Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Little-known Hamas leader seen behind resurgence of West Bank suicide bombings

2024-09-22

[IsraelTimes] Analysts say Istanbul-based Zaher Jabarin, now in charge of West Bank terror activity, seeking to prove mettle with return to high-profile attacks

In late August, former Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
chief Khaled Mashaal delivered a speech in which he declared the terror group’s intent to revive suicide kabooms by West Bank Paleostinians against Israelis.

Over the next four days, a pair of boom-mobiles went off in a West Bank settlement bloc south of Jerusalem and a suspected third one was neutralized at the entrance to another settlement north of Ramallah. Weeks earlier, a jacket wallah walking the streets of Tel Aviv was killed when the bomb he carried in his backpack detonated by accident.

Though relatively ineffectual — four Israelis suffered non-life threatening wounds — the bombings still managed to send a fiery
...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob...
signal that the terror group was attempting to flip the calendar back two decades to the days when suicide kabooms were its hallmark.

At the forefront of orchestrating these attacks is Zaher Jabarin, Hamas’s newly appointed leader in the West Bank, analysts say.

Jabarin assumed the position following the liquidation of his predecessor, Saleh al-Arouri, in Beirut in early January.

Based in Istanbul, Jabarin remains a lesser-known figure among Hamas’s senior command, though his background mirrors that of more prominent leaders such as Yahya Sinwar and al-Arouri.

Born in Salfit in the central West Bank in 1969, Jabarin joined a then-fledgling Hamas in the late 1980s, playing a crucial role in expanding the group’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, into the northern West Bank.

He was arrested by Israeli forces in 1993 and sentenced to life imprisonment, but was later among over 1,000 Paleostinian prisoners released in the 2011 deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from captivity in 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 an 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...
Like Sinwar and al-Arouri, Jabarin is fluent in Hebrew thanks to the nearly two decades he spent in Israeli prison, and he is thought to possess a deep understanding of Israeli society. But in contrast to them, Jabarin, who was exiled to Syria, has remained largely behind the scenes and is unknown by most Israelis.

"Unlike Sinwar or al-Arouri, Jabarin is not viewed as particularly sophisticated or charismatic within Hamas, nor as a clever or brave leader," said Michael Milshtein, head of the Forum for Paleostinian Studies at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University. "This makes him eager to prove his capabilities, especially in light of the legacy of his predecessor."

From his base in Istanbul, Jabarin is believed to be orchestrating a new wave of suicide kabooms from the West Bank, seeking to strike at Israel’s core as its capabilities in Gaza have been heavily reduced. While no boom-mobiles or suicide attacks have been reported for the past two weeks, experts believe that the wave has not ended.

Does he have a cell phone? a pager? laptop? microwave? toaster? Does he know any nice squirrels? It recently became much more interesting to be an anti-Zionist jihadi than it used to be…

Suicide attacks were a hallmark of Hamas operations in the 1990s and early 2000s, with Jabarin himself recruiting the notorious Yahya Ayyash, known as "the Engineer." An expert bombmaker responsible for multiple deadly attacks in the mid-1990s, Ayyash was assassinated by Israel in 1996.

In the years since the end of the Second Intifada, Hamas appeared to move away from a focus on bombings, which require sophisticated planning and organization to carry out, though there have still been sporadic attacks with explosives.

In the last decades, the group has concentrated on building up its rocket capabilities and underground fortifications in Gaza and on shooting, ramming and knife attacks from the West Bank.

According to Milshtein, Jabarin’s turn back toward bombings comes amid frustration within Hamas over West Bank Paleostinians’ failure since October 7 to join in the fight against Israel.

"Since the first day of the war, Yahya Sinwar has repeatedly called for opening a second front in the West Bank," he said. "Yet despite nearly a year of conflict in Gaza, the West Bank has remained relatively calm. There’s now pressure to show that Hamas in the West Bank can contribute to the broader effort."

Israeli officials believe Jabarin was responsible for dispatching Hamas operative Jaafar Muna from Nablus to Tel Aviv on August 18 with a large bomb intended for a suicide attack, according to veteran Arab affairs commentator Yoni Ben Menachem, a senior analyst for the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs.

Following the failed Tel Aviv bombing, Hamas shared propaganda posters on social media featured posters depicting Ayyash’s image alongside bombed-out buses with the slogan: "Who will restore Ayyash’s glory?"

