Operation: Army “Turkish warplanes killed 20 Islamic State fighters and destroyed seven buildings and one defensive position used by the militants over the last 24 hours in its operations in northern Syria, Turkey's military said on Thursday. The Turkish army and Syrian rebel forces launched the ‘Euphrates Shield’ operation to push the jihadists and a Kurdish militia away from its southern border on Aug. 24 and their forces are currently besieging the IS-controlled city of al-Bab.” Fox News: ISIS May Have Stolen Syrian Missile System After Retaking Palmyra, US General Warns “The Islamic State may have taken possession of a Syrian military surface-to-air missile system when the terrorists recaptured the historic city of Palmyra, the top U.S. general in Iraq told Pentagon reporters Wednesday. ISIS retook Palmyra over the weekend after Syrian regime troops escaped in a hurry, leaving behind a trove of weapons. A separate U.S. defense official told Fox News ISIS was in control of an SA-3 missile system taken from the Syrian regime outside Palmyra, a development first reported by the Washington Post. It was not immediately clear whether ISIS knew how to use it.  Townsend said ISIS took Palmyra when Russia and Syria took their eyes off the ball. He emphasized that if the Russians don't take out the weapons seized by ISIS, ‘we will.’” Turkey Bloomberg: Russia And Turkey Pushed The West Out Of Syria “Neither the U.S. nor European powers seem to have been aware that Russia and Turkey were negotiating a ceasefire and evacuation deal for Aleppo on Tuesday. After the capture of the ravaged but all-important city by President Bashar al-Assad's forces, this may be the new normal in Syria -- one in which the West is more of a spectator than an active participant. Though the evacuation, planned for 5:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, was delayed by an outbreak of fighting, with the sides blaming each other as usual, talks are continuing, and Western nations are not part of them. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday morning that it was ‘pointless’ to talk to the U.S.; negotiations with Turkey would be ‘more effective than many months of a pointless hangout we have had with the United States.’” CNN: Turkey's Erdogan Is Creating A New Type Of Presidency “President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dream of transforming Turkey into a powerful executive presidency is one step closer to reality. Last Saturday, the ruling Justice and Development Party introduced a 21-article constitutional amendment to vastly strengthen the powers of the head of state. With the support of right-wing Turkish nationalists, the parliament will probably promulgate the package for endorsement by a popular referendum by mid-2017. Turkey's proposed presidential system will abolish the role of prime minister while granting authority to the president to issue law, declare a state of emergency, dismiss parliament and to appoint ministers, public officials and half of the senior judges. He will usurp parliament's existing right to audit ministers and will be able to extend the duration of his term in office until at least 2029.” BBC: Turkey's Football Fans Unite After Bomb Attacks At Istanbul Stadium “Thousands of rival fans have come together in a show of solidarity to pay their respects to the 44 people killed outside a stadium in Istanbul. Crowds arrived to watch top-division team Besiktas in their first home match since a twin bomb attack targeted police at its stadium on Saturday. Football fans, many of them waving Turkish flags, packed the Vodafone Arena. The teams observed a minute's silence in memory of those killed. Besiktas said that money from Wednesday's ticket sales would be given to the families of victims. The attacks at the weekend occurred just hours after a match. A car bomb hit a police vehicle and a suicide bomber detonated a suicide vest in quick succession. Ten arrests were made. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that one of the bombers involved in the attack was from Syria. The majority of those killed were police officers. Dozens of people were also injured, officials said.” Voice Of America: Turkey Seeks To Arrest 55 People Suspected Of Financing Gulen “Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 55 people, including businessmen, suspected of giving financial support to the network of the U.S.-based cleric Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup in July, broadcaster NTV said. The businessmen suspected of being linked to the cleric's network allegedly carried large sums of cash, which they have called a ‘favor,’ back and forth between Turkey, Tanzania, Uganda and Kazakhstan since 2014, NTV said. Ankara accuses the cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the July 15 coup bid, in which rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, fighter jets and helicopters to attack the parliament and attempt to overthrow the government.” Afghanistan Reuters: Kabul Security Gates In Storage As Afghan Officials Trade Accusations “A set of giant security gates financed by China and intended to protect Kabul from large bombs and drug smuggling lie stored in a warehouse more than five months after they arrived, while Afghan authorities bicker over who should install them. Intended for the four main entry points into Kabul, they have been delayed by infighting between departments and by a land dispute, underlining the difficulty of getting things done in a country where conflict and corruption have slowed progress. The hangar-style gates, each weighing around 30 tonnes, are to reinforce the so-called ‘Ring of Steel’ that surrounds Kabul, a city of five million people already protected by blast walls, armed checkpoints and eye-in-the-sky surveillance cameras.” The Wall Street Journal: Afghan Policeman Opens Fire Near Kabul Airport “A policeman opened fire at a checkpoint outside the international airport in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding at least two others. The victims of the attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul weren’t identified. An interior ministry official said only that the dead