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750g of Semtex was found in bushes in a square in the 8th arrondisment of Lyon close to Bron, presumably by a terrorist concerned about recent police searches.
This may be part of the 28 Kg of Semtex that was stolen in 2008 south of Lyon.
Note the report downplaying the possibility of being terrorist related below.
http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/lyon-750-g-d-un-puissant-explosif-decouverts-dans-un-square-04-12-2015-5339381.php#xtref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.fr%2F
I knew this victim for almost 10 years:
http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20151203/san-bernardino-shooting-victim-had-been-planning-daughters-first-disneyland-trip
Islamic State says California killers of 14 were their followers
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/islamic-state-says-california-killers-14-were-followers-111704711.html
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (Reuters) – Islamic State said on Saturday that a married couple who killed 14 people in California in an attack the FBI is investigating as an “act of terrorism” were followers of the militant group based in Syria and Iraq.
The group’s declaration, in an online radio broadcast comes three days after U.S.-born Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his spouse, Tashfeen Malik, 29, a native of Pakistan, carried out the attack on a holiday party for civil servants in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles.
The two died hours later in a shootout with police.
U.S. government sources have said Malik and her husband may have been inspired by Islamic State, but there was no evidence the attack was directed by the militant group or that the organization even knew who they were. The party the couple attacked was for workers in the same local government agency that em
This was a act of terrorism by a trained pair of terrorists who had follow up attacks planned and who were in constant contact with their superior in the group. It is looking like the group in the US has set up a cell structure, thing of a pyramid, each cell has three members with the leader of the cell belong to a higher ranking cell and the two junior memers being members of a different cell each. This way it is very hard for the security forces to roll up an entire terror group. It also lets the government claim that these were lone wolfs when the amount of money spent of equipment shows that they had support from some central orginization.
Conspiracy working to deny a conspiracy.
We’re sunk.
Taking on water but not sunk, the ordinary people are showing they are ready to fight by the way they are buying guns and ammo. things are gong to heat up to the point the Moslems won’t have to lie about a backlash.
OT on this conversation but true for the main thrust of the blog.
Rudyard Kipling
Russia To The Pacifists
1918
God rest you, peaceful gentlemen, let nothing you dismay,
But–leave your sports a little while–the dead are borne
this way!
Armies dead and Cities dead, past all count or care.
God rest you, merry gentlemen, what portent see you there?
Singing:–Break ground for a wearied host
That have no ground to keep.
Give them the rest that they covet most . . .
And who shall next to sleep, good sirs,
In such a trench to sleep?
God rest you, peaceful gentlemen, but give us leave to pass.
We go to dig a nation’s grave as great as England was.
For this Kingdom and this Glory and this Power and this Pride
Three hundred years it flourished–in three hundred days it
died.
Singing:–Pour oil for a frozen throng,
That lie about the ways.
Give them the warmth they have lacked so
long . . .
And what shall be next to blaze, good sirs,
On such a pyre to blaze?
God rest you, thoughtful gentlemen, and send your sleep is light!
Remains of this dominion no shadow, sound, or sight,
Except the sound of weeping and the sight of burning fire,
And the shadow of a people that is trampled into mire.
Singing:–Break bread for a starving folk
That perish in the field.
Give them their food as they take the yoke . . .
And who shall be next to yield, good sirs,
For such a bribe to yield?
God rest you merry gentlemen, and keep you in your mirth!
Was ever Kingdom turned so soon to ashes, blood and earth?
‘Twixt the summer and the snow-seeding-time and frost–
Arms and victual, hope and counsel, name and country lost!
Singing:–Let down by the foot and the head–
Shovel and smooth it all !
So do we bury a Nation dead . . .
And who shall be next to fall, good sirs,
With your good help to fall?
I was talking about this with people that knew him in a game forum. They wouldn’t allow us to talk about the cause of his murder. Muslims were able to talk about how wonderful Islam is but no counter response was allowed. After posting a number of times they closed the thread.
ISIS loyalist woman in San Bernardino massacre is linked to Pakistan’s most notorious radical cleric and mosque known as center for fundamentalists
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3346618/ISIS-loyalist-woman-San-Bernardino-massacre-linked-Pakistan-s-notorious-radical-cleric-mosque-known-center-fundamentalists.html#ixzz3tSPbpHYZ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
The woman who took part in the ISIS-inspired San Bernardino massacre is linked to her native country’s most notorious radical mosque, American officials believe.
Sources have told Daily Mail Online that US officials handed over information to their Pakistani counterparts about links between Tashfeen Malik and the Red Mosque in Islamabad.
The mosque is infamous for its links to violence and authorities in Pakistan are now considering taking action against its preacher, Maulana Abdul Aziz, after the disclosures by US officials.
It is unclear currently how law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the US have connected Malik to the mosque.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3346618/ISIS-loyalist-woman-San-Bernardino-massacre-linked-Pakistan-s-notorious-radical-cleric-mosque-known-center-fundamentalists.html#ixzz3tSPsMiTb
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Smooth Visa Process for Woman in Attack Is Focus of Inquiry
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/us/for-woman-in-shooting-easy-passage-through-us-visa-process.html
The woman involved in the shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., on Wednesday passed through two rounds of criminal and national security background checks as she obtained a “fiancé visa” and later a resident green card to live in the United States, federal officials said.
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Those checks turned up no negative information about the woman, Tashfeen Malik, a federal official said Friday. But after the F.B.I. said Friday that it was investigating the shootings as an act of terrorism — Ms. Malik pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a Facebook post the day of the attack — officials were scouring her immigration record to see if there were any revealing details they might have missed.
Continue reading the main story
Related Coverage
Tashfeen Malik
F.B.I. Treating San Bernardino Attack as Terrorism CaseDEC. 4, 2015
Evidence photos, including one of the suspected weapons used, were shown at a news conference held by the police in San Bernardino, Calif., on Thursday, a day after the mass shooting.
On Guns, Obama Cannot Easily Sidestep CongressDEC. 4, 2015
A news conference in San Bernardino. Mass shootings, now familiar, are never routine, reporters and editors say. They are part of a wave of searing news that has consumed newsrooms.
A Grim News Playbook in Repeated Mass KillingsDEC. 4, 2015
Landlord Lets Reporters Into San Bernardino Suspects’ HomeDEC. 4, 2015
“There was nothing she presented that would have been flagged,” a federal official said, speaking anonymously to discuss a fast-moving investigation involving several federal agencies. But, he said, “We’re going back right now and double-checking and looking over everyone’s shoulder who was involved.”
About the San Bernardino Shooter’s ‘Fiance’ Visa That Allowed Her in US
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/san-bernardino-shooters-fiance-visa-allowed-us/story?id=35581807ardino Shooter’s ‘Fiance’ Visa That Allowed Her in US
Tashfeen Malik came to the United States in July 2014 on a K-1 visa, known casually as a “fiance visa,” and, now, a little more than a year later, she is dead after allegedly helping her husband slaughter 14 people in San Bernardino, California, this week.
Little is known about Malik, 29. A Muslim-born Pakistani native, Malik entered the country legally by using one of a handful of visas that require background checks and security screenings.