While the three attempted bombings in August were the first to come close to succeeding in years, the threat has never really subsided, experts say.

"The motivation and capacity for these operations never went away, as evidenced by the discovery of multiple explosive factories by the IDF in the West Bank over the years," said Guy Aviad, a Hamas expert and a former IDF historian. "Fortunately, many were thwarted."

MONEY MAN WITH A NOD FROM ERDOGAN
Jabarin’s influence extends beyond military operations. As the longtime head of Hamas’s Financial Bureau, which like him is based in ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
, he controls millions of dollars that are funneled into terrorist activities, particularly in the West Bank.

After his release in 2011, Jabarin was exiled to Syria, then in the throes of civil war. Like other Hamas leaders who decamped from Damascus, Jabarin spent years living between Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
and Turkey, ultimately settling in Istanbul.

There, he assumed leadership of the Financial Bureau and acted as deputy to al-Arouri, who lived in Istanbul until 2016.

Under Jabarin’s management, the department has invested substantial sums in Ottoman Turkish real estate and stock markets,

…all sorts of potential for Mossad shenanigans there…

while laundering profits through a network of money changers in Turkey, Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
, and the Gulf, Aviad said.

These funds are then channeled to Hamas operatives in the West Bank and Gaza, Aviad said.

Hamas also benefits from donations collected by Widows & Orphans Ammunition Fund organizations based in Europe, North America, and other parts of the world.

Hamas’s lucrative financial operations in Turkey have flourished with the tacit approval of the Ottoman Turkish government under President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
"You cannot run a Hamas office in Turkey without government consent," Aviad noted.

Turkey’s willingness to harbor Hamas leaders has long been a major point of contention affecting ties between Ankara and Jerusalem. In December, Turkey reportedly warned Israel of "serious consequences" if it targeted Hamas operatives on Ottoman Turkish soil.

With Erdogan’s protection, Hamas can operate largely freely in Turkey, where the group has situated some of its most vital branches.

Before Jabarin, al-Arouri was thought to have directed and helped finance terror activity in the West Bank from Turkey, including the 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens, which sparked a large Israeli crackdown in the West Bank and a devastating war in Gaza.

In addition to Hamas’s Financial Bureau, Turkey also hosts part of the terror group’s technological arm, responsible for developing military capabilities for Hamas units in the Paleostinian territories. (The other part is in Lebanon.)

According to a 2021 report by the Alma Research Center, a note from a Hamas cell revealed that hundreds of thousands of dollars and euros transited through this bureau using money changers and were intended for use in training camps and to conduct a sniper course.

As Hamas suffers heavy losses in Gaza, experts predict that Jabarin’s position within Hamas will grow in importance, particularly as he pushes to rekindle high-profile suicide kabooms from the West Bank.

"One year ago, he was not at the top echelons," said Milshtein. "But today, I’d say he is one of the top five leaders of Hamas, especially after the death of Muhammad Deif, Marwan Issa, Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
and Saleh al-Arouri. He is the one responsible for the second most important arena after Gaza. He has become very prominent."

Link

Olde Tyme Religion

Malaysia police rescue 402 minors in care homes over abuse claims

2024-09-13

[BBC] Malaysian police have rescued 402 children and teenagers that they suspect were physically and sexually abused across 20 care homes.

The victims, aged between one to 17, were said to have endured various forms of abuse, with some allegedly forced to perform sexual acts on other children, said Police Inspector-General Razarudin Husain at a press conference.

Police have arrested 171 suspects, including religious teachers and caretakers.

The care homes are allegedly linked to a prominent Islamic conglomerate which has issued a statement denying any wrongdoing.

Police raids on Wednesday across 20 welfare homes in the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan were prompted by reports earlier this month of child exploitation, molestation and sexual abuse at another facility in Negeri Sembilan state.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Insp Razarudin told reporters that some of the suspects - aged between 17 to 64 - would allegedly touch the children, claiming it was part of a religious treatment. Some children were also reportedly taught to perform similar sexual acts on other children at the home.

Children were also "punished using heated metal objects" and those who were ill were not allowed to seek medical treatment until their condition turned critical, he added.

