Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Osama bin Laden	Osama bin Laden	Al-Qaeda Ansarullah	Terror Networks				20030125
	Osama bin Laden	al-Qaeda	Afghanistan/South Asia	Saudi	At Large	Supremo	20050607
	Osama bin Laden	al-Qaeda					20010913
	Osama bin Laden	International Islamic Front	Terror Networks				20020820
	Osama bin Laden	Fath-e-Islam	Afghanistan				20020830

Arabia

Al-Qaeda’s Yemen chief threatens Trump, Musk over Gaza war: ‘There are no red lines’

2025-06-08

[IsraelTimes] Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, who has $6 million US bounty on head, calls for lone-wolf assassinations of Egyptian, Jordanian, and Gulf leaders due to war

The leader of al-Qaeda’s Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
branch has threatened both US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
and billionaire Elon Musk over the Israel-Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
war in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip, in his first video message since taking over the group last year.

The half-hour video message by Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki, which spread online early Saturday via supporters of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...>
, also included calls for lone-wolf bully boyz to assassinate leaders in Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf Arab states over the war, which has decimated Gaza.

Interesting. They must be particularly upset in Egypt, where they’ve tried so hard to balance their brotherly Moslem duty to Hamas with their dislike of Jewish Israel despite the billions of lovely American dollars the ostensible peace brings in.

The video of al-Awlaki’s speech showed images of Trump and Musk, as well as US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
, and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth. It also included images of logos of Musk’s businesses, including the electric carmaker Tesla.

"There are no red lines after what happened and is happening to our people in Gaza," al-Awlaki said. "Reciprocity is legitimate."

BRANCH LONG THOUGHT MOST DANGEROUS
Though believed to have been weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected US dronezaps killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP had been considered the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda still operating after the 2011 killing by US Navy SEALs of founder Osama bin Laden'>the late Osama bin Laden
...... who is now beyond all cares and woe......
, who criminal masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks.

In 2022, a US dronezap in Afghanistan killed bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...>
, who also helped plot 9/11. The September 11 attacks began decades of war by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, and fomented the rise of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group.

Al-Awlaki already has a $6 million US bounty on his head, as Washington says he "has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies." He replaced AQAP leader Khalid al-Batarfi, whose death was announced by the group in 2024.

A FOCUS OF THE HOUTHIS AS WELL
AQAP seizing onto the Israel-Hamas war follows the efforts of Yemen’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels to do the same. The Iranian-backed group has launched missile attacks on Israel and targeted commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea corridor, as well as American warships.

The Trump administration launched an intense campaign of strikes on the Houthis, which only ended before the president’s recent trip to the Middle East.

The Houthis’ international profile rose as the group remains mired in Yemen’s long-stalemated war. al-Awlaki may be betting on the same for his group, which UN experts have estimated has between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops, as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies, and ransom operations, according to the UN.

The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni Death Eater group. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years, while the bully boyz keep attacking Saudi-led coalition forces, who have battled the Houthis.

"As the Houthis gain popularity as leaders of the ’Arab and Moslem world’s resistance’ against Israel, al-Awlaki seeks to challenge their dominance by presenting himself as equally concerned about the situation in Gaza," said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemeni expert at the Basha Report risk advisory firm.

"For a national security and foreign policy community increasingly disengaged from Yemen, this video is a clear reminder: Yemen still matters."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US approves of Syrian plan to absorb foreign jihadists into its army, Trump envoy says

2025-06-03

They were going to anyway, President Trump’s approval or no. Birds of a feather — jihadis all

[IsraelTimes] Amid countries’ rapprochement, White House okays Sharaa government’s proposal to form unit including some 3,500 fighters from abroad — mostly Chinese Uighurs

The United States has given its blessing to a plan by Syria’s new leadership to incorporate thousands of foreign jihadists, former rebel US approves of Syrian plan to absorb foreign jihadists into its army, Trump envoy says fighters, into the national army, provided that it does so transparently, US President Donald Trump
...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down...
’s envoy has said.

Three Syrian defense officials said that under the plan, some 3,500 imported muscle, mainly Uighurs from China and neighboring countries, would join a newly formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians.

Asked by Rooters in Damascus whether Washington approved the integration of imported muscle into Syria’s new military, Thomas Barrack, the US ambassador to ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
who was named Trump’s special envoy to Syria last month, said: "I would say there is an understanding, with transparency."

He said it was better to keep the fighters, many of whom are "very loyal" to the new administration of Ahmed al-Sharaa, within a state project than to exclude them.

The fate of foreigners who joined Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
rebels during the 13-year war between rebel groups and Syria’s Iran-backed President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Trampler of Homs...
has been one of the most fraught issues hindering a rapprochement with the West since HTS, a former affiliate of al-Qaeda, toppled Assad and took power last year.

At least until early May, the United States had been demanding that the new leadership broadly exclude imported muscle from the security forces.

But Washington’s approach to Syria has changed sharply since Trump toured the Middle East last month and met with Sharaa in Riyadh, in the first such meeting between US and Syrian leaders in a quarter century. Following the meeting, Trump agreed to lift Assad-era sanctions on Syria and named Barrack, a close friend, as his special envoy.

Two sources close to the Syrian defense ministry told Rooters that Sharaa and his circle had been arguing to Western interlocutors that bringing imported muscle into the army would be less of a security risk than abandoning them, which could drive them into the orbit of al-Qaeda or Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
The US State Department and a Syrian government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

The US-Syria rapprochement comes amid reports that Israeli officials have met with Syrian counterparts about the possibility of a warming of Israeli-Syrian ties, although Jerusalem has in public expressed deep suspicion of Sharaa. Trump has said he did not consult with Israel before restoring ties with Syria.

Following Assad’s ouster in December, Israel has struck the Syrian military numerous times and moved troops into the Syrian side of the two countries’ demilitarized buffer zone, citing fears it would fall into the wrong hands.

CHINESE CONCERNS
Thousands of Sunni Moslem foreigners joined Syria’s rebels early in the 13-year civil war to fight against Assad, who was himself aided by Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, including Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

Some fighters formed their own factions, while others joined established groups such as the Islamic State, which briefly declared a caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq, before being routed by an array of forces backed by both the United States and Iran.