In order to get a seal of approval from the U.S. government on their relationship, Malik and her then-boyfriend, Syed Rizwan Farooq, a U.S. citizen, had to prove they were in love and planning to marry within 90 days. They met the standard, and passed the screening process.
But doing so has now raised questions about immigration procedures.
Middle Eastern Men Arrested Near Mexican Border with Steel Cylinders
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/12/middle-eastern-men-arrested-near-mexican-border-with-steel-cylinders/
Five young Middle Eastern men were apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol this week in an Arizona town situated about 30 miles from the Mexican border, law enforcement and other sources told Judicial Watch.
Border Patrol agents spotted the men crossing a ranch property in the vicinity of Amado, which is located about 35 miles south of Tucson and has a population of 275. Two of the Middle Eastern men were carrying stainless steel cylinders in backpacks, JW’s sources say, alarming Border Patrol officials enough to call the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for backup. A multitude of federal agents descended on the property and the two men carrying the cylinders were believed to be taken into custody by the FBI.
Only three of the men’s names were entered in the Border Patrol’s E3 reporting system, which is used by the agency to track apprehensions, detention hearings and removals of illegal immigrants. E3 also collects and transmits biographic and biometric data including fingerprints for identification and verification of individuals encountered at the border. The other two men were listed as “unknown subjects,” which is unheard of, according to a JW federal law enforcement source. “In all my years I’ve never seen that before,” a veteran federal law enforcement agent told JW.
What was in the containers, chemical weapons or bio weapons?
They say “cylinders” as if that means something to the casual reader.
Yeah I read a bit by one fool saying they were smuggling in containers for IEDs!! If they were bomb containers that would have been mentioned, the lack info says something nasty was in the works, and for all I know may still be;
Greece: Border blockade lifted at Macedonian border but tensions remain
Idomeni – Greece —– Gevgelija – Macedonia
euronews –
I can’t BEAR to watch!
Don’t do it!
During the Civil War General Grant considered reporters to be spies for the South, today they are active participants on the side of the enemies of freedom.
REBEL MEDIA – Ezra Levant -San Bernardino & media
REBEL MEDIA – Meet 383 Canadian ‘piggies’ at Paris Climate Conference
United Nations ‘concerned’ about Sunni abuse in Iraq (BBC, Dec 4, 2015)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35010363
“The UN says it is “extremely concerned” by reports of attacks by Kurdish forces on Sunni Muslim Arabs living in Iraq.
It cited lootings, property destruction, abductions and killings in territory recaptured from the Islamic State (IS) group.
Sunni Arabs face discrimination from Iraqi authorities and other groups who accuse them of supporting IS, it added.
In October, Amnesty International raised concerns over “war crimes” by Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.
The UN said it was particularly worried about 1,300 Sunnis stranded in “no-man’s-land” near Sinjar, between Kurdish security forces and IS.
“Reports indicate that Iraqi security forces and Kurdish security forces and their respected affiliated militias have been responsible for looting and destruction of property belonging to Sunni Arab communities, forced evictions, abductions, illegal detention and, in some cases, extrajudicial killings,” UN spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly said.
“We have received reports as well about their limited access to basic services and essential goods, such as water, food, shelter and medical care,” she added…”
Russia passes law to overrule European human rights court (BBC, Dec 4, 2015)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35007059
“Russia has adopted a law allowing it to overrule judgements from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The vote in the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, came the same day as the ECHR ruled against Russia’s Federal Security Service over spying.
The European court said Russia had violated privacy rights with a system to secretly intercept mobile phone communications.
The Russian constitution takes precedence under the new Duma law.
The measure was fast-tracked, giving the constitutional court the right to declare international court orders unenforceable in Russia if they contradict the constitution.
It specifically aims to “protect the interests of Russia” in the face of decisions by international bodies responsible for ruling on human rights, according to Tass news agency.
Also on Friday, the ECHR ordered Russia to pay Roman Zakharov, editor-in-chief of a publishing company, €40,000 (£29,000) in expenses in a case over state spying.
It agreed with Mr Zakharov that Russia’s FSB security service had violated his rights to privacy by installing secret surveillance systems, and denying him the ability to resist potential monitoring.
Russia ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 1998, and is one of 47 member states in the Council of Europe, which monitors compliance with the convention. This year Russia contributed nearly €33m to the CoE’s €306m budget.
But Russia has often taken issue with rulings against it, including one by the ECHR last year ordering Moscow to pay more than $2bn (£1.3bn; €1.8bn) in compensation to shareholders in the defunct Russian oil firm, Yukos.
In a separate development on Friday, Hungarian prosecutors said they had questioned a Hungarian MEP suspected of spying on EU institutions for Russia.
Chief Prosecutor Imre Keresztes said Bela Kovacs, a member of Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party, denied the spying allegations and made a case for his defence.
The European Parliament lifted Mr Kovacs’ immunity in October, which Jobbik said would help clear the MEP’s name.
Investigators have until 20 December to bring charges, according to reports.”
Lake Chad: Triple suicide blasts kill 27, security sources say (BBC, Dec 5, 2015)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35015556
“Three suicide attacks have hit an island on Lake Chad, killing at least 27 people, security sources have said.
The blasts, on the island of Koulfoua on the Chadian side of the lake, struck a weekly market, the sources said.
No group has said it was behind the attacks, but the region is under a state of emergency after attacks by the Boko Haram militant group.
This year thousands of people fleeing the Islamist fighters sought safety on the island.
Chad has played a key role helping Nigeria recapture areas seized by the group in northern Nigeria.”
Syria air strikes: RAF jets in second wave of strikes (BBC, Dec 5, 2015)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35014665
“RAF jets have carried out their second set of air strikes in Syria since MPs backed military action against so-called Islamic State in the country.
The Omar oil fields were targeted for the second time, using two Tornados and, for the first time, two Typhoons.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who is visiting the British base for the Syria mission in Cyprus, said: “Last night saw the full force of the RAF.”
Four Tornado jets launched the first UK air strikes in Syria on Thursday.
Bombing began hours after MPs gave their backing for military action, with the oil fields, which are in eastern Syria, targeted…”
Syria air strikes: Conflict not like Iraq War – Blair (BBC, Dec 5, 2015)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35013514
“UK action in Syria to target so-called Islamic State (IS) is not like the Iraq invasion, Tony Blair has told the BBC.
The former PM said the current action was different from the 2003 war because the West had allies in Arab countries.
He added that experience from conflicts in Iraq and Libya showed “dealing with the dictator” was not enough in the “wider battle against extremism”.
Extra RAF fighters have been deployed to bomb IS targets in Syria after MPs backed air strikes on Wednesday.
Two Typhoons and a pair of Tornados were seen leaving the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus on Friday, although details of their mission have not been released.
On Thursday, Tornados struck at six targets belonging to IS, which the government refers to as Daesh and has also been referred to as Isis and Isil.
Mr Blair told the BBC’s Katty Kay: “Even if we thought we could stay out of Syria we can’t because our own interests are dramatically involved.”
He said the Paris attacks on 13 November had showed that if IS was given the opportunity to “gain strength”, it would come to Europe and the US and target Westerners.