The children will be temporarily housed at a police centre in the capital Kuala Lumpur and will undergo health checks, said Insp Razarudin.

Initial investigations found that many children were placed in these homes by their parents so they could undergo religious education, according to state news agency Bernama.

Madrassas. Got it.

The raids come days after police opened an investigation against the Islamic Global Ikhwan Group (GISB) business group

…any connection to the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Ikhwan?

over child exploitation. The police has since confirmed that the two cases are linked.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said initial investigations have revealed that GISB's modus operandi is to set up welfare homes to collection donations, said a report by the New Straits Times.

The group denied the allegations in a statement posted to Facebook on Wednesday.

"The company will not compromise with any activity that goes against the law, particularly regarding the exploitation of children," it said.

GISB has hundreds of businesses across 20 countries, operating across sectors from hospitality, to food, to education.

Sounds like an evil version of the Gulenist schools.
Benar News adds:

They were rescued during a nationwide police operation Wednesday from homes linked to the banned al-Arqam sect, Malaysian officials said.

Malaysian religious authorities have accused al-Arqam of promoting deviant Islamic teachings.

Splitters!!

Razarudin Husain, Malaysia’s police inspector general, identified six key suspects including a female religious teacher and five males in supervisory roles, as among those detained.

He said many of the children were coerced into soliciting donations under the guise of Widows & Orphans Ammunition Fund.

GISBH has been tied to the al-Arqam sect. Malaysian authorities have alleged that the sect promoted deviant Islamic teachings, including the veneration of its founder, Ashaari Muhammad, as a quasi-divine figure. Although banned in 1994, al-Arqam’s followers are believed to have continued their activities underground, often rebranding under different names.

Razarudin told news hounds that many of the rescued children were not orphans, as previously claimed, but were the children of GISBH members who were placed in these homes as part of indoctrination efforts.

"From what we’ve gathered, the modus operandi of GISBH was to exploit these children for financial gain while indoctrinating them with deviant religious teachings," Razarudin said, calling the group’s use of religious sentiment to gain public sympathy "particularly insidious."

Misconduct allegations have dogged GISBH for years — since 2011, over 40 complaints have been lodged against it, according to police records.

Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, a little lightbulb figuratively appeared over Bossy's head...
Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, a political science professor at Universiti Sains Malaysia who has written extensively on al-Arqam, questioned the targeting of GISBH.

Ahmad Fauzi said that while the sect had been proven to promote deviant teachings, GISBH may not be directly linked to it.

"Global Ikhwan is not really from Darul Arqam but rather an intersection from Rufaqa, a splinter group," Ahmad Fauzi told BenarNews, using another name for al-Arqam.

He acknowledged that while some individual members may continue to follow the old teachings, GISBH agreed in 2013 to abandon those practices as part of an agreement with the government.

"If some members are still adhering to the old ways, then it’s appropriate for the government to take action," he said.

Link

Good morning

2020-04-23

John Kerry Questions Trump’s Leadership
— ‘There Is No Leader of the Free World’

Thursday April 23rd, 2020

Afrin: Kurdish population more than halved since 2018 offensive, says rights group

(1932)miss-italy.

GNA accusesd Wagner groupof using nerve agent in Salah al-Din in southern Tripoli These would be the chem agents the GNA got from Turkey last September		India hands over Bangabandhu killer Moslehuddin to Bangladesh It's only been 47 years. It's good to see that memories are long and wait time for neck stretching is short
LNA launches barrage of rocket fire into residential areas of Souq Aljouma’a "Sorry 'bout dat!"		Iraq executions almost doubled in 2019: Amnesty So? They had way better than twice the people available to execute
Interior ministry of GNA claims that LNA released prisoners from Surman prison Who're y'gonna believe? Us? Or those lying videos and recaptured inmates?		Al Qaeda's Abdel-Raouf Al-Sary, who commanded the Zliten militia in the clashes of AlGarabuili, no longer consumes oxygen In lieu of flowers, make a donation to the Widows & Orphans Ammunition Fund

Ex-FBI officials: Obama order drove push to include Steele dossier in report on Russian interference

Link

Southeast Asia

Breeding ground

2017-10-10

[PHILSTAR] The Department of Justice has started processing a request from its US counterpart for the extradition of a physician enjugged
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
in connection with a jihadist plot to attack several targets in New York. Russell Salic, according to the US Justice Department, described the Philippines as "a breeding ground for terrorists."