Foreign fighters within HTS earned a reputation as loyal, disciplined and experienced bad boys, and formed the backbone of the group’s elite so-called suicide units. They fought against the Islamic State and other wings of al-Qaeda from 2016, when HTS broke away from the group founded by the late Osama bin Laden
...... who is no longer with us, and won't be again......
The Uighur fighters from China and Central Asia are members of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), which Beijing considers a terrorist group. A Syrian official and a foreign diplomat said China had sought to have the group’s influence in Syria restricted.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, "China hopes that Syria will oppose all forms of terrorism and krazed killer forces in response to the concerns of the international community."

Osman Bughra, a TIP political official, told Rooters in a written statement that the group had officially dissolved and integrated into the Syrian army.

"At present, the group operates entirely under the authority of the Ministry of Defense, adheres to national policy, and maintains no affiliations with external entities or groups," he said.

In December, the appointment of a handful of foreign jihadists who were part of HTS’s big shotship to top military posts had alarmed Western governments, raising concerns over the direction of Syria’s new Islamist leadership.

Demands to freeze the appointments and expel rank-and-file imported muscle became a key point of contention with Washington and other Western countries up until the week of Trump’s landmark meeting with Sharaa.

Sharaa has said that imported muscle and their families may be granted Syrian citizenship due to their role in fighting Assad.

Abbas Sharifa, a Damascus-based expert on jihadist groups, said the fighters being included in the army had shown loyalty to Syria’s leadership and were "ideologically filtered."

But "if you abandon them, they become prey to ISIS or other radical groups," he said.

Link

-Lurid Crime Tales-

Notorious antisemite Glenn Greenwald has sex video with male prostitute leaked just after he appeared on Tucker Carlson spreading conspiracy theories.

2025-06-01

[X]

About the videos: pic.twitter.com/TfkSyWowMJ
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 30, 2025

The timing here was exquisite. Directly after traitor Greenwald appeared on Tucker Carlson's podcast. on Carlson's show he said Israel + Mossad is spying on America, and controls the CIA and government.

Mossad motto: "It's never a coincidence."

Glenn Greenwald has got to disappear. He is causing active harm and personalities like Tucker Carlson keep platforming his antisemitic conspiracy theories.

He endorsed RT's propaganda and Osama bin Laden's infamous "Letter to America" which was so vile that even Al-Guardian removed it off their website after it started trending in TikTok. No platform for antisemites.

Let's remember who Greenwald's friends are: traitor Snowden, traitor Assange, bin Laden (fine, he's not a traitor), the list of disgusting personalities just goes on and on.

He's such a raging America First patriot that he lives in Brazil. He's a gay man, just like all those gay men who ruined treasured institutions like the Boy Scouts.

He doesn’t seem the Boy Scout type, at least not the camping and things.

Link

Europe

French experts say Sweden has become a base for jihadist gangs

2025-05-29

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Victor Lavrinenko

[REGNUM] Recently, an expert report on the activities of the extremist group Muslim Brotherhood (an organization banned in the Russian Federation) in the EU, prepared at the request of the French government, was published. The strengthening of Islamist extremists is observed not only in France itself, but also in some other EU countries,

The authors of a report prepared for the French government warn that the extremist Muslim Brotherhood* movement has gained a foothold in the country, threatening both the values of local secular society and the safety of ordinary citizens.

It has been estimated that the group controls at least 200 mosques in France and has hundreds of subsidiaries.

The report stresses that the further growth of the influence of radical Islamism will have devastating consequences for the country.

At the same time, the document did not ignore the situation in other EU countries, where Islamists feel especially at ease. First of all, Sweden was named among these countries, where, according to French experts, very favorable conditions have been created for Islamic radicals.

Indeed.

Sweden is mentioned in the report several times, and it is noted that it is the active branch of the Muslim Brotherhood* that has established itself in this Scandinavian country.

The report explains this as follows: “The favourable position of the Muslim Brotherhood* in Sweden is explained by the great tolerance of Swedish multiculturalism and the good relations between the movement and local political parties, especially the Swedish Social Democrats.”

SWEDEN'S REACTION
In Sweden itself, the report did not go unnoticed.

Local Labour Minister Mats Persson has announced that he is putting together his own expert group to draw up a full picture of the spread of radical Islamism in the country.

Run a search of the Rantburg archives, your Excellency. There you’ll find much of what you need to get started.

Persson threatens that he will not let this go so easily: "We will cut off foreign funding for religious communities, especially where foreign countries finance radical mosques."

The Swedish Social Democratic Party is alarmed - they deny that they have supported or assisted extremists in any way.

On the contrary.

Party Secretary Tobias Bodin justifies himself: "We have zero tolerance for connections with extremist organizations."

“Call them something else, though, and we’re good to go!”

It should be noted that in the spring of 2023, the Social Democrats were already harshly criticized for the fact that their MP Jamal El-Hajj took part in a conference organized by the Palestinian organization Hamas.

See?

The Social Democrats then asked El Hadj to "take a break" from his parliamentary duties, but did not expel him from the party. However, a year later, the Swedish press revealed that the deputy had tried to obtain refugee status in Sweden for a certain Egyptian imam whose sermons were openly extremist. Only then did the Social Democrats ask their disgraced colleague to leave the party.

At the same time, the Swedes remember how the “social democrats”, in the name of their misunderstood “tolerance”, while they headed the government from 2014 to 2022, opened the country’s doors wide to migrants from “third world” countries.

It is not surprising that Sweden was the third country in Europe after Belgium and Austria from which the largest number of Muslims left to fight for the Islamic State*.

Definitely not surprising, no, except that France is lower on the list.

DEFENSE UNIVERSITY REPORTS
Experts have been sounding the alarm about the radicalization of Sweden's Muslim community for a long time. Back in 2018,

…alarms were sounded considerably earlier than that…

the local Defense University prepared a study on the increase in the number of Salafists in the country — supporters of "pure" Islam, advocating, in particular, for jihad against "infidels."

One of the most famous Salafi jihadists was, in particular, Osama bin Laden. Salafis advocate for the restriction of women's rights, and many of them also insist on not having friends among the "infidels" and keeping communication with them to a minimum.

At the same time, as noted at the university, radicalization often goes hand in hand with ethnic crime. Criminals really like to imagine themselves as “warriors for the faith” - this is how they justify their own actions in their own eyes.