man was Ugandan and that the wounded included an Afghan soldier and an Indian citizen. The assailant was detained, the official said, but the motive for the attack wasn’t immediately clear. Members of Afghanistan’s security forces have turned their guns on foreign troops and civilians in the past. Some attackers were later found to be Taliban infiltrators, while others acted out of personal grudges.” Voice Of America: Afghanistan Continues To Fume Over Russia’s Outreach To Taliban Officials and lawmakers in Afghanistan continue to question and denounce Russia’s recent disclosure that it maintains ‘limited political’ contacts with the Taliban. The ongoing session of the Afghan parliament has witnessed a heated debate on the issue, with some lawmakers condemning Russia’s outreach to the Islamist insurgency as ‘shameful’ while others accusing Moscow of providing modern warfare to Taliban fighters. Lawmakers also criticized neighboring Iran for backing the Taliban. On Wednesday, the legislative lower house, or Wolasi Jirga, passed a resolution, urging President Ashraf Ghani’s national unity government not to allow neighboring and regional countries to interfere in internal Afghan matters ‘on the pretext of supporting the Taliban to fight Islamic State.’” Egypt Newsweek: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Egypt Cathedral Bombing “The Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a Coptic Christian cathedral in the Egyptian capital Cairo, which killed at least 25 people. The attack took place in a side chapel that adjoins St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the main Coptic cathedral in Egypt and the seat of Coptic Pope Tawadros II. 49 people were wounded in the attack and at least six children were among the dead, as worshippers gathered for mass were caught up in the explosion. In a statement circulated by the Amaq news agency on Tuesday, ISIS said that one of its fighters—whom it named as Abu Abdallah al-Masri—had carried out the attack. ‘Every infidel and apostate in Egypt and everywhere should know that our war...continues,’ said the statement, Reuters reported.” Middle East The Times Of Israel: Cop Stabbed In Head With Screwdriver, Lightly Hurt In Jerusalem Attack “A police officer was stabbed in the head and lightly wounded in an attack in the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday, police said. Another officer was also very lightly wounded in the attack. A 12-year-old resident of East Jerusalem with a light head wound claimed he was also attacked by the assailant. Police said they were still investigating the claim.The assailant was shot and mortally wounded. The attacker approached a group of officers near the Austrian Hospice in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. As he got close to them, he pulled out a screwdriver and attacked the officers, stabbing one in the head and the other in the upper body, police said.” The Jerusalem Post: Netanyahu To Iran: 'Don't Threaten Israel, We're A Tiger Not A Rabbit' “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed a message to Iran on Wednesday, warning the Islamic Republic’s leaders: ‘Don’t threaten us, we are not a rabbit, we are a tiger. If you threaten us you endanger yourself.’ Netanyahu spoke after being asked during his visit to Kazakhstan by President Nursultan Nazarbayev if he wanted to send a message to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who is scheduled to visit Kazakhstan next week. Netanyahu added that if Iran changes its policy and attitude toward Israel, ‘we will change ours.’ When asked by his host if he sincerely believed that Iran means what it says, that it wants to destroy Israel, he answered, ‘Yes, I do believe it.’” Nigeria Sputnik News: Over 450 Children Reportedly Saved From Boko Haram In Northeastern Nigeria “According to the commander, over a dozen Boko Haram fighters were eliminated as a result of the rescue operation conducted in Sambisa Forest in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State. ‘These victims who have been rescued include, 69 adult male, 180 adult female, 227 male children and 229 female children,’ Irabor told journalists, as quoted by Daily Post Nigeria on Wednesday. The Boko Haram extremist group began large-scale attacks in northeastern Nigeria in 2009. Last year, the group expanded its attacks into neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad. The extremist group has pledged allegiance to Daesh terrorist organization, outlawed in Russia and many other countries.” Germany The Guardian: The Neo-Nazi Murder Trial Revealing Germany's Darkest Secrets “In the beginning, they were known as die Dönermorde – the kebab murders. The victims had little in common, apart from immigrant backgrounds and the modest businesses they ran. The first to die was Enver Şimşek, a 38-year-old Turkish-German man who ran a flower-import company in the southern German town of Nuremberg. On 9 September 2000, he was shot inside his van by two gunmen, and died in hospital two days later. The following June, in the same city, 49-year-old Abdurrahim Özüdoğru was killed by two bullets while helping out after hours in a tailor’s shop. Two weeks later, in Hamburg, 500km north, Süleyman Taşköprü, 31, was shot three times and died in his greengrocer’s shop. Two months later, in August 2001, greengrocer Habil Kılıç, 38, was shot twice in his shop in the Munich suburbs. France Reuters: France To Deploy Extra Police, Troops For Festive Events “France will put more police and soldiers on the streets to deter would-be militant attackers from striking during Christmas and New Year festivities, Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said on Wednesday. The newly appointed minister was speaking after parliament voted overnight to extend a state of emergency imposed after Islamists killed 130 people in Paris in multiple attacks just over a year ago. ‘The threat is serious,’ said Le Roux, who has the power to deploy around 3,000 extra police and soldiers during the year-end holiday season, a peak time for party events and at airports and railway stations. ‘I want tourists to come to the country in large numbers and I want our fellow