Eye on Extremism December 8, 2016

Eye on Extremism December 8, 2016 Counter Extremism Project HBO Vice News Tonight: Technology “The HBO aired segment highlights CEP's technology that can detect and remove extremist content from Internet and social media platforms, developed with Dartmouth College Computer Science Professor Dr. Hany Farid, the world's foremost expert on hashing technology. Dr. Farid is interviewed about the announcement by Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter that they plan to collaborate in order to remove certain extremist content from their sites.” Defense One: The Flaw In Tech Giants’ Plan To Fight Extremist Content “The software that records the fingerprints comes from Dartmouth University computer scientist Hany Farid, who developed it with a grant provided by Microsoft and alongside the Counter Extremism Project or, CEP.  I think this is a good first step, said Farid. The thing I am concerned about, and that CEP is concerned about, is the lack of transparency and accountability in the system. We're going to do a joint coalition; what are they going to be looking for? How aggressively is it going to be done? How often are they updating the database?” Associated Press: Syrian Government Advances Despite Rebel Cease-Fire Offer “Syria's government ignored a rebel cease-fire proposal for Aleppo on Wednesday as its forces captured new neighborhoods around the city center and squeezed some 200,000 tired and frightened civilians into a shattered and rapidly shrinking opposition enclave. The Syrian government and its ally Russia have rejected previous cease-fires for the war-torn city, keeping up the military offensive that has forced rebel retreats and displaced at least 30,000 civilians in the past 11 days, according to U.N. figures. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Wednesday in Hamburg, Germany but did not release any statements.” The Hill: Third US Soldier Dies From Nov. Suicide Bombing In Afghanistan “A third soldier has died from wounds suffered in an apparent suicide bombing last month in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Wednesday. Sgt. 1st Class Allan E. Brown, 46, of Takoma Park, Md., died Tuesday at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, the Defense Department said. Brown was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Sustainment Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The bombing happened at Bagram Air Field on Nov. 12. It was the first suicide bombing inside the walls of the heavily guarded base since U.S. forces entered Afghanistan in 2001.” BBC: Syria Conflict: 'Israel Missiles' Hit Damascus Military Airport “Syrian state media say an Israeli missile strike has targeted a military airport on the outskirts of Damascus. The attack in Mezzeh is reported to have caused fires, but no casualties. The Israeli military has made no comment, but it is the second time in a week that it is alleged to have carried out a strike on Syrian territory. It is thought to have bombed weapons shipments intended for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement several times since Syria's civil war began in 2011. Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces.” Daily Mail: Around 1,500 European Jihadists Return From Mideast: Report “Around a third of the estimated 5,000 European jihadists who went to Syria and Iraq have returned to Europe, and some may have orders to attack, an EU report warned Wednesday. Up to 2,500 fighters from Europe remained on the battlefield but their massive return in the short term seemed unlikely, according to the report seen by AFP. Belgium expressed concern last month that jihadists were increasingly returning to Europe as US-backed coalition forces drive the Islamic State (IS) group from territory in Syria and Iraq.” Newsweek: Does Vladimir Putin Have Plans For The Taliban In Afghanistan? “Afghan and American officials are increasingly worried that any deepening of ties between Russia and Taliban militants fighting to topple the government in Kabul could complicate an already precarious security situation. Russian officials have denied they provide aid to the insurgents, who are contesting large swathes of territory and inflicting heavy casualties, and say their limited contacts are aimed at bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table. Leaders in Kabul say Russian support for the Afghan Taliban appears to be mostly political so far.” The Washington Post: Islamic State Loses Its Stronghold In Libya, But More Chaos Could Soon Follow “Libyan militias backed by American airstrikes said they have cleared the stronghold of the Islamic State in Libya, a defeat that would set back the group’s ambitions in North Africa. The country, however, remains very unstable amid battles between rival militias, and the remaining militants could still undermine a fragile U.S.