"A gang of bastards walk into a grocery store. If the cashier isn't wearing a hijab, they take whatever they want without paying. They call the cashier a 'Swedish whore' and spit at her," says a police officer from the city of Västerås.

"Often young Muslims ask Syrians and Kurds, restaurant or shop owners, about their religion. If the answer is 'not Islam', they are persecuted. We have also seen Muslims as young as 10 or 12 say to older Swedish women: 'We are at home here,'" he adds.

In Gothenburg, Salafists demanded that Muslims not vote in local elections because it is "haram." The radicals threatened their fellow believers that they would answer "on the day of judgment" for all the actions of the dishonest politicians for whom they voted.

“In some areas they raised the flag of the Islamic State (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation),” the local police shared.

And there they told about the preacher Said Regea (a native of Somalia) who came from Canada and, speaking in one of the mosques in Gothenburg, emphasized the importance of “purity.” In order to maintain it, it is important, according to him, not to allow children to be interested in the customs of “Jews, Christians or Zoroastrians.”

Seven years ago, the Defense University emphasized that cafes and shops owned by non-Muslims periodically become victims of vandalism, and that Christian priests are threatened with beheading.

However, the radicals are no better at treating so-called "secular" Muslims who do not adhere to Salafism. They are often harshly ostracized and discriminated against in every possible way. As a result, some refugees have begun to complain that, having moved to Sweden, they are faced with scenes familiar to them from their native Iraq or Afghanistan - for example, they see three-year-old girls in niqabs.

BANDIT JIHAD
In addition, as already mentioned, experts from the Defense University noted the alarming fact of the fusion of religious radicalism and organized crime - sometimes jihadists and members of ethnic gangs join forces to make it easier to terrorize the surrounding population.

Salafis and Islamists are actively taking control of mosques and Muslim cultural associations, as well as businesses created by former refugees, forcing them to pay tribute.

At the same time, the native Swedes, for a time, simply had no idea what processes were taking place in the vicinity of their large cities, where people from Asia and Africa settled.

The police didn’t open files, the news media didn’t report about it, and the politicians kept their eyes firmly shut while piously lecturing the voters about the necessity of tolerance. And when the native Swedes tried to talk about the viciousness of thr Moslem newcomers, they were shut up, by force if necessary.

But there are areas where local legislation has lost its force: gender segregation is actively practiced; radical religious leaders order women not to complain to the authorities about their husbands’ cruelty.

The text of the study ended with criticism of the Swedish authorities for their inability to put obstacles to the spread of radical ideology. In particular, examples were given from the activities of ordinary Swedish secular schools, where the administration, having yielded to the demands of radical parents, forced girls to wear hijabs.

Seven years have passed since then, and the problem has become even more acute. And it’s not as if Sweden’s current moderate-conservative ruling coalition, which replaced the migrant-loving Social Democrats in 2022, is doing nothing at all to counter radicalism.

For example, the authorities are closing radical Islamist schools, trying to legislate against women covering their faces, tightening entry rules, and promising migrants money to return home. The trouble is, these measures are both insufficient and long overdue.

Fortunately for the Swedes, the numerous ethnic gangs do not act as a united front, otherwise the natives would have a very bad time. Criminal organizations fiercely fight each other for food supplies - they shoot and blow up competitors with enthusiasm. In this case, selfish interests are higher than empty slogans about the "unity of brothers in faith."

INVASION OF NORWAY
The fierce competition between Swedish gangs has already led to them, like a cancerous tumor, beginning to subjugate neighboring countries, in particular Norway.

The head of the local National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos), Christine Quinje, recently addressed the government with a warning about the growing threat from organised crime.

Despite all the efforts of the police, criminal networks in Norway continue to grow and develop, according to Kvinje.

And although the national budget for 2024 allocated 600 million Norwegian kroner (52 million euros) to combat organised crime, according to Kvinje, this has not produced tangible results.

She seriously fears that organised crime will grow to such proportions that it “will threaten democracy and the welfare state and will cause destabilisation of society.”

A characteristic feature of Swedish gangs is the hiring of minors, who do not face the same harsh penalties as adults. According to police, the number of underage robbers in Oslo has doubled between 2023 and 2024.

And in Norway in 2023, 21,800 criminal cases were initiated against minors, which is 28% more than in 2022. The Norwegian publication Aftenposten writes that more and more criminal elements are now appearing in this country, having managed to “leave their mark” in Sweden.

According to Norwegian police inspector Yngve Myrvoll, branches of the Swedish gangs Foxtrot and Gottsunda have emerged in the country, actively recruiting young people. These gangs are involved in large-scale drug trafficking and various fraudulent operations.

Foxtrot's presence in Norway was widely reported after a powerful explosion rocked the streets of the local town of Drøbak last October. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but police suspected attempted murder.

Experts noted that this is a typical “Swedish manner” – it is members of Swedish criminal groups who have recently taken to blowing up competitors in the criminal business right in their homes.

These suspicions were confirmed during the investigation - it turned out that the explosion was carried out by members of Foxtrot.

Since then, members of this network have given Norwegians many more reasons to speak ill of them. The criminals who came from Sweden, who so often like to pose as "true Muslims", make Norway forget that until recently it was considered a peaceful and safe country.,

Link

India-Pakistan

Vikram Misri Criticises Pakistan For Giving State Honour To Terrorists, Sat Photos Released of 2 Sites India Hit Wednesday

2025-05-09

[OneIndia] Addressing the media on escalating tensions between India and Pakistain, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri slammed Pakistain for giving state-honour funerals of three terrorists. These individuals were eliminated in strikes by the Indian military as part of Operation Sindoor. Misri highlighted the unusual practice of draping coffins with Pak flags and conducting the funerals with state honors, a treatment typically reserved for civilians. This occurrence raises questions about the nature of the individuals being honored in such a manner.

During the briefing, Misri pointed out the contradiction in Pakistain's claim that the Indian military had targeted civilians in their recent operation. He underscored that the strikes on May 7 specifically targeted terrorist infrastructure, based on precise intelligence. The presence of Pakistain Army personnel at these funerals, Misri argued, sends a telling message about the identities of the dear departed. According to Misri, the practice of giving Lions of Islam state funerals seems to be a norm in Pakistain, which he finds perplexing and unjustifiable.