citizens to be able to go out and have fun,’ he told RTL radio.” Europe Reuters: EU Leaders Seek More Vessels For Libyan Coastguard “European Union leaders will on Thursday call for more vessels for the Libyan coastguard to help it prevent migrants leaving its shores for Europe, sources said. Migrant arrivals from Libya to EU member state Italy are higher this year than last at more than 175,000 people. Curbing immigration is the bloc's top priority after about 1.4 million refugees and migrants reached it in 2015-2016. The EU's naval operation in the Mediterranean, Sophia, which is targeting arms traffickers and training the Libyan coastguard, is obliged to pluck out of the sea people who leave Libya in unreliable boats provided by people smugglers, meaning most of those who reach Italy arrive on EU vessels.” Counter-Extremism Elfagr: Headmaster In Faiyum, Egypt: Terrorist Groups Exploit Citizens' Need For Money “Adel Abo Elnour, Headmaster of Faiyum-based Gamal Abd El Nasser Military High School, was interviewed on Wednesday night by Egyptian TV presenter Wael Al-Ibrashi, on his TV "10 O'clock Show" aired by Dream TV channel. During the interview, Abo Elnour explained that the causes of extremism are manifold and interrelated, noting that all of the causes {and their uprooting} are part of the curriculum of the Ministry of Education. Abo Elnour explained that there are three levels of extremism: "mental, emotional and behavioral." He posed this question: "Does the Egyptian curriculum equip students to reflect and think {about events}?" He added that terrorist recruiters prey on those young people who are not equipped to do so. He also went on to say that the emotional component is represented by strong impulsiveness, while the behavioral aspect pushes the individual to exercise aggressiveness against other people. Abo Elnour asked: "Is {our} education able to control {and regulate} these three levels?" He emphasized that "terrorist groups include trained figures who know how to control the {minds of the} youth. According to Abo Elnour, these groups play on the needs of citizens for money. He concluded by saying that vast funds are being channeled to {terror} groups which enable them to recruit young people.” Financing of Terrorism The Seventh Day: Egyptian Expert: Terrorist Groups Attract Young People In Different Ways “Nabil Naim, a former jihadist leader, claimed there are several ways used by Takfiri and jihadist groups to attract young Egyptians to their ranks {and get them} to carry out terrorist operations in Egypt. These include reliance on the widespread unemployment among young adults, who pass the time sitting in cafes. There, they {terror recruiters} communicate with them and urge them to join their ranks for religious reasons and in exchange for payment. The ex-jihadist leader explained that terrorist movements and armed factions use the method of "cohabiting" {with potential recruits} in universities, in mosques or in venues where young people live.” Muslim Brotherhood The Seventh Day: Egypt: Decision To Freeze Assets Of President Of Business News Co. And Others Due To Affiliation With Brotherhood “The Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee informed the Egyptian Stock Exchange, the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority and Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry (MCDR) of its Decision No. 231, dated December 5th, 2016, issued by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters. This decision froze all assets, accounts and properties owned by Mustafa Mokhtar Mohammed Saqr, Chairman of "Business News Company" and other individuals belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Committee urged the Stock Market, the Regulatory Authority and MCDR to take all necessary measures to prevent these individuals from disposing of their assets, movable or liquid, and prevent them from disposing of their bank accounts, deposits, bonds or treasury bills registered under their names in any bank under the control of the Central Bank.” Aswat Masriya: Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee Seizes Funds Of New Entities “Muslim Brotherhood Asset Freeze Committee today issued two decisions to appropriate funds owned by Nour Mohammed Ali Yousef and Khaled Ahmed Abu Shadi. In addition, the Committee seized "Al Nour Import-Export Company." Sources added that another seizure decision was adopted concerning the funds of two civic associations: Alfajr Charity from Sarawa village and Safwa Charity from Tamalay village. Both charities are from Markaz Ashmoun in Menoufia.” Elfagr: Mayor Of Village In Egypt: Flow Of Huge Sums Of Money To Extremists And Muslim Brotherhood Members “Faiyum Zeid's village mayor, Foad Hiba, warned parents and families against the widespread dissemination of extremist ideas. He pointed out that terrorism {in Egypt} began in the 1970s in the Faiyum governorate. Hiba made these comments in an interview on Wednesday night with Egyptian TV presenter, Wael Al-Ibrashi, on his TV "10 O'clock Show" aired by Dream TV channel. Hiba conveyed information indicating that extremists have been using mosques for spreading radical ideas among the youth. He revealed that for this reason locals were avoiding mosques and refusing to hold prayers near bearded men. Hiba said that he noticed that huge funds were flowing to extremists and members of terrorist groups in the province, stressing that all funding comes from abroad. He claimed that during the term of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood members were nominated to official posts in the province and were even plotting to nominate a local merchant for governor.” Gulfeyes: Houthis Obtain Funds In 'Various And Sundry' Ways “The Houthis are seeking to fill their coffers in Sanaa by all means, burdening the citizens in a variety of ways such as hiking prices and trading on the black market. They are also imposing huge sums of {ransom} money on families for the release of their abducted children. The 'proceeds' go {directly} to Houthi leaders. Houthi militias impose {ransom} sums ranging from a minimum of 1 million Yemeni riyals ($4,000) up to two million ($8,000).”