The statement is not entirely an empty boast. Foreign governments have raised concern about the growth of Islamist extremism in the Philippines and its Southeast Asian neighbors particularly Indonesia and Malaysia. The man convicted of organizing the first attack on the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan, in which a truck bomb was set off beneath the North Tower in February 1993, plotted the attack partly in Manila. Al Qaeda chieftain the late Osama bin Laden

... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse...
’s brother-in-law was suspected of using an Widows & Orphans Ammunition Fund in Mindanao for terrorist financing.

Today the military is battling Maute Lions of Islam linked to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're 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 the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
in Marawi. With ISIS on the run from its former strongholds in Iraq and Syria, there are concerns that the group may try to relocate to Southeast Asia, where the Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah operates together with the Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
...a MILF splinter group aligned with the Islamic State...
The Philippine government must reassure the world that this will not happen. Salic, according to the US Justice Department, had reportedly said terror laws in the Philippines are "not strict" compared to countries such as Australia and the UK.

"Terrorists from all over the world usually come here as a breeding ground for Lions of Islam ... hahahaha... But no worry here in Philippines. They dont care bout IS ... Only in west," Salic was quoted as saying.

Salic is not entirely off the mark; JI bomb makers have conducted training in Mindanao, and several foreign jihadis have been killed in the fighting in Marawi. The Philippines has a law against terrorism, but it includes safeguards against human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
violations so stringent that law enforcers can go to prison for many years even for honest mistakes.

Not surprisingly, the Human Security Act has remained largely unenforced. It needs a review by Congress if the terrorist threat is to be contained. All countries face the threat of terrorism these days. What sets countries apart ‐ and reassures citizens, foreign travelers and investors ‐ is the state’s capability to deal with the threat. The Philippines cannot afford to be found wanting.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Two Somali women jailed for financing Shaboobs

2017-04-02

Two women who used an internet chat room to raise several thousand dollars for the Somali militant group al-Shabab have been sentenced to prison.

Muna Osman Jama, 36, of Reston, Virginia, and Hinda Osman Dhirane,

...dear Hinda, a mother of six, was the group's poetess. Her Ode to Al Shabaab was read into the court record, there to sit for all eternity...

46, of Kent, Washington, had previously been convicted of providing support to a terrorist organization.

The ladies, emirs of the international Group of Fifteen, were arrested in July, 2014.

On Friday, Jama was sentenced to 12 years and Dhirane to 11 years.

Prosecutors had said the women used the chat room to round up small contributions on behalf of al-Shabab.

The women did not deny their sympathies for al-Shabab. But their defense lawyers argued that the money they raised went to people who were not clearly defined members of al-Shabab.

All the money went to the Widows Ammunition Fund...

The defense also raised First Amendment issues, saying their advocacy for al-Shabab should not be fodder for a criminal conviction.

Yes, it should. One of these years we will get serious, and pass that into law.

Link

Arabia

UN official praises UAE decision to host 15,000 Syrian refugees

2016-10-30

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag on Thursday praised the recent decision of the UAE to welcome 15,000 Syrian refugees on its territories over the next five years.

15,000 -- isn't that the monthly quota Champ wants for the U.S.?

The UN Special Coordinator praised the importance of this step, saying "it is a model that should be followed by other countries because it will offer refugees a life in dignity as well as education and job opportunities," a statement from the UAE Embassy in Beirut said.

She underlined that the United Nations was counting on such initiatives due to the growing numbers of refugees worldwide, particularly since "grants and assistance offered by donors are not sufficient to meet all the required needs."

Kaag made the remarks during a meeting with UAE Ambassador to Lebanon Hamad Saeed Al Shamsi where discussions focused on the situation in Lebanon and regional developments.

In the past five years, the UAE provided more than US$750 million in assistance for Syrian refugees and displaced people in neighbouring host countries, including in Lebanon where the Office of Humanitarian and Development Attache Office at the UAE Embassy supports humanitarian projects and provides health, medical and educational aid, Ambassador Al Shamsi noted.

How much of that went to the Widows Ammunition Fund?

The UAE opened a model refugee camp in Al Marj town, Bekaa Valley, which includes a school and a small library, he said.

