Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Ali Saad Muhammad Mustafa Bakri	Ali Saad Muhammad Mustafa Bakri	al-Qaeda	International-UN-NGOs				20051002	Link
Hassan Mustafa Bakry	Hassan Mustafa Bakry	Moro Islamic Liberation Front	Southeast Asia				20040606	Link
	Hassan Mustafa Bakry	al-Qaeda	Southeast Asia				20040606	Link

Africa North

Egypt: Dismissing Muslim Brotherhood employees?

2021-06-24

[AlAhram] Before adjourning for summer recess the House of Representatives will discuss a draft law that aims to rid murderous Moslems from government employ According to Ibrahim al-Heneidi, chair of the House of Representatives’ Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, a new draft law aims to facilitate the dismissal of civil servants who support the terrorist-designated Moslem Brüderbund. "The draft law, submitted by MP Ali Badr, was overwhelmingly approved by the House’s Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee and reflects the government’s keenness to rid the administrative system of Moslem Brüderbund and terrorist elements," said al-Heneidi. Al-Heneidi says the draft, which seeks to amend the Law on Non-Disciplinary Dismissal of Civil Servants (10/1972), will strengthen national security. Badr told the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 6 June that there is a pressing need to combat terrorist elements within the state’s administrative system. "Cabinet ministers have lately complained in parliament that they lack the legal tools to rid their ministries of employees espousing terrorist thoughts and ideologies," said Badr. "The new draft law will allow cabinet ministers to dismiss employees with proven links to the Moslem Brüderbund and other terrorist-designated groups." The draft law allows employees to appeal against their dismissal and return to their jobs if their names are removed from the relevant terrorist lists. Last month Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir told MPs that the Railway Authority has 162 Moslem Brüderbund-affiliated employees who consistently undermine the authority’s work and urged MPs to change the law to allow the Railway Authority to rid itself of "the forces of darkness and evil". Minister of Waqf (Religious Endowments) Mohammed Mokhtar Gomaa also told the media last week that "there are a lot of sleeper Moslem Brüderbund cells in government ministries." "The Brotherhood leadership spends a great deal on these cells to promote its agenda in government circles and stir up trouble," claimed Gomaa. Independent MP Mustafa Bakri warned that the draft law might be unconstitutional. "I think we need an independent judicial committee to judge whether this draft law is constitutional," said Bakri. "It is difficult to determine who is a member of the Moslem Brüderbund and who is not, and there are concerns that the law could lead to the dismissal of civil servants for arbitrary reasons." In response, Deputy Justice Minister Ibrahim Shaarawi pointed out that the draft "allows state employees to appeal any dismissal decision before the administrative courts and in doing so is fully in line with the constitution". Atef Meghawri, head of the parliamentary group of the Tagammu Party, told al-Ahram Weekly that in its current form of the 1972 Civil Service Law makes it difficult to dismiss state employees who espouse radical ideologies. "There is a pressing need to change this law after turban and terrorist groups were able to infiltrate government circles in recent years, mostly in the form of sleeper cells," said Meghawri. "When the Moslem Brüderbund was in power between 2012 and 2013 its members spread in all government sectors. It is essential MPs move quickly to help cabinet ministers dismiss elements with suspected links to the Brotherhood or to any other terrorist-designated group." Their Deep State is uglier than our deep state. Meghawri argued the bill drafted by Badr and approved by the House’s Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee is covered by Article 237 of the 2014 constitution which stipulates the state must "combat all forms of terrorism and track its sources of funding". MP Essam Alaa told the Weekly the move against the Moslem Brüderbund came after cabinet ministers discovered that some babus government employees were using their jobs to promote the group’s agenda. "The current civil service law prohibits state employees from using their jobs to serve radical agendas or publish confidential information on social media but in recent years employees have ignored the prohibitions. It was important that the law be amended to fight this phenomenon, and protect the state from the Moslem Brüderbund’s wicked plans," said Alaa.

Link

Africa North

Libya’s Haftar reported dead in Paris

2018-04-14

[ALMASDARNEWS] Egyptian politician Mustafa Bakri has issued a tweet about Haftar’s alleged death, writing that "The departure of Field Marshal Haftar, commander-in-chief of the Libyan Armed Forces, is a great loss. He was a common denominator among the honorable sons of Libya." The Libya Observer has also reported that Haftar passed, citing diplomatic sources. Earlier, Libyan National Army political administration head Hussein al-Obeidi said that Haftar had left La Belle France and returned to Benghazi on Friday, according to the EREM News portal. al-Obeidi said that he had personally met Field Marshal Hafter upon his return to Libya, and said that the field marshal’s health was "excellent" and that he was "in good physical shape." The official also denied that Haftar had suffered a stroke, calling such informations "rumors spread by media supported by political Islam." This week, Le Monde reported that Haftar may ave been sent for urgent treatment at a Gay Paree hospital. According to the newspaper, the 75-year-old military commander, presumably suffering a stroke, was taken by plane to Gay Paree via Jordan. LNA officials said however that Haftar had gone to Jordan for political negotiations. Earlier Friday, a source said to be close to the matter told Rooters that Haftar had been treated in a Gay Paree hospital. The source declined to comment on the general’s condition.