But he said the Syrian conflict was different to those in Iraq and Afghanistan because the UK and US now had allies in the region…”
Nigeria Arrests 9 Alleged Boko Haram Extremists in Abuja (abcnews, Dec 5, 2015)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nigeria-arrests-alleged-boko-haram-extremists-abuja-35595946
“Nigeria’s intelligence agency says it has arrested nine alleged Boko Haram extremists plotting attacks on Abuja, the capital, over the festive season.
Saturday’s statement follows a warning Friday from the U.S. Embassy that extremists may be planning attacks on hotels favored by Westerners.
The Department of State Security says one of the nine men arrested was carrying out surveillance of a “high-profile hotel.” It says all nine were detained in the past month and had infiltrated the capital in central Nigeria from the country’s northeast where most extremist attacks occur.
Boko Haram has claimed previous suicide and car bomb attacks that have killed hundreds in Abuja. Their suicide bombings, village raids and kidnappings continue in the northeast.
Nigeria’s 6-year Islamic uprising has killed 20,000 people and spread to neighboring countries.”
Gunmen Kill Yemen Judge Known for Al-Qaida Prison Sentences (abcnews, Dec 5, 2015)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/gunmen-kill-yemen-judge-al-qaida-prison-sentences-35595310
“Yemeni security officials say masked gunmen have killed a prominent judge who was known for sentencing al-Qaida militants to prison in the southern port city of Aden.
They say gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire Saturday on Judge Mohsen Alwan’s vehicle in Aden’s Mansoura neighborhood, killing him and three others.
No one immediately claimed the attack, but officials suspect al-Qaida’s Yemen branch was behind it. Al-Qaida militants have previously used motorcycles in their assassinations.
Al-Qaida has recently made land grabs in southern and eastern Yemen, exploiting the chaos of the country’s larger conflict, which pits Shiite Houthi rebels allied with a former president against the internationally recognized government and a Saudi-led and U.S.-backed coalition.
The officials spoke anonymously because they are not authorized to brief the media.”
10 Injured in Bomb Blasts at Hindu Temple in Bangladesh (abcnews, Dec 5, 2015)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/10-injured-bomb-blasts-hindu-temple-bangladesh-35595226
“Unidentified attackers hurled three homemade bombs on the premises of a Hindu temple in northern Bangladesh during a drama performance early Saturday, injuring 10 people, police said.
The incident occurred while an open-air performance was being staged outside the Kantajir temple during an annual fair in Dinajpur district, said Ruhul Amin, the local police chief.
In recent months, Bangladesh has experienced a series of attacks on secular bloggers, foreigners and minority groups amid concerns that religious extremism is on the rise in the Muslim-majority country.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack. Police have detained six men for questioning in connection with the blasts, Amin said.
Six of the injured were being treated at a nearby hospital. Four others sustained less serious injuries.
Mizanur Rahman, another senior police official, said investigators were trying to determine the motive for the attack.
Previous attacks this year have been claimed by local Islamist radical groups and the Islamic State group.”
Iraq: Turkey Troops Near Mosul Violating International Law (abcnews, Dec 5, 2015)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraq-turkey-troops-mosul-violating-international-law-35595260
“The presence of Turkish troops near the Islamic State-held city of Mosul in northern Iraq is a “violation” of international law, Iraq’s president said Saturday.
President Fuad Masum called the move a “violation of international norms, laws and Iraq’s national sovereignty,” and said it was contributing to increased tensions in the region.
Hakim al-Zamili, the head of parliament’s security and defense committee, went a step further, calling on Iraq’s prime minister to launch airstrikes against the Turkish troops if they remained in Iraqi territory.
Turkey has said a military battalion equipped with armored vehicles has been in the Bashiqa region close to Mosul in the northern Ninevah province for the last five months as part of a training mission to help forces fighting the Islamic State group. Mosul fell to the extremists in June 2014 amid a stunning collapse of Iraqi security forces.
Plans to try to retake Mosul last spring were sidelined as the extremist group advanced on other fronts.
The founder of the training camp outside Mosul, former Ninevah governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, told The Associated Press that the Turkish trainers were at his base at the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi. He said the Turkish forces are training but not arming Sunni fighters.
“They didn’t give us any weapons even though we asked them to,” he said. “We equipped this force from the black market with our own money and we believe they’re the best force to liberate Mosul… These people will be very effective to hold ground because they are from there and there’ll be no resistance to them from local people.”
Sunni fighters in Ninevah and the western Anbar province say the Shiite-dominated government has failed to provide them with the support and weaponry needed to defeat the IS group. The government fears that arming Sunni tribes and militias could backfire. Sunni grievances were a key factor fueling the rise of the IS group, and many Sunnis initially welcomed the extremists as liberators.
The U.S.-led coalition launched 12 airstrikes on IS targets in Iraq on Friday, including two near Mosul targeting tactical units and fighting positions.”
Germany’s national Muslim council slams Syria plan (DW, Dec 5, 2015)
http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-national-muslim-council-slams-syria-plan/a-18896889
“The leader of Germany’s top Muslim council has come out against a plan to join the coalition fighting ‘Islamic State’ in Syria. Council chairperson Aiman Mazyek said it will only sow new forms of terrorism.
The head of Germany’s Central Council of Muslims spoke out against German involvement in Syria on Saturday. Speaking to the “Neuen Osnabrücker Zeitung” newspaper, Aiman Mazyek said that this type of strategy in the fight against terrorism had already proven a failure.
“Today we know that the ‘War on Terror’ just spawns more terrorism. That means if al Qaeda created ‘Islamic State’ (IS), then when comes next?”
The interview followed a decision by the Bundestag , the German parliament, to join the coalition against ‘IS’ in Syria by sending German reconnaissance planes on intelligence-gathering missions over terrorist-held territory.
According to Mazyek, a much better plan is to stop the delivery of weapons to the jihadists, to force regional powers to come together at the negotiating table and by focusing on a strategy of reconciliation, creating a perspective of hope and peace for Syrians and not one of continued misery and conflict.
“That’s the best way to stamp out terrorism and dictatorship worldwide,” adding that groups like ‘IS’ and al Qaeda benefit from the West engaging them in violence because war is an important part of their political goals.
Referring to Germany’s involvement in the protracted conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Mazyek reminded readers that “we have sown war, and out of it came refugees and terrorism.”
The Syrian mandate, approved by the Bundestag on Friday, will involve some 1,200 German soldiers, six reconnaissance jets, one refueling plane, satellite technology and frigate aircraft.
Bombing campaigns such as those carried out by the US, France, and Great Britain were not part of the plan.”
Bundeswehr lacks necessary personnel, says association (DW, Dec 5, 2015)
http://www.dw.com/en/bundeswehr-lacks-necessary-personnel-says-association/a-18896390
“Germany needs more soldiers to carry out its military obligations, according to the German Armed Forces Association. It says numbers have been reduced too far to cope with current crises.
The German Bundeswehrverband (Armed Forces Association) on Saturday reiterated a call for the German army to employ more personnel, above all in the light of the planned deployment of at least 1,200 soldiers to Syria approved by parliament on Friday.
“At present, we need at least 5,000 to 10,000 more soldiers,” the director of the association, André Wüstner, told the newspaper “Passauer Neue Presse.”