The UAE already welcomed more than 123,000 Syrian citizens who joined nationals of more than 201 countries, where they all live together, a situation which enhances diversity and provides real and tangible contributions to shared responsibilities towards the crisis of Syrian refugees, the ambassador further noted.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel says Gaza World Vision director diverted millions to Hamas's military wing

2016-08-05

Hard to believe, I know. HT to AOSHQ sidebar link
The Gaza head of the U.S.-based humanitarian aid organization World Vision funneled as much as $7 million a year over the past 10 years to ~~the Widows Ammunition Fund~~ Hamas's terror activities, Israel's domestic security agency said Thursday.

The Shin Bet said the aid group's Gaza director, Mohammed el-Halabi, is an active figure in Hamas's military wing. He was indicted by Israeli authorities Thursday, accused of diverting some 60 percent of World Vision's annual budget for Gaza to Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that rules the coastal enclave. He was charged with transferring money and working with a terror group.

According to Israel, Halabi handed over roughly $1.5 million a year in cash to Hamas's combat units and used an $800,000 donation from the United Kingdom to help build a Hamas military base. The money was designated for civilian projects in the Gaza Strip, Israeli authorities said.
Hospital? Hamas Military Base? same thing in Gaza
World Vision is among the largest Christian ~~sucker~~ charities in the world and receives considerable funding from the United Nations and Western governments. Operating in more than 100 countries, it has a budget of $2.6 billion.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Somali Woman Arrested in USA for Funding Shaboobs

2016-07-22

A woman accused of funneling money to the al-Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab willingly admitted that she is an ardent supporter of the Somalia-based terrorist organization on the first day of her trial.

Her defense attorney, Paula Deutsch, has acknowledged that her client supports the jihadist group, arguing that does not prove that she provided financial aid to the al Shabaab terrorists. All her client did was “talk” about supporting al Shabaab without taking action, argues her public defender.

All we'll "talk" about doing is jugging her for 30 years...

In July 2014, Hinda Osman Dhirane, 44 years old and a mother of six, was arrested at her home in Kent, Washington, “on charges of providing material support to al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization that is conducting a violent insurgency campaign in Somalia,” reported the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Her trial, which is taking place at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, began on July 11.

Court records show Dhirane funneled small amounts of money to the terrorist group to avoid detection — as low as $50 or $100 at a time, for a total of less than $5,000.

Good enough for me. Guilty!

During the trial, Dhirane’s attorney said her client’s support for al Shabaab stems from Somalia’s history of corrupt and, at times, nonexistent government. Somalis “saw al-Shabaab as the hope to establish peace and order and a Sharia system of law,” declared Deutsch.

So stay in Somalia and fight with the Shaboobs. The moment you step on American soil you do things our way, and we don't support terrorist organizations.

Deutsch, began her opening statement Monday reading parts of a poem Dhirane had written as an ode to al-Shabab fighters.

Deutsch knows that she has a stinker of a case...

“We make no bones about the fact she was a supporter of al-Shabaab,” an al-Qaida affiliate centered in Somalia that claimed responsibility for the 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya that killed 67 people, among other attacks, Deutsch said. “But it’s talk. It doesn’t prove that she necessarily provided substantial assistance to al-Shabaab.”

$5,000 is substantial.

However, prosecutors accuse Dhirane and her co-defendant Muna Osman Jama, 34, of more than talking about supporting the terrorist organization. Jama was arrested on the same day as Dhirane, only she was at her home in Reston, VA.

Although they were only supplying the group with relatively small amounts of U.S. dollars, prosecutors reportedly say it was enough to “provide significant buying power in Somalia for weapons and the like,” notes AP.

The Widows Ammunition Fund thanked her...

According to court records, defendants Muna Osman Jama and Hinda Osman Dhirane were the leaders of an al-Shabaab fundraising conspiracy operating in the United States, Kenya, the Netherlands, Somalia and elsewhere. Jama and Dhirane allegedly directed a network composed primarily of women who provided monthly payments that were coordinated, facilitated and tracked by the defendants to their conduits in Kenya and Somalia…

The defendants would refer to the money they sent overseas as “living expenses,” and they repeatedly used code words such as “orphans” and “brothers in the mountains” to refer to al-Shabaab fighters, and “camels” to refer to trucks needed by al-Shabaab.