-backed unity government, analysts say. Libyan fighters erupted in celebration in the coastal city of Sirte on Tuesday after a nearly seven-month struggle to oust the Islamic State, as the mostly pro-government forces were searching for any remaining militants.” Reuters: How Iran Closed The Mosul 'Horseshoe' And Changed Iraq War “In the early days of the assault on Islamic State in Mosul, Iran successfully pressed Iraq to change its battle plan and seal off the city, an intervention which has since shaped the tortuous course of the conflict, sources briefed on the plan say. The original campaign strategy called for Iraqi forces to close in around Mosul in a horseshoe formation, blocking three fronts but leaving open the fourth - to the west of the city leading to Islamic State territory in neighboring Syria. That model, used to recapture several Iraqi cities from the ultra-hardline militants in the last two years, would have left fighters and civilians a clear route of escape and could have made the Mosul battle quicker and simpler.” Fox News: UN: Boko Haram Remains A Threat Even As They Lose Territory “The U.N.'s envoy for Central Africa says a multinational regional force has reclaimed much of the territory controlled by Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin but the extremist group remains a serious threat to regional stability. Francois Lounceny Fall told the Security Council on Wednesday that Boko Haram's ability to cause mayhem should not be under estimated. He said the countries of Lake Chad Basin continued to fund the regional force, but a lack of money was hampering its efforts operationally and in terms of providing support to the large number of people displaced by Boko Haram — whose fighters are also hindering humanitarian access.” United States CNN: ISIS Rise Surprised Obama, US Intelligence “ISIS' march across Iraq and Syria -- a campaign that's forced President Barack Obama to return small numbers of US troops to the region, even after touting an end to the decade-long ground offensives there -- came as a surprise to US intelligence, the President told CNN in a new special report. The terror organization's rise in a tumultuous Middle East has provided Obama some of the toughest decisions of his presidency, choices that CNN's Fareed Zakaria explores in ‘The Legacy of Barack Obama’ airing Wednesday.” Reuters: U.S. Urges Yemen To Accept U.N.-Drafted Roadmap For Peace Talks “The United States expressed disappointment on Wednesday at the Yemeni government's reaction to a U.N.-drafted roadmap to end the country's civil war and urged it to accept the proposal as a basis to begin negotiations on a peace agreement. Yemen appeared to reject the U.N. plan on Tuesday, calling it a ‘dangerous international precedent’ that would legitimize the rebellion against the internationally recognized government. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing the United States was ‘disappointed’ by Yemen's reaction. ‘We call on the Yemeni government to accept the roadmap,’ he said. ‘We recognize that the roadmap does contain difficult choices and underscore that compromises and concessions by all parties will be necessary to reach a durable political settlement.’”   The Guardian: US Launches Airstrike On Mosul Hospital Used By Isis, Military Says “The US military has deliberately conducted an airstrike on a hospital in the Iraqi city of Mosul, it said on Wednesday, after saying its Iraqi allies came under fire by Islamic State fighters from the hospital complex. US Central Command (Centcom) said it launched a ‘precision strike’ on a building within the al-Salem hospital complex from which Isis fighters had for more than a day launched ‘heavy’ machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire on Iraqi forces. The coalition did not say if any patients or civilians were present at the scene of the airstrike on the ‘building on the hospital complex’ nor did it answer a question about any noncombatants being killed or wounded.” Reuters: U.S. Sanctions Two Yemenis, Charity Tied To Al Qaeda In Yemen “The United States imposed sanctions on two Yemeni men and a Yemen-based charity on Wednesday as part of its ongoing efforts to disrupt the financial and support networks of the Islamist militant group al Qaeda's powerful Yemen branch, the U.S. Treasury said. The Treasury added Al-Hasan Ali Ali Abkar, Abdallah Faysal Sadiq al-Ahdal and the Rahmah Charitable Organization to its list of specially designated nationals and entities that support or engage in terrorism. It said the Rahmah Charitable Organization acted as a ‘front organization’ for the group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).” ABC News: Prison For Michigan Man Accused Of Wanting To Fight In Syria “A Detroit-area man accused of trying to travel to the Middle East to fight in Syria's civil war has been sentenced to five years in prison. Mohammad Hamdan has been in custody for nearly three years and will get credit for that time. He was sentenced Wednesday, about four months after pleading guilty to making false statements