INDIA'S COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORTS HIGHLIGHTED
India undertook military action against nine terrorist facilities under 'Operation Sindoor' in response to a terror attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
, which resulted in the death of 26 civilians. This operation aimed to dismantle the infrastructure supporting terrorism, with India confirming the successful elimination of several terror targets. Despite Pakistain's claims that the strikes resulted in civilian casualties, India maintains that the operation was focused exclusively on combatting terrorism.

The targeted strike in Muridke, situated about 40 kilometers from Lahore, resulted in the deaths of Qari Abdul Malik, Khalid, and Mudassir. This action was part of India's broader strategy to disrupt the operations of terrorist groups. The funeral for these individuals was conducted under strict security measures and saw the attendance of not just Pakistain Army personnel but also members of the civil bureaucracy and Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
h (JuD), a banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization led by Hafiz Saeed

...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat. He is periodically placed under house arrest so it looks like the govt is doing something. Once the heat is off they let him go....
. The ceremony, led by Hafiz Abdul Rauf, included prayers for the nation's safety and security.

Misri also addressed Pakistain's allegations that India had targeted religious sites during its operation. He categorically denied these claims, emphasizing that the operation focused solely on terrorist infrastructure and facilities linked to cross-border terrorism into India. Misri accused Pakistain of misusing religious sites to radicalize, instruct, and train terrorists, thereby endangering the region's security.

Proof From Above: Satellite Pics Show Extent of 5/7 Terror Site Damage in Operation Sindoor - Before-After Photos
[OneIndia] High-resolution satellite images released by Maxar Technologies provide clear visual confirmation of the extensive damage caused by Operation Sindoor, which targeted nine sites across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. These sites were linked to terrorist groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Hizbul Mujahideen.

The imagery offers striking before-and-after comparisons of two major targets: the Markaz Subhan Allah compound near Bahawalpur and the Markaz Taiba complex in Nangal Sadhan, Muridke. Both facilities, key ideological and operational centres for JeM and LeT, respectively, now appear severely damaged with visible craters, collapsed roofs, and scattered debris, as seen in images dated May 7.

Established in 2015, this compound functioned as JeM's central hub for operations and training. It housed the group's top leadership, including chief Masood Azhar and deputy Abdul Rauf Asghar. The centre was reportedly involved in planning multiple attacks, including the 2019 Pulwama bombing.

MARKAZ TAIBA, MURIDKE
In operation since 2000, this LeT stronghold served as a key training and radicalisation centre. It offered weapons training, religious indoctrination, and fitness programs to nearly 1,000 recruits annually. Notably, it was a training site for the 2008 Mumbai attackers, including Ajmal Kasab and David Headley. Historical intelligence suggests Osama bin Laden contributed significantly to building its mosque and guesthouse. Satellite imagery shows severe structural damage to several buildings.

Additional sites targeted in Operation Sindoor include Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and Chakwal. Indian intelligence had been monitoring these locations for months, tracking suspicious movement patterns, satellite phone activity, and vehicular logistics consistent with terror operations.

THE OPERATION
Operation Sindoor was launched in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 25 lives, including that of a Nepali tourist. India attributed the attack to LeT operatives trained across the border.

The offensive employed a mix of air-launched cruise missiles, loitering munitions (kamikaze drones), and long-range artillery. The Indian Air Force executed four strikes across the international border, while five others targeted sites within Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Defence officials clarified that no Pakistani military installations were hit, describing the operation as "measured, focused, and non-escalatory."

Meanwhile, Indian Defence Minister Rajanth Singh has said that 100 terrorists were killed in the Wednesday operation. He has reportedly said that such operation will continue.

Link

Fifth Column

Lawyer for Radical Columbia Grad Student Repped Al Qaeda Members—Including 'Close Associate' of Bin Laden

2025-03-15

[WashingtonFreeBeacon] When Hamas
Hamas

..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
-supporting Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil appeared in court on Wednesday, he was represented by, among others, Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer perhaps best known for defending al Qaeda terrorists.

The Syrian-born Khalil had his green card revoked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the weekend as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on foreign nationals involved in pro-terrorist demonstrations at universities.

Kassem has represented murderous Moslems including Ahmed al-Darbi, an al Qaeda member convicted in 2017 for the bombing of a French oil tanker, as well as several other Guantanamo Bay detainees, including a "close associate" of the late Osama bin Laden
...... who is no longer with us, and won't be again......
. He went on to serve as an immigration policy adviser to former president Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. This Is A Man That Does Not Seem Demented...
as a member of the White House's Domestic Policy Council.

Like his new client, Kassem was also involved in anti-Israel activism as a student at Columbia, where he lobbied to rename a sandwich called the "Israeli wrap" in the student dining hall, claiming the terminology was offensive to Moslems. He attended Columbia Law School on a fellowship funded by Paul Soros, the elder brother of Democratic megadonor George Soros
...either Ernst Stavro Blofeld or Auric Goldfinger come true. Maybe both....
His client, Khalil, who graduated from a Columbia graduate program in December, was a leader of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which backed Hamas's "armed resistance" against Israel. He served as a lead negotiator for student activists' illegal anti-Israel encampment last spring and vowed that the group would "remain in this encampment until we achieve all of our demands," which included a boycott of Israel.

Columbia briefly suspended Khalil for his role in the encampment, but he continued to back the demonstrations on campus, which turned ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful in the spring, when students stormed and occupied campus building.

"What we will see [is] the students will continue their activism, will continue doing what they've done in conventional and unconventional ways," Khalil told The Hill in August. "So not only protests, not only encampments, kind of any—any available means necessary to push Columbia to divest from Israel."

"And we've been working all this summer on our plans, on what's next to pressure Columbia to listen to the students and to decide to be on the right side of history," Khalil went on.

Since then, pro-Hamas activists at Columbia have disrupted classes to distribute anti-Semitic flyers, ~~violent~~ mostly peacefully seized campus buildings, and physically assaulted university employees. The chaos led the Trump administration last week to cut off $400 million in federal grants to the university, citing the school's "continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students."

Khalil is expected to remain in the country after a federal judge, Jesse Furman, intervened on Wednesday to block his immediate deportation. Furman, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is a prolific Democratic donor who once threw out a terrorism lawsuit against the Paleostine Liberation Organization.