He said this was made necessary not only because of Bundeswehr missions in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Mali, but also because of new laws on working hours that will “rightly no longer allow health-endangering round-the-clock shifts during normal operations.”
Wüstner said that cuts to personnel numbers in the Bundeswehr had gone too far….”
Laws: “rightly no longer allow health-endangering round-the-clock shifts during normal operations.”
Military subject to civilian laws? That dog won’t fight.
The wise create laws.
The foolish are oppressed by them. Shang Tzu 4th Century BC
Laws themselves can not carry themselves into practice. Meng Tzu 3rd Century BC
The left is buys trying to ensure that we will be destroyed by forcing us to make the military act like Civilian police, the codicils to the Geneva Convention ensure that it will not survive the current war. Civilization may not survive either.
Intelligence agency revises up number of Salafists in Germany (DW, Dec 5, 2015)
http://www.dw.com/en/intelligence-agency-revises-up-number-of-salafists-in-germany/a-18896062
“The head of Germany’s federal intelligence agency, the Verfassungsschutz (BfV), has said that the number of conservative Muslims it calls Salafists has risen. But who are they, and are they as dangerous as he implies?
There are now some 7,900 Salafists living in Germany, Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of Germany’s federal intelligence agency, the Verfassungsschutz (BfV), told Berlin’s “Der Tagesspiegel” on Thursday. This, he said, represents “a new high-point.”
But the agency’s definition of a Salafist remains somewhat nebulous. According to the BfV’s website, the term (based on the Arabic word “salaf,” or ancestor, referring to the first three generations of Muslims that began with the prophet Mohammed) is an umbrella term for an “Islamist ideology formed by Wahhabism, which orientates itself by the ideas of the first Muslims and the early Islamic times.” The word Wahhabism, in turn, comes from the 18th century Arab scholar Muhammad Ibn Abdalwahhab, whose purist ideas went on to determine the political regime of Saudi Arabia.
But there no organizations and few Muslims in Germany who would identify themselves as “Salafist.” “They might call themselves Salafia, the Arabic word, though a young Muslim wouldn’t say Salafist, because it is seen as a combative word,” said Aylin Yavas of Ufuq, a pedagogical NGO that works to counter political extremism among young Muslims in Berlin.
Salafists do, however, remain a highly visible presence in the German media. In 2011, a group calling itself “Die wahre Religion” (“the true religion”), which the BfV identifies as Salafist, launched an initiative called “Read!” that aimed to distribute 25 million Korans across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. (Die wahre Religion did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.)
In its annual report for 2014, the BfV came to the conclusion that there were 43,890 people in Germany with “Islamist potential.” The agency broke this figure down into twelve organizations (none of which have the word “Salafist” or “Salafia” in the name) and one separate category entitled “Salafist aspirations,” to which the BfV put an estimate of 7,000 (the figure that Maassen on Thursday revised to 7,900).
In other words, by the BfV’s own estimate about 36,000 of the 43,890 potential Islamists in Germany are not Salafists at all – although they could be, since the BfV does not rule out that some Salafists belong to other groups (in which case they would be counted twice on the table).
The BfV’s list of Islamist groups includes both illegal organizations that obviously have a violent terrorist agenda (“Islamic State,” al Qaeda, and al Nusra – for which the BfV says it has “no certain figures” on German membership) and legal organizations such as Milli Görüs (IGMG), a Turkish diaspora organization that is represented on Germany’s Islamic Council and has some 31,000 members (in a footnote, the BfV adds that “not all members/supporters of IGMG follow or support Islamist goals.”)
While Salafists are undoubtedly ultra-conservative Muslims, they do not all have proselytizing ambitions – let alone represent a security threat. “It’s one current of Islam, on the Islamist spectrum, but they are not all prepared to commit violence, though that is often the way they are represented in the media – that all Salafists are terrorists and jihadists,” Ufuq’s Yavas told DW.
‘Violent, but not necessarily jihadis’
“We make a distinction between the purist Salafists, who live out their ideology for themselves, and who romanticize it a little, then there are the missionary Salafists – such as the ‘Read!’
campaign, who officially reject violence,” she added. “Then the third group are the ones that are prepared to carry out violence – but not even all of those are necessarily jihadists. They might join violent protests, but would not carry out terrorist attacks.”
“It’s a relatively small scene – both the violent and the non-violent Salafists – but they do have a big reach, at least on social media,” she added. And even though the missionary Salafists such as “Die wahre Religion” do reject violence, Yavas does believe that some of its members traveled to Syria to fight for one side or another.
The BfV does not keep official statistics distinguishing between violent and non-violent Salafists, on the grounds, it says, that the boundaries are often very fluid, and the potential for radicalization is always present. Although it acknowledges that not all Salafists are jihadists, the intelligence agency claims that all jihadists it knows of are also Salafists.
Nor is it easy to identify Salafists, even though they are very conspicuous, since their traditionalist belief dictates that their dress resembles that of early 7th century Muslims – a qamis (a loose tunic or gown that ends above the ankle), plus a skull-cap and a moustache-less beard. “But a lot of young Muslim men wear that, even if they’re not Salafist,” said Yavas.
In his “Tagesspiegel” interview, Maassen also warned that Salafists have begun “trying to win new followers in the areas around refugee homes.” In response, Yavas acknowledged that while this is happening, such images mean that many non-Salafist Muslims who are volunteering at refugee shelters are being discriminated against.
“I met a young man in a workshop we did in a classroom who had volunteered to help refugees, and the next day he read in the paper this story about Salafists recruiting in refugee homes,” she said. “He took that personally, and got the feeling that if Muslims volunteer to help refugees, they get stamped as Salafists who are only there to recruit people.””
Pakistan giving Taliban leadership to Haqqani network, claims India’s ambassador to Kabul (tribune, Dec 5, 2015)
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1004377/pakistan-giving-taliban-leadership-to-haqqani-network-claims-indias-ambassador-to-kabul/
“Indian Ambassador to Kabul Amar Sinha has urged India to intervene in Taliban peace talks, claiming Pakistan is giving the group’s leadership to the Haqqani network.
Rivalries within the militant group are intense given the recent attack on Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in Quetta, Sinha said while speaking to The Hindu.
“India should intervene as Pakistan seems to be negotiating with only one faction of Taliban apart from giving leadership space to the Haqqani network, which is on the verge of getting international recognition as the de facto Taliban, due to Pakistan’s initiative,” the paper further said quoting the ambassador.
Sinha warned that under the present arrangement with the Taliban, the Haqqani Network will be party to the talks. “How will the Haqqani network play a key role in future without being stricken off the terror list of various countries?” he questioned.
The consequence of Pakistan’s peace negotiation with the Taliban, he said, will be that the international community will be presented with a “fait accompli” of dealing with the Haqqani network as the legitimate Taliban leadership.
“Pakistan is trying to convince Afghanistan to come along to a bad deal with Taliban,” he alleged….”
Germany wants to send Special Forces to Syria – reports (RT, Dec 5, 2015)
https://www.rt.com/news/324835-germany-deploys-ksk-syria/
“The 1,200-strong Bundeswehr task force’s deployment in Syria approved by the German parliament Friday might be reinforced by elite special forces, the KSK, according to local media.