to agents. The government says the 24-year-old Hamdan wanted to join Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group in Lebanon that is classified by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. He was arrested in 2014 prior to boarding a flight at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Hamdan is a native of Lebanon. He says he won't oppose an effort to deport him there after his prison sentence.” Associated Press: Kerry, Russia's Lavrov To Meet In Hamburg To Discuss Syria “A spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry says U.S. Secretary State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are meeting for talks later in the day. Maria Zakharova said at a news conference Wednesday that Lavrov will travel later in the day to meet Kerry in Hamburg, a day earlier than expected. Kerry said Tuesday that he hopes to convince Syria's warring factions and their backers to return to the negotiating table before the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo is destroyed. Russia is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Lavrov complained on Tuesday that talks with Washington are not working and that the rebels would be wiped out if they don't leave eastern Aleppo.” Syria Associated Press: Assad Supporters See Domino Effect In Aleppo Government Win “Aleppo shakes with explosions and gunfire day and night in both the government- and rebel-held sides of the divided Syrian city. But for supporters of President Bashar Assad, there is a growing sense of imminent victory. If the city's rebel-held sector falls, many see a domino effect across the country. And with the rebels losing one ravaged stronghold after another, attacked from the skies and abandoned by allies, it's a scenario that looks ever more plausible. A rebel defeat in Aleppo, Syria's largest city and once its commercial center, would reverberate across the war-torn country, where opposition forces continue to hold out in smaller, scattered areas.” ABC News: Aleppo Rebels, Caught On The Back Foot, Propose Hail Mary Truce In Syria “Bodies lie lifeless in the streets of Aleppo’s old city. Rescue workers are unable to pull out the dead fast enough under the unrelenting shelling and bombing by pro-Assad forces on the march. Two weeks into their renewed offensive on eastern Aleppo, Syria, forces backing President Bashar al-Assad have captured close to 75 percent of the territory controlled by opposition armed factions, including the old city. The fall of eastern Aleppo would grant Assad a strategic victory, returning all urban centers in the country to his control. Suffering successive defeats, the rebels today proposed a five-day ceasefire in what many see as their Hail Mary, while a defiant Assad said the United States was ‘begging for a truce’ seeing the dire straits the opposition factions were now in.” Newsweek: New ISIS Spokesman Is A Little-Known And Dangerous Mouthpiece “On September 12, the Pentagon confirmed what it had achieved in a Syria airstrike two weeks earlier: the killing of the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group’s chief propagandist and strategist, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani. More than three months passed since his death before the radical Islamist group named a successor. That announcement came in a 24-minute audio recording posted online on Monday, in which the ISIS-linked Furqan media branch named Adnani’s successor as Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, whose appearance and location remain unknown. Adnani, a 39-year-old Syrian, spearheaded ISIS’s propaganda output of gruesome beheading videos and massacres that meant it overtook Al-Qaeda as the world’s best known jihadi group.” Iraq Deutsche Welle: Between The Fronts - Christians In Iraq “Christians in the ‘Virgin Mary’ refugee camp do not want to return to Qaraqosh. Even though the city has been liberated, it is devastated and mistrust of security forces is high. Birgit Svensson reports from Baghdad. The ‘Virgin Mary’ refugee camp is in the center of Baghdad and only open to Christians. Christian Iraqi parliamentarian Yonadam Kanna rented the property - which is situated next to his Assyrian Democratic Movement headquarters - from the city after large numbers of Christians in Northern Iraq were forced to flee because of ‘IS’ advances. Those Christians have been living here since April 2015. In all, 150 families are here - 800 people; 100 of them school-age children.” CNN: ISIS Hostage John Cantlie Appears In Propaganda Video “British journalist John Cantlie appears in a new ISIS propaganda video recently recorded in Mosul, Iraq, Iraqi security officials told CNN. In the video, which was published Wednesday, a bearded Cantlie appears thin, wearing a heavy dark coat and black trousers. He describes how allied forces bombed four of five bridges that span the River Tigris and how the bridges' destruction has hurt residents of the city. Cantlie also talks about