Furman, who has served as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York since he was nominated in 2011 by President Barack Obama
My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it...
, has a long history of involvement with liberal political causes. The brother of Obama’s former economic advisor Jason Furman, Jesse Furman has donated over $20,000 to Democrats
...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy, white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
, including Obama, Crooked Hillary Clinton
...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away. Politix is not one of her talents, but it's something she keeps trying to do...
, and the Democratic National Committee.

Furman also served as the treasurer of his family’s charity, the Furman Foundation, which has donated to Media Matters, the Alliance for Justice, and People for the American Way, according to his Senate confirmation questionnaire.

The Khalil ruling isn’t the first time Furman has staked out a controversial position on a case involving Israel. In 2018, Furman dismissed a terrorism lawsuit against the Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Paleostinian leadership in the West Bank, citing a lack of jurisdiction.

The lawsuit was filed by the family of Ari Fuld, an American-Israeli citizen who was stabbed to death by a Paleostinian terrorist outside an Israeli shopping center in 2018. The plaintiffs argued that the PLO and Paleostinian Authority were liable in Fuld’s murder under the Anti-Terrorism Act, because the Paleostinian government paid the terrorist’s family following the attack. Critics say this payment system, known as the "pay-to-slay" program, incentivizes terrorism.

Furman tossed the suit, arguing that the court didn’t have jurisdiction over the PLO and the Paleostinian Authority. But Fuld’s family and other victims of Paleostinian terrorism have appealed the issue, and the Supreme Court agreed to take up the question of jurisdiction in December.

In Khalil’s case, the government is challenging the Southern District’s jurisdiction over the case, arguing that Khalil's lawyers should have filed it in either New Jersey or Louisiana, where Khalil was detained at the time.

Ted Frank, the director of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, told the Washington Free Beacon that there is a strong argument for challenging the jurisdiction and that he would be "surprised if the motion isn't granted."

Khalil's lawyers countered that there is legal standing to file his case in the place where he was arrested, if there is evidence that the government transferred him to prevent him from speaking with legal counsel.

"There is a two-track process here: habeas corpus (in federal court) and deportation (before an immigration judge)," Andrew McCarthy, a former prosecutor in the Southern District and columnist for National Review, told the Free Beacon. "The issue in the habeas case is whether Khalil's arrest and detention violate the Constitution."

Link

Home Front: WoT

Did Team Trump Get the Wrong Abbey Gate Bad Guy?

2025-03-07

[PJMedia] During President Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, he announced that with the help of American intelligence agencies and Pakistain, the planner of the Abbey Gate terrorist attack in Afghanistan was being brought to America at that moment to "face the swift sword of American justice."

It was an exhilarating moment. The news may have prompted a small feeling of "closure" among the families of the 13 American service members who died in that Afghanistan calamity on Joe The Big Guy Biden
Joe <q>The Big Guy</q> Biden

...46th president of the U.S. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass....
's watch.

But the Paks may have handed over the wrong guy. They say that Mohammad Sharifullah is "a commander of the ISIS (ISIS) affiliate in Khorasan Province (ISKP) [and was] an Afghan national captured in an operation conducted in the Pakistain-Afghanistan border
...also known as Pashtunistan, home of ignorance, poverty, and automatic weapons...
region." The Pak Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump in a statement for "appreciating Pakistain’s role and support in counterterrorism efforts across the region."

But, could it be that the Paks, who hid Osama bin Laden'>the late Osama bin Laden
...... who has left the building......
from the Americans for years, engaged in yet another subterfuge to stick it to us? Of course the Paks could have done that.

A former CIA "targeter" whose job was to find bad guys in Afghanistan says whoever told the Trump team that this Mohammad guy was the shot-caller for the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
is lying to them.

Someone is lying to you @realDonaldTrump

Here are the names responsible below for Abbey Gate. The attack had two joint Masterminds, Sirajuddin Haqqani and Sanaullah Ghafari.

This is like when we picked up a fake mastermind for the 2012 Benghazi attacks, Ahmed Abu Khatallah.… https://t.co/qfEGAuMaO6 pic.twitter.com/W5sgFU3I4e
— Sarah Adams (@TPASarah) March 5, 2025

Adams, who now works for the Defense Department, uses open source materials and sometimes calls her old contacts in Afghanistan to run down leads while looking for bad guys and connecting the dots for articles and books.

She thinks a different person was the actual shot-caller for a suicide kaboom at Abbey Gate at the Kabul Airport in those frantic days before the U.S. ignominiously bugged out.

The man who helped plan the attack, Adams believes, is Hafiz Haqqani, of the notorious Haqqani terror network, and who has connections to Al Qaeda's one-time number-two bad guy, Ayman Al Zawahiri
...Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodox al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra...>
. In fact, Adams believes the man who told the boom jacket-wearing terrorist the precise place to detonate his bomb for maximum U.S. casualties is Zawahiri's son-in-law.

Here’s a hard truth:

Hafiz Haqqani—the terrorist on the ground at Abbey Gate who told the suicide bomber he was in the best position to kill the most U.S. soldiers and to detonate—is the son-in-law of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Yes, you read that right. He’s a Zawahiri and a…
— Sarah Adams (@TPASarah) March 5, 2025

First, you have to understand what Adams believes is the leadership apparatus of the Taliban. She believes the Taliban is wholly infused by Al Qaeda. Adams says the families have intermarried. She says three of the top leaders of the Taliban have the last name of Bin Laden.

Adams is the first to point out that the United States bankrolls the Taliban — and by extension Al Qaeda and the Bin Laden family — $40 to $80 million per week.

As I reported previously, USAID money was used for a lot of the payoff to the terrorists.

Adams's claims were verified in a February congressional hearing.

Adams isn't new to finding ~~bandidos~~ Death Eaters who try to hide. She's written a recent work about the Abbey Gate terror plot called "HKIA: Know Thy Enemy."

She also found all the planners of the Benghazi terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2012, and wrote about them in her book, "Benghazi: Know Thy Enemy."

Remember that Secretary of State Crooked Hillary Clinton
...former first lady, former secretary of state, former presidential candidate, Conqueror of Benghazi, Heroine of Tuzla, formerly described by her supporters as the smartest woman in the world, usually described by the rest of us as The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away. Politix is not one of her talents, but it's something she keeps trying to do...
, Jake Sullivan, and Obama aide Susan Rice told Americans that the Benghazi attack was a misunderstanding that grew out of a movie no one watched — for which the movie maker was tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
in America by President Obama. But Adams wouldn't rest until she tracked down every one of the ~~bandidos~~ Death Eaters who killed her CIA compatriots and America's Ambassador to Libya.