To strengthen the task force, the Bundeswehr may send an additional unit of its elite Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) to Syria “in case of emergency,” Bild reports, citing its source in Bundestag’s defense committee.
This was “made very clear” by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and Bundeswehr chief of staff Gen Volker Wieker during preliminary hearings at Bundestag’s defense committee on Wednesday, Bild claims, adding that it’s unclear how many special troops could be sent to Syria…”
Germany’s national Muslim council slams Syria plan
The leader of Germany’s top Muslim council has come out against a plan to join the coalition fighting ‘Islamic State’ in Syria. Council chairperson Aiman Mazyek said it will only sow new forms of terrorism.
The head of Germany’s Central Council of Muslims spoke out against German involvement in Syria on Saturday. Speaking to the “Neuen Osnabrücker Zeitung” newspaper, Aiman Mazyek said that this type of strategy in the fight against terrorism had already proven a failure.
“Today we know that the ‘War on Terror’ just spawns more terrorism. That means if al Qaeda created ‘Islamic State’ (IS), then what comes next?”
The interview followed a decision by the Bundestag , the German parliament, to join the coalition against ‘IS’ in Syria by sending German reconnaissance planes on intelligence-gathering missions over terrorist-held territory.
According to Mazyek, a much better plan is to stop the delivery of weapons to the jihadists, to force regional powers to come together at the negotiating table and by focusing on a strategy of reconciliation, creating a perspective of hope and peace for Syrians and not one of continued misery and conflict.
“That’s the best way to stamp out terrorism and dictatorship worldwide,” adding that groups like ‘IS’ and al Qaeda benefit from the West engaging them in violence because war is an important part of their political goals.
Referring to Germany’s involvement in the protracted conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, Mazyek reminded readers that “we have sown war, and out of it came refugees and terrorism.”
The Syrian mandate, approved by the Bundestag on Friday, will involve some 1,200 German soldiers, six reconnaissance jets, one refueling plane, satellite technology and frigate aircraft. Bombing campaigns such as those carried out by the US, France, and Great Britain were not part of the plan.
http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-national-muslim-council-slams-syria-plan/a-18896889
=========================================
Muslim group opposes German military action in Syria
Berlin: A Muslim group in Germany on Saturday criticised German lawmakers for giving the go-ahead for the country to join the coalition fighting Islamic State extremists in Syria, saying it was a “recipe for failure”.
The head of the Central Muslim Council of Germany (ZMD), Aiman Mazyek, told the daily Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung that the so-called “war on terror” has failed.
“We know, even more so today, that the war on terror only reinforces terrorism… after Al-Qaeda came IS (Islamic State), and what will be next?” he said, according to the newspaper.
His comments came the day after the German parliament green-lighted the deployment of Tornado reconnaissance jets, a frigate and up to 1,200 troops, allowing Germany to take a direct role in the battle against the IS group in Syria.
For Mazyek, the emergence of extremist groups “is the fruit of very badly implemented war policy,” in particular in Iraq. “We spread the seeds of war, and we reaped refugees and terrorism,” he said.
The ZMD group has called for stopping the delivery of arms in the region and for pushing the regional powers to negotiate a peace plan.
Germany’s green light for the anti-IS mission, which could become its biggest deployment abroad, comes three weeks after jihadists killed 130 people in a series of attacks in Paris.
The atrocities prompted France to invoke a clause requiring EU states to provide military assistance to wipe out the IS group in Iraq and Syria.
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/international/361027/muslim-group-opposes-german-military-action-in-syria
Austrian supermarket pulls halal meat after hate postings
VIENNA: Austria’s second-biggest supermarket chain has stopped a trial of selling halal meat after a storm of what it called “shocking” Islamophobic comments on social media.
“Because of (unfounded!) accusations and the overheated Facebook discussion, SPAR is ending its trial sale of halal meat in Vienna,” the firm said in a statement on Thursday.
“As a local retailer for all communities in Austria we are sad and shocked by the tone of this discussion and taking the necessary steps,” it added.
Last month, SPAR began selling two halal meat products — from animals slaughtered according to Islamic sharia law, widely available in other European countries — in 20 supermarkets in areas of Vienna with sizeable Muslim populations.
But the firm’s Facebook page was inundated with comments criticizing the trial, with many taking their opportunity to lash out at Islam, immigration and multiculturalism. 🙂 🙂 🙂
“What next — that you’re only allowed to go shopping in a burqa or what?,” one posting read, referring to the traditional face veil worn by some Muslim women.
“Halal stands for everything that Islam is about — brutality, contempt for life and intolerance for anyone who thinks or believes differently,” another comment read.
Many of the criticisms were also about the way animals are killed in halal fashion but SPAR said its meat came from animals that had been stunned before their throats were cut.
“We are not pleased. But it seems that the time is not ripe yet in Austria for something like this,” a SPAR spokeswoman said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Austrian-supermarket-pulls-halal-meat-after-hate-postings/articleshow/50045612.cms
The woman San Bernardino terrorist apparently was raised in Saudia Arabia from the age of 2 years old and later returned to Pakistan and then…
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-shooting-pakistan-idUSKBN0TN1YX20151205#YBHFiFwDm6lvF7YH.97
AUSTRALIA MUSLIM youth who have been charged with terrorism offences or targeted in recent counter-terrorism raids are merely teenagers being teenagers, a university lecturer has told an Islam conference.
Psychcentral NSW’s Hanan Dover said the young men, arrested in the counter-terrorism raids following the shooting death of NSW Police employee Curtis Cheng and previous raids across Sydney and Melbourne, were targeted because of their natural teenage way of “acting out” and that their normal “teenage speak” was being criminalised.
[…]Griffith University associate professor Mohamad Abdalla preached a similar theme at the conference — that counter-terrorism measures were increasing hostility towards policing and laws.
He claimed there were links between Islamophobia and radicalisation, and said it was more imperative for governments to address the root cause of terrorism — namely Western foreign policy.
“Unless we treat the root causes, such as the injustices in the Middle East, the double standards of Western foreign policies, the Palestinian plight, then terrorism and violent extremism will raise its ugly head again, even if groups such as ISIS are destroyed,’’ he said.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/muslim-boys-are-just-being-teenagers-when-they-plot-terror-acts-islam-conference-told/story-fni0cx12-1227630335037
root causes ~~ *,…,*
Typical liberal psycho babble, blame the victim and western civ never the criminal of terrorist.
Obama called on the US congress to prevent “criminals” and Americans on the ‘No-Fly List’ from being able to legally purchase guns, during the presidential weekly address from the Washington DC, Saturday.
It is already illegal for criminals to buy guns, I don’t think they have made it illegal for people on the no fly list yet mainly because so many people who weren’t connected to any type of terror or crime ended up on the list.
Latest Islamic State beheading video – on a public place in LIBYA
video + links on this page :
https://esdrat.ml/31035
Public executions are suppose to be a deterrent, they were stopped in Missouri because one Judge was upset over the way public hanging were turning into entertainment and started ordering them to be carried out inside the county jails or state pen. Since food vendors were hawking their wares around the gallows I can see why he wanted the executions in private.