the bombing of water pipes that supply large parts of the city. The last time Cantlie was seen alive was in a July ISIS propaganda video. Iraqi security officials told CNN that the newest Cantlie video appears to have been recorded within the last few days.” Turkey Reuters: Turkish Air Strikes Kill 23 Islamic State Militants In Syria's Al-Bab Region- Army “Turkish warplanes pounded 12 Islamic State targets in the al-Bab region of northern Syria on Wednesday, killing 23 militants, the military said. The air strikes were launched as Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish troops and firepower, besiege Islamic State controlled al-Bab as part of the three-month-old Euphrates Shield operation to push the jihadists and a Kurdish militia away from Turkey's border. Separately, one Turkish soldier was killed and six were wounded, one of them seriously, in a vehicle-borne bomb attack in the area on Wednesday morning, the military said in its statement. Media reports had earlier said two soldiers were killed in the attack. Military and hospital officials said the wounded soldiers were transported to hospitals in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep.” The Wall Street Journal: Turkey’s Post-Coup Crackdown Includes Officers At NATO “Since a failed coup in July, Turkey has recalled half of its military officers assigned to commands overseen by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s top commander, officials said Wednesday. U.S. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, said 150 of the 300 Turkish officers serving in several key military commands of the alliance had been summoned back to Turkey and about half have been replaced. Turkey’s military chief, Gen, Hulusi Akar, has pledged to refill all the slots in NATO allotted for Turkey, Gen. Scaparrotti said. He and other NATO officials said, however, that many of the new officers have far less experience, raising concerns that they will undermine the alliance’s work. Yemen BBC: Yemen Ship Sinking: 35 Rescued Off Coast “At least 35 of the almost 60 people who were on board a ship that sank in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Yemen have been rescued, officials say. The cargo vessel disappeared about 48km (26 nautical miles) north-west of the remote island of Socotra while sailing from the eastern province of Hadramawt. The government says the incident took place five days ago, but it appears that it was only confirmed on Tuesday. The cause of the disaster is not clear, but a minister said it was an accident. The government has asked merchant vessels and warships in the area to help search for survivors, some of whom are believed to have escaped in lifeboats.” Egypt The Guardian: Arrest Of Leading Egyptian Feminist Azza Soliman Sparks Anger “Human rights activists in Egypt have reacted angrily to the arrest of prominent women’s rights advocate Azza Soliman, saying it marked a ‘chilling escalation’ of pressure on civil society organisations. Soliman, the founder of the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA), is one of a number of activists, lawyers and journalists to have been prevented from leaving Egypt in the past month. The rights lawyer and leading feminist said last week that she had been turned back on 19 November at Cairo airport. Soon after, Soliman discovered that her personal assets and those of her group had been frozen. On Wednesday, her foundation and a security source said she had been detained by police.” Middle East The Times Of Israel: Liberman On Syria Strikes: Israel Keeping Wmds From Hezbollah “Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman acknowledged that Israel was responsible for recent attacks in Syria, saying on Wednesday that they were meant to prevent ‘advanced weapons, military equipment and weapons of mass destruction’ from reaching Hezbollah. Speaking to ambassadors from the European Union, Liberman did not specify what incident or incidents he was referring to, speaking only about ‘what was done in Syria,’ according to a statement from his office. ‘We are working, first and foremost, to defend the safety of our citizens and to protect our sovereignty, and we are trying to prevent the smuggling of advanced weapons, military equipment and weapons of mass destruction from Syria to Hezbollah,’ he said.” Libya Associated Press: Libyan Militias Launch Assault On Vital Oil Terminals “Libyan militias that were expelled from the eastern city of Benghazi are now advancing toward the country's vital oil terminals, seeking to establish control over Libya's primary revenue source. The so-called Benghazi Defense Force launched its assault on Wednesday, taking over three eastern towns including the al-Sidra terminal, according to lawmaker Tarek al-Jaroushi, who is the head of the national security committee in the internationally-recognized parliament. Libya is split into two governments, with an internationally recognized parliament in the east that has refused to approve the U.N.