After last night's announcement, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X.com that the FBI and American intelligence worked to get their hands on the planner.

But Patel need only remember his own frustrations as a DOJ investigator involved for a time in the Benghazi prosecution to inform this latest case. In his book, "Government Gangsters," Patel was frustrated that "when it came to Benghazi, the B.O. regime, the F.B.I. and the D.O.J. wanted to seem tough on terrorism, so they kept minimal prosecutions open and brought up big-sounding charges that we couldn’t support."

And before he became the nominee to head the FBI, Patel told the Shawn Ryan show that the top brass "went and got basically the wrong guy [involved in Benghazi]. And then we prosecuted that wrong guy. Not that he wasn’t a part of it. He just wasn’t like the top tier of guys I would have gone after. And they screwed up the prosecution because they didn’t listen to us."

🚨BREAKING NEWS: The masterminds behind the Abbey Gate attack are Sirajuddin Haqqani and Sanaullah Ghafari. So why was a fake mastermind detained and extradited to the U.S.—and who is telling our American President @realdonaldtrump it was someone else?

If you haven’t read our… pic.twitter.com/JCM8nOi0Z6
— Sarah Adams (@TPASarah) March 5, 2025

Patel, more than most, understands that he'd better get the right guy targeted and act accordingly.

Link

Government Corruption

Biden's USAID Paid Terrorists, and Here's HOW They Did It

2025-02-17

[PJMedia] Readers were shocked when we reported that USAID had paid Taliban
...the once and current oppressors of Afghanistan...
and Al Qaeda terrorists. Now we've found out how they moved the money.

In the story "USAID Pays the Terrorists Who Kill Us," I wrote:

The U.S. State Department and USAID pay millions of dollars per week to the Taliban, the bin Laden family leading the group, and the Haqqani terror network. Remember those guys? Didn't we wage a 20-year-long war to get rid of them ...???

...We left Afghanistan, left behind billions of dollars in equipment, the strategically important Bagram Air Base, and all the biometric data of our Afghani supporters who put their lives on the line to help our efforts to get the Taliban and the murderous Moslems they were hiding from us. So, of course, when Joe The Big Guy Biden
Joe <q>The Big Guy</q> Biden

...46th president of the U.S. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing...
, Tony Blinken, and Jake Sullivan had us bug out in disgrace, they left the Taliban a ready-made kill list of our allies.

Former CIA targeter and DoD employee Sarah Adams has reported that the bin Laden, Mullah Mohammad Blinky Omar

...a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality. Died of an unspecified ailment in a Pak hospital...
, and Taliban families have intermarried. Paying the Taliban is paying al-Qaeda. That wasn't the plan when U.S. troops went into Afghanistan 20 years ago to get the late Osama bin Laden
...... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones......
and his al-Qaeda terror cell, which brought down the World Trade Center Towers.

After the Biden administration left Afghanistan in shame on Aug. 30, 2021, somehow, inexplicably, the U.S. government, through USAID, began to pay off the same people who tried to kill us.

According to the Horowitz Freedom Center's Daniel Greenfield, USAID laundered $1.7 billion to the Taliban through a series of banks, accounts, shell organizations, and other entities. USAID says it had no idea. You make the call after you see how Greenfield connected the banking dots.

The UN flew the currency to Afghanistan and deposited it in an unnamed 'private' bank.

Then it paid NGOs on the ground who converted the money into the Taliban's Afghani currency at an exchange rate set by the Taliban.

The Taliban bank then 'auctioned' off the dollars
3/ pic.twitter.com/UNdhfuNoLP
— Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) February 13, 2025

In November 2022, the bag men for the Afghanistan Bank crowed over the stacks of cash that fell off the back of a plane.

There was $40 million in this shipment, according to Google Translate.

Greenfield reported at Front Page Magazine that the $40 million "on the tarmac was part of a much larger scheme under which USAID and the State Department provided over $1.7 billion in funding to the U.N., which then shipped $2.9 billion in cash to Afghanistan."

Greenfield reports the money from USAID was laundered through the U.N., turned into hundreds of dollar bills at a New York bank that kept the Afghanistan bank accounts, and then put in shrink-wrapped bags on pallets and sent to the terrorists. That money, in turn, was put into private Afghanistan banks since, at the time, normal banking with the Taliban was operational. That money was then doled out to USAID-approved NGOs.

The money was to go to humanitarian causes, according to an Inspector General's report, but as we've since learned, the Taliban, and by extension, al-Qaeda, sit on the boards of all the NGOs in Afghanistan, so "humanitarian aid

" is funneled to terror training camps and other non-humanitarian needs, according to Adams. I'll just bet they'll rebuild the schools for girls they destroyed any minute now.

"USAID claimed it didn't send money to the Taliban because it put the money in UN accounts it didn't control," Greenfield reported. "UN claimed it didn't send the cash to the Taliban, just put it in a private bank and the NGOs did business with the Taliban when they converted dollars to Afghani," he says. Greenfield reported that the Biden administration "sent both dollars and Afghanis to the Taliban."

The conclusion is that this was no mistake and no misunderstanding. This was an intentional act by the Biden administration to funnel money to the Taliban.

And here's the dirty payoff. "The Biden admin funded the entire Taliban economy by not only printing money for them, but sending them the dollars to exchange for Afghanis that the Taliban used to make the Afghani into a top currency. The dollars gave the Taliban control over Afghanistan," he writes.

Not only did we cede the country, but we also paid the Taliban off to take it over, and we bugged out in shame.

This sounds similar to how Biden hid his millions of shakedown dollars from Russia ($3.5 mil), Ukraine ($6.5 mil), Romania ($3 mil), China ($8 mil), and Kazakhstan ($142,300 for Hunter to buy a car). It makes you wonder if Biden got a Taliban kickback, doesn't it?

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

CNN confused Obama with Osama bin Laden in embarrassing on-air mix-up

2025-02-09

[FoxNews] CNN's most recent on-air flub goes viral on social media after viewers caught the surprising name mix-up

CNN mixed up the names of former President Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden in an embarrassing on-air gaffe on Friday night.