They hid the money in remittances that Somalis regularly send back to their native country, reportedly noted prosecutor Danya Atiyeh in her opening statement during the July 11 trial. Atiyeh explained that the remittances “make an ideal cover for disguising money. ”

She quoted Jama as saying in 2012: “If you work with the women and pretend that you are supporting your family, can the infidels and the animals who work with them find out what is in your heart?”

The DOJ did not reveal the women’s immigration status or whether they were born in the United States.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Mateen's father hosted TV show, was Taliban supporter

2016-06-13

The only thing that surprises me is that WaPo is reporting this.

The father of Omar Mateen, identified by police as the man behind the carnage at an Orlando nightclub early Sunday morning, is an Afghan man who holds strong political views, including support for the Afghan Taliban. In a video he posted on Saturday, he appears to be portraying himself as the president of Afghanistan.

Seddique Mateen, who has been referred to as Mir Seddique in early news reports, hosted the “Durand Jirga Show” on a channel called Payam-e-Afghan, which broadcasts from California. In it, the elder Mateen speaks in the Dari language on a variety of political subjects. He doesn't always make much sense.

Oh, the comments we could make...

Dozens of videos are posted on a channel under Seddique Mateen's name on YouTube. A phone number and post office box that are displayed on the show were traced back to the Mateen home in Florida. Mateen also owns a nonprofit organization under the name Durand Jirga, which is registered in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Funneling money back to the Taliban chapter of the Widows Ammunition Fund?

In one video, Mateen expresses gratitude toward the Afghan Taliban, while denouncing the Pakistani government.

“Our brothers in Waziristan, our warrior brothers in [the] Taliban movement and national Afghan Taliban are rising up,” he said. “Inshallah the Durand Line issue will be solved soon.”

The “Durand Line issue” is a historically significant one, particularly for members of the Pashtun ethnic group, whose homeland straddles the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Durand Line is that border. It is not clear whether the Mateens are Pashtun. The Afghan Taliban is mostly made up of Pashtuns.

The line was drawn as a demarcation of British and Afghan spheres of influence in 1893. The British controlled most of subcontinental Asia at the time, though some parts, including what is now Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan, were only loosely held. The line was inherited as a border by Pakistan after its independence. Since it splits the Pashtun population politically, it is seen as a cause for their marginalization. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in most of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.

And we couldn't ever have a bout of international common sense that would simply move the line, or create a Pashtun state, now could we...

Just hours before the Orlando shooting, Seddique Mateen posted a video on a Facebook page called Provisional Government of Afghanistan — Seddique Mateen. In it, he seems to be pretending to be Afghanistan's president, and orders the arrest of an array of Afghan political figures.

"I order national army, national police and intelligence department to immediately imprison Karzai, Ashraf Ghani, Zalmay Khalilzad, Atmar, and Sayyaf. They are against our countrymen, and against our homeland," he says, while dressed in army fatigues.

The most recent video on Mateen’s YouTube channel shows him declaring his candidacy for the Afghan presidency. The timing of the video is strange, as it came a year after presidential elections were held in Afghanistan. Mateen appears incoherent at times in the video, and he jumps abruptly from topic to topic. His use of Dari, instead of Pashto, the language of Pashtuns, was another strange element of his presentation, given that he is discussing issues of Pashtun nationalism.

On Sunday morning, Mateen told NBC News that his son’s rampage “has nothing to do with religion.”

Neither does the Taliban...

Instead, he offered another possible motive. He said his son got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a few months ago. He said his son was especially enraged because the kissing took place in front of his own young son.

“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country,” Mateen said.

Mateen could not be reached for comment by The Washington Post. His cellphone has been switched off.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

British jihadist Sally Jones threatens to blow herself up

2015-11-30

Miss Sally can just blow me...

[ARA News] DAMASCUS – Sally Jones, who left the UK to join the extremist group of Islamic State (ISIS), has threatened to blow herself up after her husband was killed in a drone strike by the U.S.-led coalition in Syria’s Raqqa.

Jones, 47, is a former punk rocker, originally from Kent. She has converted to Islam and has been radicalized recently through direct contact with jihadist groups online.