-brokered government in the capital, Tripoli.” Reuters: Eastern Libyan Forces Foil Rival Faction's Advance On Oil Ports: Officials “Eastern Libyan forces said they thwarted an attempted advance on some of Libya's major oil ports on Wednesday, hitting a rival faction with air strikes and capturing some of its commanders. The violence raised the prospect of a fresh struggle for control of the oil ports and for overall power between the many armed factions in anarchic Libya that have competed with each other in shifting alliances since a 2011 uprising. It came a day after forces led by brigades from the western city of Misrata completed a near seven-month battle to oust Islamic State militants from their erstwhile North African stronghold in Sirte, the hometown of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi and less than 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the oil ports.” Nigeria Newsweek: Nigeria’s President Says Boko Haram Is Finished As A Fighting Force “Almost exactly a year after he proclaimed that the Nigerian military had ‘technically defeated’ Boko Haram, President Muhammadu Buhari has again insisted that the end is coming for the Islamist militant group. At a security conference in the Senegalese capital Dakar on Tuesday, the Nigerian president said that members of the militant group—which has fractured into a faction loyal to long-time leader Abubakar Shekau and another affiliated to the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group—had been surrendering ‘en masse’ in Chad, and that regional military forces were preparing a final onslaught on the group’s hideout in the remote Sambisa forest. ‘As far as Boko Haram is concerned in the Lake Chad Basin area, I think they are done for,’ said Buhari.” United Kingdom RT: Islamic Terrorists Funded By British Benefits Cash, Says Former Watchdog “Hundreds of thousands of pounds of British housing and child welfare payments have been used to fund Islamic terrorism in recent years, a former watchdog head claims. Lord Carlile, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, issued the warning after it emerged on Tuesday that two men living in Birmingham handed thousands in wrongly-paid state handouts to Brussels terrorism suspect ‘The Man in the Hat’. Carlile told the Times that ‘several hundred thousand pounds in small remittances have been used to fund terrorism in one way or another,’ including for weapons and travel for those joining Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).” Daily Mail: 'ISIS's Days As An Occupying Force Are Numbered': Theresa May's Warning To Terrorists In Historic Bahrain Speech “Theresa May has said ISIS's 'days are numbered' as an occupying power in Iraq and Syria as she assured Gulf leaders a post-Brexit Britain would not abandon the Middle East. Mrs May today became the first woman and first UK Prime Minister to address the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in an opulent purpose-built arena in Bahrain.  In a signal of the rarity of the occasion - as Mrs May was only the third Western leader to ever take part - she was referred to as 'her majesty' and 'her highness' in the English translation of summit proceedings. In her speech, Mrs May told Gulf leaders the UK was taking 'a leap forwards' with Brexit as a 'passionate' advocate for free trade.” Germany Deutsche Welle: 'Germany Needs A National Strategy' For Radicalization Prevention “Unlike in other countries, prevention is a state affair in Germany, so there is not one nationwide strategy. France, the Netherlands and England do have that. Here in Germany, each state has one institution responsible for working with youth who are considered at risk for radicalization. People working under this institution's umbrella try to bring the youth back into the fold of society and work with the teens to adjust their worldviews. These initiatives also look into possible reasons for the radicalization and how to counter those. The majority of projects in Germany are directed toward people in a position to disseminate information, like teachers. The goal is to reach people who already work with youth, and convey knowledge and prevention methods to them. We want to give them concrete pointers on what kind of radicalization triggers are out there.” Europe The Times Of Israel: 3 Charged In Belgium With IS Recruiting, Fundraising “Belgian authorities have charged two Kosovars and a Serb with terrorist offenses over suspicions they helped recruit jihadists for Syria and raised funds for the Islamic State group. A counter-terrorism judge kept in custody three of the eight people who were detained during raids across Belgium on Tuesday but released the remainder after questioning, federal prosecutors say. ‘They were charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group,’ the prosecutor’s office says in a statement. It identifies them as Egzona K., a 23-year-old Serb, Kastriot M., a 23-year-old Kosovar, and