Turkey-bound IS oil convoy destroyed by Russian jets near Aleppo Syria
Dec 04 2015 –
I wonder if the global warming believers are objecting to all of the carbon being released?
Qatar pays $25 million to Nusra Front for release of Lebanese soldiers
DEBKAfile December 2, 2015, 10:15 AM (IDT)
In a prisoner exchange arranged by Qatar, the Nusra Front terror organization handed over 16 captive Lebanese soldiers to representatives of the Red Cross on Tuesday in exchange for $25 million, provided by Qatar, and the release of 13 members of the organization in Lebanese jails. The 13 members included Saja al-Dulaimi, ex-wife of the former Al Qaeda leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who is now head of ISIS. The soldiers were taken prisoner about 18 months ago in the Lebanese border town of Arsal. The prisoner release demonstrated Qatar’s deep involvement in the Syrian conflict and its connections to the Nusra Front and other organizations linked to Al Qaeda.
http://www.debka.com/newsupdate/13937/Qatar-pays-25-million-to-Nusra-Front-for-release-of-Lebanese-soldiers-
CBC – At Syed Farook’s mosque, San Bernardino shooting a trauma for all Muslims
[…]And yet, Syed Rizwan Farook, the San Bernardino gunman, was by no means a true Muslim. Of this, Hussam Ayloush was unequivocal.
“This crime was not committed by a Muslim,” Ayloush told a congregation of the faithful, his preaching echoing through the Mosque of Riverside during Jumu’ah, the Friday prayer service.
[…] Salma Mahmoud braced for the anti-Islam blowback she has become all too familiar with.
“When we heard about the shooting, the first thing we thought: ‘Let it not be a Muslim. Let it not be someone Middle Eastern,'” the 18-year-old said following Friday prayers in Riverside.
“When the names came out, we were very fearful. Fear for my family in general. We got all these phone calls. ‘Try not to be out too much with your hijab. Accessorize it more … to seem more Western,'” she said. “This is something my dad advised me.”
[…] Little is known yet about a possible motive for the shooting on Wednesday. As people streamed out of the place of worship, some questioned why Farook and Malik would leave their six-month-old baby behind to try to kill scores of
innocent people[ I N F I D E L S ]and end their own lives in a shootout.In his address at the mosque, prayer leader Ayloush said the answers may not come so easily.
“What makes a person turn into a monster like that?”
[ answer = I S L A M ]Later, he implored his fellow Muslims to instil in their children that they should not feel victimized or carry any sense of blame for the actions of a few perpetrators, simply due to their Islamic faith.[…]
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/syed-farook-mosque-riverside-san-bernardino-1.3352154
good editing, Martin
the guardian -Anti-Muslim prejudice ‘is moving to the mainstream’
Report warns of rapid growth of far-right groups that plan to provoke a ‘cultural civil war’
The “counter-jihad” movement in the UK is expanding rapidly, according to new analysis showing that 24 different far-right groups are currently attempting to whip up hatred towards Muslims and provoke a cultural civil war.
The most comprehensive report yet into the alliance of international counter-jihad organisations warns that Islamophobic groups in Britain are capitalising on public concerns following the Paris attacks and ongoing refugee crisis.
Next month, the former leader of the English Defence League, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, often known by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, will make his political comeback by fronting the relaunch of the UK arm of Pegida, the German anti-Islam organisation whose provocative rhetoric has prompted attacks on refugees.
The report, by the anti-racist group Hope Not Hate, chronicles 920 anti-Muslim organisations and key Islamophobes in 22 countries, noting that such groups are becoming increasingly well-resourced, particularly in the US, where eight foundations have donated more than £38m since the 9/11 attacks.
Nick Lowles, Hope Not Hate’s chief executive, warned that in Europe the hatred of Muslims “was moving from the margins to the political mainstream” while in the UK violence and prejudice against Muslims was likely to increase as far-right groups exploit tensions over immigration and homegrown jihadism.
“The very fabric of OUR multi- racial and multifaith societies is going to be severely tested in the next few years and it is incumbent on us all to strengthen the bonds that unify liberal democracies,” he said.
On Friday, Scotland Yard said Islamophobic attacks in London had more than tripled in the wake of the Paris attacks. The Metropolitan Police are still hunting a man who hurled a can of petrol at the Finsbury Park mosque last month in what the Met described as a “clear and deliberate attempt to cause arson”.
Among the UK organisations cited in the report for driving organised hatred against Muslims are the Infidels, an anti-multicultural group with increasing Nazi leanings; the South East Alliance, a non-sectarian group linked to the National Front; and the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based thinktank accused of “making anti-Muslim sentiment seem mainstream”.
Following the decline of the EDL, the report identifies Britain First as the most prolific counter-jihad street protest group in the UK. Despite employing provocative tactics that include invading mosques, it has more than 1.1 million “likes” on Facebook. Yaxley-Lennon, lauded as an inspirational figure by both the militant and political wings of the counter-jihad movement, has more than 109,000 followers on Twitter. Other UK-based groups include Liberty GB, an anti-immigration political party, whose chairman is Paul Weston, the former Ukip parliamentary candidate. He is named as a regular contributor to the Gates of Vienna blog, where he writes about impending civil war against Muslims and “white genocide” in Britain.
One worrying trend, said Lowles, is an attempt to use the publication of images involving the prophet Muhammad with the aim of generating a violent reaction from Muslims. He is concerned that the authorities are not taking things seriously. “Groups are becoming more right-wing, many on the verge of being openly Nazi, and yet they are still categorised as a public order problem rather than as the extreme far right,” Lowles said.
The report, released today, also documents the counter-jihad movement in the US, where there are 42 anti-Muslim groups, such as ACT for America and the New-York based American Freedom Defense Initiative, and in Australia, citing 12 groups, including the Q Society, a Victoria-based grassroots anti-Islamist organisation that claims volunteer-run chapters across the country.
Globally, anti-Muslim sentiment is growing in the wake of the attacks in Paris and concerns over the continuing refugee crisis. A study by the Pew Research Center thinktank in 2014 of seven European Union countries found that at least half of those surveyed in Italy and Greece had a negative opinion of Muslims living in their country, with the most favourable rating of 72% in France. But a YouGov poll in the spring of this year, after the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, showed 40% of French people held negative views of Muslims, the same level as in the UK.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/05/far-right-muslim-cultural-civil-war
The left is upset that the tactics they used to gain power are now being used about the people working to bring about their downfall.
AL JAZEERA – Critics denounce ‘Muslim’ label on California shooters
FBI announces massacre was an act of terrorism, but analysts say ties to Islam shouldn’t be driving the media narrative.
The religion of the attackers who went on a shooting rampage in California should not be become the main focus of the investigation, critics say, after the FBI announced the deadly assault was an “act of terrorism”.
Fourteen people were shot dead and 21 wounded after Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik allegedly stormed a party in San Bernardino attended by his co-workers and opened fire on Tuesday. The couple were later killed in a shoot-out with police.
Lawyers for Farook’s family noted media coverage has quickly moved to portray the attackers as Muslims, while past shootings by those of other religions never brought their faith to the forefront.