During a segment on the Guantanamo Bay detention camp on "CNN News Central," a graphic appeared behind anchor Boris Sanchez that read, "OBAMA BIN LADEN ASSOCIATE: ABU ZUBAYDAH."

Abu Zubaydah – the suspected Palestinian terrorist whose real name is Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn – is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding his apprehension and detention.

Link

Southeast Asia

Jakarta accepting that key Bali bombing suspect is Indonesian marks a reversal

2025-01-28

[BenarNews] Southeast Asian nation is considering seeking repatriation of Hambali – detained at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay since 2006 – whose case remains resolved.

Indonesia’s new government is considering seeking a key Bali bombing suspect’s return from Guantanamo Bay because, its law minister said, Jakarta is as concerned about its citizens imprisoned abroad as it is in repatriating some foreign convicts.

Jakarta’s acknowledgement that Hambali

...real name Riduan Isamuddin, close personal friend of Osama bin Laden, one of the founders of Jemaah Islamiyah and the planner of the 2002 Bali bombings. He was captured with the help of a mid-Eastern intel service, shipped to Guantanamo to rot but he'll likely be released eventually because that was a long time ago and we were all so much younger then...
, the suspect in jug at the U.S. military base in Cuba, is Indonesian marks a reversal. Analysts say the change may be linked to his bully boy group Jemaah Islamiyah disbanding or President Prabowo Subianto’s historical concern for the rights of citizens abroad.

The reason given by Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia’s law minister, referred to Jakarta’s repatriation last month of a Filipina and five Australian drug convicts.

"Our primary concern is ensuring the protection and legal assistance for all Indonesian nationals abroad, regardless of their actions," Yusril told news hounds in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"This demonstrates to the public that the government is not only concerned with foreign prisoners in Indonesia but also cares for Indonesian citizens detained abroad," he had told news hounds last week, state news agency Antara reported.

BenarNews contacted Yusril’s office, which confirmed his comments to the media.

Hambali, whose real name is Encep Nurjaman, has been detained without trial for 18 years at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, with his case still unresolved.

The three bombs that targeted Bali nightclubs on Oct. 12, 2002, killed 202 people. The attacks were blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian bully boy network linked to al-Qaeda — Hambali was a big shot.

Now 60 years old, Hambali was first arraigned before a U.S. military judge only in 2021. Another pre-trial hearing in the case is scheduled next week, from Jan. 27 until Jan. 31.

The latest developments in Indonesia related to the Hambali case follow the quiet repatriation last month of two Malaysian accomplices in the 2002 Bali bombings.

Yusril said that recent efforts through the previous Indonesian government to establish communication with Hambali through the Foreign Ministry had failed.

"We also asked the United States to expedite his trial, but that has not happened. In earlier discussions, repatriation for trial in Indonesia was considered," Yusril said.

Sidney Jones, senior advisor at the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said that bringing Hambali back home was "the right thing to do."

"Nothing justifies the treatment Hambali has endured, including reported torture and indefinite detention," Jones told BenarNews.

"If he had been tried in Indonesia after his 2003 arrest, he might have received a life sentence."

The country’s counterterrorism unit, Detachment 88, though, is capable of monitoring him effectively, Jones said.

A front man for the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) declined to comment about why the government had reversed its position on Hambali.

As recently as 2021, the government denied that Hambali was an Indonesian citizen, citing his ownership of a foreign passport, and rejected any consideration of bringing him back.

Guantanamo Bay, a facility criticized globally for holding suspects indefinitely without trial, has long been a symbol of the post-9/11 war on terror, noted Al Chaidar, a terrorism analyst from Malikussaleh University in Lhokseumawe.

"This is the United States’ greatest failure — claiming to uphold democracy but disregarding the rule of law," he said.

"Hambali has been detained for more than 20 years without resolution."

Adlini Ilma Ghaisany Sjah, a terrorism researcher at Nanyang Technological University, told BenarNews "it’s possible" that this Indonesian government’s shift is related to the end of JI.

"The Indonesian police have also announced plans to repatriate 16 former JI members from Syria and 10 from the Philippines, which could indicate a broader shift in policy," said Adlini, from the Singapore university’s Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

Besides, Prabowo has in the past championed the rights of Indonesian nationals abroad.

For instance, Prabowo himself advocated for the eventually successful return in 2021 of an Indonesian domestic worker on death row in Malaysia.

It is possible that if Jakarta requested Hambali’s repatriation, it may face resistance from the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump

...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
, Ian Wilson from Murdoch University in Australia told BenarNews.

"Considering Trump’s support for keeping the Guantanamo internment camp in operation, it would seem unlikely he’d be receptive to the idea of repatriation," said Wilson, a lecturer in politics and security studies.

"[That is] unless it was part of a deal seen as having clear benefits for his administration."

Wilson was referring to Trump’s earlier term as president, when he signed an executive order in 2018 to keep Guantanamo open.

Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, Buford bit the snake and Eloise began speaking in tongues...
one of Hambali’s younger brothers, Kankan Abdulkodir, told BenarNews that he had heard of talk regarding the potential repatriation and expressed hope for the best.

Kankan said the family last spoke to Hambali via video call last December, during which he told them he was in good health, but they were not allowed to discuss his legal case.

"If it is his fate to be released, then I hope it will happen," Kankan said.

"But if he has to stay at Guantanamo Bay, then so be it."

Link

Afghanistan

Rubio Threatens Bounties On Taliban Leaders Over Detained Americans

2025-01-27

[VOAnews] U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

…who is clearly relishing his new role in the Trump administration…

on Saturday threatened bounties on the heads of Afghanistan's Taliban leaders, sharply escalating the tone as he said more Americans may be detained in the country than previously thought.

The threat comes days after the Afghan Taliban government and the United States swapped prisoners in one of the final acts of former U.S. President Joe Biden.

The new top U.S. diplomat issued the harsh warning via social media, in a rhetorical style strikingly similar to his boss, President Donald Trump.

"Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported," Rubio wrote on X.

"If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on bin Laden," he said, referring to the al-Qaida leader killed by U.S. forces in 2011.

Rubio did not describe who the other Americans may be, but there have long been accounts of missing Americans whose cases were not formally taken up by the U.S. government as wrongful detentions.