Mahid D., a 27-year-old Kosovar.” Reuters: EU Urged To Share Data Better To Detect Militants Returning From Syria, Iraq “The European Union must improve information-sharing internally and with the United States and Turkey to better track Europeans returning from fighting with Islamic State, the EU's counter-terrorism official will tell interior ministers. EU home affairs chiefs will discuss in Brussels on Friday how to increase their ability to intercept such returnees after Islamic State sent back radicalised Europeans to carry out attacks on targets in their home countries. Gilles de Kerchove, the EU's Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, estimates there are some 2,000-2,500 European ‘foreign terrorist fighters’ still in Syria and Iraq.” Terrorist Financing The Seventh Day: Libya: Attempt By Terrorists To Seize Oil-Rich Area Thwarted “Libya's military spokesman, Ahmed al-Mesmari, claimed his country's forces pounded convoys of militants who attacked the Oil Crescent area. He stressed that the army expects the Libyan people to stand up against attempts by terrorist groups to take over the country's petroleum. The Libyan military spokesman, during an interview Wednesday evening, noted that the Libyan armed forces foiled an attempt to take over petroleum intended to fund armies and terrorist operations in other countries. Al-Mesmari asserted that a strong financial base is being used by al-Qaeda to finance terrorist operations in Afghanistan, Egypt, Europe and {Libya's} neighboring countries.” ISIS Elbalad: Expert: ISIS Abandons The Idea Of Running A State “Sameh Eid, an expert on the affairs of Islamic movements, asserted that the terrorist ISIS organization has completely abandoned the idea of taking over a country, running its affairs and managing {its economic} transactions. This is a result of defeats the organization has suffered in its areas of influence in Syria and Libya. It is also the result of having its supplies cut off and lacking money to take in new fighters, specifically after Turkey changed its supportive position towards ISIS. Eid added that the terror organization has decided to secure the withdrawal of its remaining militants and move them to mountainous areas, similar to what the Taliban did. He anticipates that the organization may seek to carry out attacks targeting innocent people in some of the countries taking part in the international coalition against it. The researcher emphasized that today ISIS is left with less than 40% of its forces compared to previous years.” Elghad News: Aden: Continuous Efforts To Uncover Financiers Of ISIS And Al-Qaeda “Aden Security Chief Maj. Gen. Shalal Shaye asserted that monitoring operations and raids against sleeper cells of al-Qaeda and ISIS have revealed who exactly shelters and funds these groups and who facilitates their efforts to terrorize citizens. He stressed these {security} campaigns will not stop until terrorism is eradicated in all its forms and manifestations, including its sponsors and supporters. Major General Shaye added that a lot of information exists, attained through confessions by detained terror suspects, indicating that loyalists of {ousted president Ali) Saleh and the Houthis support and finance terrorist groups. He claimed this is part of a plot to lead Aden into a trap of terror and chaos. On the recent capture of an al-Qaeda cell two days ago, Major General Shaye noted that this cell is not the first to be arrested and not the last. He vowed that counter-terrorism efforts will continue with the support of the {international} coalition.” Muslim Brotherhood 24: Yemeni Sources Reveal Involvement Of Muslim Brotherhood In Funding Terrorists In Abyan “Yemeni security sources unveiled information regarding channels being used for funding terrorist groups in Abyan province. According to these sources, "It was observed that many organizations affiliated with Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood in Abyan are involved in financing efforts for al-Qaeda and ISIS." The sources confirmed that {Yemeni} security services and leaders of the Arab Coalition continually monitor the activities of terrorist groups and their sources of funding. The sources stated that there are specific organizations and individuals assigned to financing terrorist groups.” The Seventh Day: Egypt: The 'Almataria Imposter' Accused Of Fraud Was Working For A Brotherhood Member “Investigations conducted by Mohammed Kamal Al-Samahi, Chief of the Almataria Prosecution, revealed surprising findings in the case of the "Almataria imposter." She is accused of conning 15 million pounds ($857,000) out of {unsuspecting} citizens on the pretext of investing their money. It emerged from investigations that the 29-year old suspect, identified as "D.A.", was working for a Brotherhood member. The two decided to collect money from citizens promising them large profits. Police managed to arrest the Muslim Brotherhood suspect, who implicated his partner.”