“He [Farook] was an isolated individual without any friends,” lawyer David Chesley told reporters on Friday.
“When a Christian goes to shoot up an abortion clinic, the headlines don’t say ‘extremist Christian Catholic’ just like every headline is saying ‘Muslim massacre’ or ‘Muslim shooters’.”
Chesley noted while the FBI announced on Friday that the massacre was an act of terrorism, it did not say it had direct evidence of links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
US-based law professor Khalid Beydoun told Al Jazeera there are violent “fringe elements” within the Muslim-American community, but he noted the same goes for other ethnic or religious groups in the United States.
Beydoun said more than 350 gun crimes this year in the US were carried out by white men, while 63 percent of mass shootings have been committed by white males since 1982.
“This conversation needs to happen across racial lines, across religious lines… One religious community should not be indicted, and that’s the narrative being shaped right now within the popular media space,” Beydoun told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, in the first poll on views of Muslim Americans taken after the mass shootings in Paris and San Bernardino, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 51 percent of Americans view Muslims living in the US the same as any other community.
Only 14.6 percent said they were generally fearful.
Amaney Jamal, a politics professor at Princeton University, said it’s “healthy” to see the majority positively viewing Muslims, but cautioned about growing fears.
“If terrorism is designed to create a larger gap between Muslims and Westerners, unfortunately they’re succeeding,” Jamal said. “The threat of terror is going to be fought by Muslims and non-Muslims together. You would like to see those gaps close so people are working together and not being fearful.”
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/critics-denounce-muslim-label-california-shooters-151205042350632.html
Greece: Migrants sent to Athens after being refused entry to Macedonia
Between 50 and 100 migrants left Idomeni by train, Saturday, after being refused entry to Macedonia because they were deemed to be economic migrants and not refugees. Greek authorities organised the transport and took the migrants, who were mostly from Morocco, to Athens.
Ethnic Cleansing Threatens Syria’s Unity
The escalating conflict remains a sectarian war, and deliberate ethnic cleansing by various actors is drawing new internal borders that will be difficult to erase.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/ethnic-cleansing-threatens-syrias-unity
……..
I say, "Done Deal." Nice graphics, though.Forget the snarky.
Clinical demographic analysis of Syrian ethnicity, trends and implications for eventual reconfiguration of the territory.
Ethnic cleansing always occurs during wars of colonization, you want to secure all of the fertile land for your ethnic group/tribe as you can and deprive you ethnic enemies of the land and wealth. In the case of religious wars add in the religious motives and you have a perfect storm of violence.
LONDON Man with ‘machete’ shouts ‘this is for Syria’ as he stabs Londoner
A ‘MACHETE-WIELDING’ man has slashed a man’s throat at a station in London as he shouted “this is for Syria”, reports claim.
A man was stabbed in the ticket hall at Leytonstone station this evening by another man who witnesses say shouted “This is for Syria” as he slashed his throat.
Police said they used a taser on the suspect as he threatened others with a knife.
A Met Police spokesman said: “Police were called at 19:06hrs on Saturday, 5 December, to reports of a stabbing at Leytonstone underground station. The male suspect was reportedly threatening other people with a knife.
“Met officers attended the scene. A man was arrested at 19:14hrs and taken to an east London police station where he remains in custody.
“A Taser was discharged by one of the Met officers.
“Officers from British Transport Police are now dealing with the incident at the scene. We are aware of one man having sustained serious stab injuries. We await details of any other injuries.”
A spokeswoman from London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 7:09pm to reports of an assault at Leytonstone underground station.
“We sent a number of resources to the including our joint response unit, an incident response officer, an ambulance crew and London’s Air Ambulance to the scene.
“We treated a man for stab wounds.
“He was taken as a priority to hospital escorted by the doctor from London’s Air Ambulance. ”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/624571/machete-attack-Leytonstone-Syria
Stabbing Intifada??
First they came for…
When guns are outlawed the people resort to knives, you can outlaw knives but if you have a charcoal grill something to use as an anvil some cooking oil hammer and some type of rock or file to finish the shaping you have a knife. If you want a cheap untempered knife forget the grill, hammer and cooking oil (used to temper the blade). Oil works best but water can be used. You can google for full instruction on how to make and temper knives. The thing about edged weapons is that the young with fast reflexes and the strong have a very big advantage.
Russia accuses US of cover-up over ISIS oil smuggling to Turkey
Russia’s defence ministry on Saturday accused the United States of turning a blind eye to the trafficking of oil into Turkey from Syrian areas under Islamic State control, after Washington called the amounts involved insignificant.
“When US officials say they don’t see how the terrorists’ oil is smuggled to Turkey… it smells badly of a desire to cover up these acts,” the ministry said on its Facebook page.
“The declarations of the Pentagon and the State Department seem like a theatre of the absurd,” the statement added, suggesting that Washington “watch the videos taken by its (own) drones which have recently been three times as numerous over the Turkey-Syria border and above the oil zones”.
US special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs, Amos Hochstein, on Friday said the amount of oil smuggled into Turkey from areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State group is “of no significance from a volume perspective — both volume of oil and volume of revenue”.
His comments came after Moscow accused Ankara of profiting from the trade.
Russia and Turkey have in recent days traded allegations that they are involved in the illegal trade, further ratcheting up tensions after Turkish jets downed a Russian bomber on the Syrian border.
The State Department has dismissed Moscow’s charge against its NATO ally, which directly implicated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family in the trade, insisting there is no evidence to support it.
“I don’t believe that there is significant smuggling, between ISIS-controlled areas and Turkey of oil in any significance in volume,” Hochstein said Friday, using an alternative name for IS.
Instead, US officials told reporters, the oil pumped in eastern Syria is refined in ad hoc desert pits equipped with crude stills and sold on the war zone black-market within Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
Allied officials estimated the ISIS group’s income from oil at $1.0 million to $1.5 million per day, but hope that renewed US, British and French air strikes have cut that.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/172694/World/Region/Russia-accuses-US-of-coverup-over-ISIS-oil-smuggli.aspx
Child asylum seekers pushing British social services to ‘breaking point’ (express, Dec 4, 2015)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/624209/child-asylum-seekers-push-social-service-breaking-point
“THE vast number of child asylum seekers arriving at the gateway to Britain has pushed social services to “breaking point,” officials have warned.
There are now 980 unaccompanied asylum seeking children on Kent County Council’s books – up from nearly 630 at the start of August – and the situation is unsustainable, it said.
Most of the youngsters are 16 and 17-year-old boys smuggled across the English Channel before being dumped so the local authority has to look after them.
By law, the council has to care for under-18s who arrive in the county through the ports of Dover or Folkestone seeking asylum.
Many are traumatised and unable to speak English, adding the cost of treatment and translation services to the bill for housing them.
Earlier this year the council said the problem had left it with an £8million budget shortfall in its budget.
The growing crisis is putting an almost unbearable strain on town hall services as well as police and local NHS.
It is set to reach breaking point over the Christmas holidays.
A report from Kent County Council said the “unprecedented” influx of young asylum seekers was impacting on British children already supported by the local authority.
While praising staff, the report said: “It should be stated clearly that services are at breaking point and the current position is not sustainable.”