In the deal with the Biden administration, the Taliban freed the best-known American detained in Afghanistan, Ryan Corbett, who had been living with his family in the country and was seized in August 2022.

Also freed was William McKenty, an American about whom little information has been released.

The United States in turn freed Khan Mohammed, who was serving a life sentence in a California prison.

Mohammed was convicted of trafficking heroin and opium into the United States and was accused of seeking rockets to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The United States offered a bounty of $25 million for information leading to the capture or killing of Osama bin Laden shortly after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, with Congress later authorizing the secretary of state to offer up to $50 million.

No one is believed to have collected the bounty for bin Laden, who was killed in a U.S. raid in Pakistan.

HARDER LINE ON TALIBAN?
Trump is known for brandishing threats in his speeches and on social media. But he is also a critic of U.S. military interventions overseas and in his second inaugural address Monday said he aspired to be a "peacemaker."

In his first term, the Trump administration broke a then-taboo and negotiated directly with the Taliban -- with Trump even proposing a summit with the then-insurgents at the Camp David presidential retreat -- as he brokered a deal to pull U.S. troops and end America's longest war.

Biden carried out the agreement, with the Western-backed government swiftly collapsing and the Taliban retaking power in August 2021 just after U.S. troops left.

The scenes of chaos in Kabul brought strong criticism of Biden, especially when 13 American troops and scores of Afghans died in a suicide bombing at the city's airport.

The Biden administration had low-level contacts with Taliban government representatives but made little headway.

Some members of Trump's Republican Party criticized even the limited U.S. engagements with the Taliban government and especially the humanitarian assistance authorized by the Biden administration, which insisted the money was for urgent needs in the impoverished country and never routed through the Taliban.

Rubio on Friday froze nearly all U.S. aid around the world.

No country has officially recognized the Taliban government, which has imposed severe restrictions on women and girls under its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam.

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor on Thursday said he was seeking arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders over the persecution of women.

Link

Southeast Asia

Malaysians guilty of roles in 2002 Bali bombings released from Guantanamo

2024-12-25

2024-12-18
[BenarNews] The families of Mohammed Nazir bin Lep and Mohammed Farik bin Amin celebrated news of their return home.

Two Malaysians who pleaded guilty for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings were in their government’s custody after the United States announced their repatriation from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, where they were locked up for 18 years.

The duo, Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, were turned over to Malaysian authorities, according to a statement from the home ministry in Kuala Lumpur.

"The unity government has received from the United States government the two Malaysian nationals, Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, who were in prison since 2006 at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp on the principle of human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
and support for universal justice," the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
it did not mention whether the two would be sent to a Malaysian prison upon being repatriated from the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

In January, a U.S. military judge at Guantanamo Bay sentenced bin Amin and bin Lep to five more years in prison after they pleaded guilty to five charges connected to their supporting roles in twin bombings that killed 202 people in October 2002 — Indonesia’s deadliest-ever terror attack.

Their repatriation this week was made in secret and information was released to their lawyers at the last minute.

Lawyer Brian Bouffard said his client, bin Lep, was a changed man and ready to be reunited with his family. Their repatriation this week was made in secret and information was released to their lawyers at the last minute.

"It is now more than two decades since Nazir was taken. He has grown in that time, and is today a man of peace who will live the remainder of his life in peace. We are grateful to everyone, in Malaysia and in the U.S., who understood that it was time to bring Nazir home," Bouffard said in a text message to BenarNews.

In its own statement, the U.S. Defense Department said both men had provided testimony before their departure against Indonesian Encep Nurjaman (Hambali

...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States...
’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

"There has been concern following Trump’s victory in the U.S. election. But we leave it to the government and the authority to work on it. Our hope is for him to be released soon," the source said.

WE LOVE HIM
Relatives of bin Lep were elated that he is back in Malaysia.

Professing his love for his younger brother, Najib Lep, 60, said he had already made plans to reintegrate him back into the society.

"We love him. We will take care of him and his welfare when he returns to us," Najib told BenarNews.

"For now, we have yet to receive any information from the Malaysian authorities. What we’ve got so far is just details from the media. Nevertheless, we cannot be more happy and grateful to Allah."

A source, who requested anonymity to ensure the safety of bin Amin’s family, said they were ready to welcome him home.

"Mohammed Farik has expressed his desire to care for his ailing parents upon return. His siblings have prepared a place for him to stay and will provide other necessary assistance for him. It will take time to readjust as he has been away from home for more than 20 years.

"The family is not ready to speak to the press and is waiting for clearance to meet Mohammed Farik," the source told BenarNews.

Bin Amin’s parents, ages 82 and 88, had been made aware of his return.

Lawyer Christine Funk said she and other members of bin Amin’s legal team were overjoyed by the prospect of their client being back in Malaysia.

"Mr. bin Amin said it best at his sentencing, when he told the Commission, the prosecution, the victim family members, and the observers, ’Instead of trying to change the world, I can only change myself. And over the past 20 years, I have changed. I am not an angry young man anymore. I am a reformed man,’" Funk said in a statement to BenarNews, adding he planned to "go forward as a good and peaceful Moslem."

Funk said the other members are confident that bin Amin will succeed.

Malaysian National Police Chief Razarudin Husain said the pair were to be evaluated and rehabilitated before being reintegrated into society, adding "everyone deserves a second chance."

"Both individuals are in good and healthy condition and feel blessed that they are able to return home and finally reunite with their family," he said in a statement about bin Amin and bin Lep.

"Both showed a positive attitude and openness toward the evaluation process and rehabilitation and have expressed their high commitment to become progressive members of society."

CONGRESS NOTIFIED LAST MONTH
Leading up to their release, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin notified Congress on Nov. 14 "of his intent to repatriate" the Malaysians "and, in consultation with our partners in Malaysia, we completed the requirements for responsible transfer," the statement from the Pentagon said. A 30-day notice must be filed before such transfers can occur.

The Malaysians had been linked to Hambali until their cases were separated from his in 2023 ahead of their plea deal.

Court documents state that beginning at the end of 2001, "including the periods before, during, and after the October 12, 2002, Bali bombings," bin Lep and bin Amin helped Hambali "transfer money for operations, and obtain and store items such as fraudulent identification documents, weapons and instructions on how to make bombs."

With the transfer, the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay has been reduced to 27, the Pentagon said.

Link

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