Quoting a Muslim extremist woman who killed herself along with scores of Russian soldiers in a truck bombing in 2000, Jones has expressed herself on the social media that she could be about to become a “black widow” suicide bomber.

The term “Black Widows” refers to a group of Chechen Muslim women whose husbands were killed by the Russian forces in Chechnya.

She moved to Syria with her 10-year-old son in 2013 and joined ISIS after being brainwashed.

“I know what I’m doing. Paradise has a price and I hope this will be the price for Paradise,” Jones tweeted. If she carried out her threat, she would be ISIS’s first widely known female suicide bomber.

Her husband Junaid Hussain, 21, was a cyber-hacker and a key propagandist and recruiter for the ISIS terror group. He was killed in an airstrike in Raqqa, the major bastion of ISIS in Syria.

Jones has been following her husband’s path, recruiting young men and women to join ISIS’s ranks.

“I would never love anyone but him,” the extremist widow said on Tweeter, referring to her dead husband, though the group’s leadership prevents widows from staying a long time without husbands, according to ISIS-linked sources.

Jones’s message came after her husband found killed in an airstrike by a U.S.-led drone on Raqqa last August.

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Africa Horn

Shaboobs, simple heavily armed pastoralists clash in Hiran

2015-10-30

JALALAQSI, Somalia -- Al Shabaab militants and Nomads have clashed in deadly battle in Afad area in central Somalia region of Hiran on Thursday, officials said. Mohamed Abdulle Fidow, Jalalaqsi District Commissioner told VOA Somali Service that four Al Shabaab militants were killed in the fighting over Zakat collections.

Militants adopted monthly Zakat that obliges every nomadic family with 10 heads of livestock to give away at least one, while those rearing as many as 20 are needed to contribute three in alms.

To be donated to the Widows Ammunition Fund. Basically they're acting like progressives...

The battle flared up after pastoralists refused to comply with Al Shabaab order.

Afad is located 33km off Hiran regional district of Jalalaqsi.

Wherever the heck that is...

Jalalaqsi is a town in the south-central Hiran province of Somalia. It is situated on the Shebelle River, between Buuloburde and Jowhar.

Rantburg has a full set of 1:1 world maps in the back office in the third sub-basement beneath Fred's secret coding lair in the back garden, thanks in large part to Old Patriot's image analysis skills. Unfolding them can be tricky (I gave up on Bangladesh after an unwary move tore through RAB #15's area of responsibility, which somehow greatly increased Mahmoud the Weasel's fourth cousin's nephew's income for the next six months), so I stick to the internet these days.

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Arabia

Iranian warships will escort Yemen-bound cargo ship

2015-05-13

Dubai -- Iranian warships will accompany a cargo ship bound for the Yemeni port of Hodaida, which is held by Iran-allied Houthi fighters, a naval commander was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on Tuesday.

This will be entertaining. The mighty Saudi navy versus the mighty Iranian navy?

As I recall, it's the Egyptians patrolling the seaways for the duration. I've no idea how mighty they are.

They're at least as mighty as the Saudis...

The Iran-flagged Iran Shahed cargo ship set sail on Monday and could be intercepted by Saudi-led coalition forces, which are blockading Yemen as part of a military campaign against the Houthis.

“The 34th fleet, which is currently in the Gulf of Aden, has special responsibility to protect the Iranian ~~ammunition~~ humanitarian aid ship,” Admiral Hossein Azad said, referring to a destroyer and support vessel patrolling international waters off Yemen.

A five-day ceasefire in Yemen’s civil war is set to take effect at 11pm (2000 GMT) to allow food and medicine into the blockaded country, which aid groups warn faces a humanitarian catastrophe.

Not that anyone in Yemen did anything to bring the catastrophe about. It was all 'bad luck'...

The Saudi-led coalition has accused Iran of arming the Houthis and routinely intercepts cargoes bound for Yemen. Last month, coalition jets bombed the runway at Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian cargo plane from landing. Tehran says it is sending only humanitarian aid to Yemen.

Courtesy of the Widows Ammunition Fund...

The Iran Shahed vessel was sailing away from Iran’s coast into the Gulf of Oman at 1334 GMT, ship tracking data on Reuters showed.

Iran’s Fars news agency reported separately that seven activists from the United States and Europe, including from Germany, were on board the ship.

Welcome to the fireworks, you tools!

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