Because of the growing numbers social workers and medics are struggling to meet minimum standards for the number of visits, health assessments and reviews.
The problem has become so bad, 19 other local authorities have agreed to help out and take on 49 youngsters.
Some children have had to be placed as far away as Hertfordshire, which has created complications over how their support is delivered.
The crisis has also forced the council to hire more than 20 extra social workers, three team managers and a service manager.
Although council chiefs are trying to recruit even more social workers they are finding it difficult to find qualified and experienced staff locally, the report added….”
The end of feminism: How UK SHARIA law courts ‘sanction misogyny and marital abuse’ (express, Dec 5, 2015)
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/624457/Islamic-Sharia-Council-Machteld-Zee-Islam
“BRITISH Sharia courts are allegedly locking women into “marital captivity” and failing to report cases of domestic violence.
Judges at the secretive courts in the UK “uphold the theory and practice of the strong hold men have over women”, according to a shocking new study.
One judge is said to have laughed at a woman who claimed she was being abused by her husband, asking: “Why did you marry such a person?”
And several women were reportedly shackled by their husbands’ debts being asked for “large sums of money” for their divorce requests.
The claims were made by academic Machteld Zee, who attended 15 hours of divorce hearings at London’s Islamic Sharia Council and the Birmingham Central Mosque Sharia.
Zee’s findings about the controversial courts – also known as councils – will be unveiled in Parliament next month.
They cannot overrule regular courts but have come under huge scrutiny in recent years for their alleged mistreatment of women.
Zee said sharia judges are “not a neutral third party” but are “always in favour of her man” – and sometimes even give custody of children to fathers.
She added: “In a toxic mix of religious fundamentalism, culture and tight-knit communities, sharia councils uphold the theory and practice of the strong hold men have over women.
“Sharia councils may ‘help’ women who want a divorce, but it is a solution to a problem that they fuel and one that they seek to preserve.
“Moreover, that religious divorces are sharia councils’ ‘core business’ does not in the least bit mean that they are actually willing to help women obtain one.
“In fact, they are known to frustrate women in their requests, especially if the husband is unwilling to co-operate.”
Khola Hasan of the Islamic Sharia Council branded Zee’s allegations of bias towards men as “absolute rubbish”.
She told the Independent: “We certainly don’t condone domestic violence or force women to go back – we are there to get women out of religious marriages.
“Custody is not in our remit. We are not allowed to deal with custody and we make clear on our website and with everyone coming to us [that they need] to go to English court.”
A spokesman for Birmingham City Mosque Sharia Council failed to respond to a request for comment.”
BREAKING NEWS: Tube terror as knifeman screaming ‘this is for Syria’ slashes man’s throat before being Tasered by police while passengers in ticket hall watch in horror
Eyewitnesses claimed the knife attacker shouted ‘this is for Syria’
He is also reported as shouting ‘all of your blood will be spilled’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3347632/Tube-terror-knifeman-screaming-Syria-blood-spilled-slashes-man-s-throat-Tasered-police.html
Leytonstone stabbing: Suspect ‘shouts this is for Syria’ during knife attack that leaves three injured, according to witnesses
At least one man was seriously injured with a slashed throat after tube users at Leytonstone in east London were threatened with a large knife and attacked as they left the station.
Police treating attack as terrorism incident after suspect was tasered in London
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/leytonstone-stabbing-man-attacked-with-machete-at-tube-station-a6762006.html
Machete ‘Syria revenge’ stabbing in London now treated as TERROR attack
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/624571/machete-attack-Leytonstone-Syria
Russia Devouring the Eastern Mediterranean?
http://www.rightsidenews.com/editorial/world-opinion-and-editorial/russia-devouring-the-eastern-mediterranean/
At this year’s G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said that the radical jihadist Islamic State (IS) was being financed by donors from at least 40 countries, including some G-20 member states — clearly pointing his finger, without naming names, at Saudi Arabia and Turkey. A few days later, two Turkish F-16 jets shot down a Russian SU-24 warplane, and claimed that the Russian jet had violated Turkish airspace for 17 seconds on the country’s Syrian border — a violation Russia denies. This was the first time a Soviet or Russian military aircraft was shot down by a NATO air force since the end of WWII.
Turkey and Russia have long been in a proxy war in Syria: Russia, together with its quieter partner, China, supports the Shi’ite Iran-backed Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad; and Turkey explicitly supports Assad’s Sunni opponents [“moderate” jihadists] — apparently in the hope of building a Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas-type of regime in Damascus that would be friendly to its own Islamist government. After the downing of the Russian jet, the Turco-Russian proxy war has become less proxy.
If Russia conquers any territory in that region they will probably stay, that is what the Russians have always done.
Before Shooting, Calif. Killer Talked On Phone With Terrifying Person… And Obama’s FBI Knew I – See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/shooting-calif-killer-talked-phone-terrifying-person-obamas-fbi-knew-132680/#sthash.15SH2Kum.dpuf
(Conservative Tribune) – Despite President Barack Hussein Obama’s fervent hope that Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik were engaging in nothing more than “workplace violence” in San Bernardino on Wednesday, the attacks have been looking increasingly like an act of radical Islamic terror.
Law enforcement officials told CNN on Thursday that Farook had been in touch with individuals under investigation by the FBI for ties to international terrorism.
Nice to see that NSA spying program has proven so effective.
Officials told CNN that Farook’s “apparent radicalization contributed” to his decision to murder 14 people during a holiday party for his employer, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. He and his wife also wounded an additional 21 party-goers.
Obama declared on Thursday that the killers could have had “mixed motives,” desperately attempting to keep any blame for the carnage from falling on Muslims or Islam. CNN was only too glad to help.
– See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/shooting-calif-killer-talked-phone-terrifying-person-obamas-fbi-knew-132680/#sthash.15SH2Kum.dpuf
UK: ‘Terrorist’ stabbing attack at London tube station injures three
Turkey: Police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at PKK supporters in Istanbul
Turkey: Fire breaks out at Istanbul refugee centre
A migrant centre in Istanbul holding foreign asylum seekers awaiting deportation ignited into flames on Saturday. Migrants reportedly torched the building in revolt to their predicament while riot police and fire fighters had to be called in to contain the crowd.
NDS: Haqqani terrorist network kidnap people for running operation (khaama, Dec 5, 2015)
http://www.khaama.com/nds-haqqani-terrorist-network-kidnap-people-for-running-operation-4378
“The National Directorate of Security (NDS) – Afghanistan’s intelligence agency says Haqqani terrorist network kidnap people for ransom to run operation.
Citing a case of kidnapping by a commander of the group in southeastern Paktia province, NDS writes in a press release that commanders of the terrorist network have turned to kidnapping people for filling in their financial gap.
The statement released on Friday states that Qadir alias Mubariz, a commander of the terrorist network, with the assistance of his friend Samiullah S/O Yar Mohammad had recently kidnapped a resident of Gardiz city, capital of Paktia province.
The press release adds that Jawid S/O Sayed Ahmad being was taken to Zurmat District and later released for $500,000.
The National Directorate of Security has arrested Samiullah who played the main role in the kidnapping.
Samiullah first made friendship with Jawid and later took him to an area where armed men were waiting for him.”