Link

Africa North

Egypt Ex-MPs Announce 'Alternative' Parliament

2010-12-15

If they're not careful the coppers will thump knobs on their 'alternative' heads. Hosni's a pretty bare-faced dictator. [An Nahar] Egypt's new parliament convened for the first time on Monday, as about 20 opposition politicians defeated in disputed legislative polls announced the formation of their own rogue legislature. The new parliament re-elected Fathi Srour as speaker ahead of a formal opening session on Sunday, while prominent opposition figure and independent MP Mustafa Bakri read a statement on the creation of the "People's Parliament." Bakri and other legislators, including from the opposition Mohammedan Brotherhood and the liberal Wafd party, stood on the steps leading to Egypt's State Council. The State Council or Maglis al-Dawla is the court authorized to settle administrative disputes concerning the exercise of public power. The rogue MPs pledged allegiance to respect the constitution and said their alternative parliament would reflect the will of the people. Two dozen protesters also joined the politicians outside the court, some of them holding placards saying the November 28 and December 5 parliamentary elections should be nullified. "Blatant fraud: Nul. Nul. Nul," said one sign. Others held up a white banner that read: "This is the coffin of fairness and transparency." Obama could use one of those banners for the White House porch. A coalition of rights groups which monitored the vote has called for the dissolution of the new parliament. The ruling National Democratic Party of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak clinched control of four-fifths of the new parliament, securing 420 of 508 seats, while independents garnered 70 seats and the opposition trailed far behind with 14 seats. Wafd secured six seats although it had boycotted the second and last round of voting along with the Mohammedan Brotherhood on December 5. The Mohammedan Brotherhood won a fifth of seats in parliament at the last election in 2005 and none in the last polls.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Kurdish party official arrested in Syria

2010-05-23

DAMASCUS - Syrian authorities have arrested a leading member of a banned Kurdish party, a Syrian rights group said in a statement on Saturday, and pleaded for his release. Teacher and party official Mohammed Saadun, 50, was “arrested by the state security services' on Thursday in the northeastern town of Qameshli, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Saadun, a father of seven, is on the political committee of the banned Azadi Kurdish party, the statement said. “The reasons for his arrest and his place of detention are still unknown,' the Observatory said, urging the Syrian authorities “to free Saadun and three members of the Azadi party who had been previously detained.' The reasons for his arrest are perfectly clear. The stated reasons for his arrest are not known ... It said Mustafa Bakr, Mohammed Omar and Saadun Sheikho were sentenced to three years in prison in November 2009 on charges of “undermining the dignity of the state, weakening national sentiment and fuelling racial strife.' Assad should have little dignity at all, but perhaps he and his toadies are just as twitchy about it as any other set of thugs ... The group urged the government “to free all prisoners of conscience being held in Syrian jails,' and “to pass a modern law regulating the activities of political parties and civil society groups in Syria.' Kurds represent around nine percent of Syria's population of 20 million.

Link

Home Front: WoT

US freezes assets of Egyptian terrorists

2005-10-04

The United States on Monday took action to financially incapacitate seven Egyptians suspected of providing support to an Egyptian terrorist group that merged with Al Qaeda in 2001. The Treasury Department's action means any bank accounts or other financial assets belonging to the seven people found in the United States will be blocked. Americans also are forbidden from doing business with them. The department alleges that the seven individuals have acted on behalf of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group that merged with Al Qaeda in 2001. "The activities of these individuals included training and providing material support to Al Qaeda, as well as conspiring to commit terrorist acts," the department said. One of the seven, Madhat Mursi Al-Sayyid Umar, was an explosives and chemical substances specialist for Al Qaeda, the department said. Another, Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abd Al-Rahman, was responsible for coordinating Al Qaeda's work with other terrorist organizations, the agency said. The others designated by the department are: Hani Muhammad Yusuf Al-Siba'i; Al-Sayyid Ahmad Fathi Husayn Alaywah; Zaki Izzat Zaki Ahmad; Muhammad Ahmad Shawqi Al-Islambuli; and Ali Sa'd Muhammad Mustafa Bakri. I'm off to work now, so didn't have the time to check Thugburg. The department said the seven are wanted by Egyptian authorities for their involvement in terrorist activities. "This action targets the financing mechanisms used by those rogue actors supporting Al Qaeda," said Robert Werner, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

More Egyptians to be added to UN al-Qaeda file

2005-10-02

The UN Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee is set to add the names of seven Egyptians this weekend on its consolidated list of individuals and entities related to those two terrorist organisations, a Security Council source told KUNA on Friday. The seven are Hani Youssef Al-Sibai, Madhat Mursi Al-Sayyid Umr, Al-Sayyid Ahmad Fathi Husayn Alaywah, Zaki Izzat Zaki Ahmad, Abdullah Muhammad Rajab Abdl-al-Rahman, Muhammed Ahmad Shawqi Al-Islambuli and Ali Saad Muhammad Mustafa Bakri. Egypt actually presented the committee last March with 20 names. Three committee members - The US, UK and Denmark - held the names until Egypt provided evidence. They lifted the hold on only the seven names because the evidence is "convincing". The Egyptian mission was not available to describe what the charges are.

Link

Israel-Palestine

DEBKAfile Guide to Internal Palestinian Turbulence in the Gaza Strip

2005-07-20

The closer to home, the better DEBKA gets with their intel:1. Hamas operatives are under orders to fire on Palestinian Authority security officers coming to arrest them and call the local people out on the street to hem them in. 2. Hamas claims that one of the Fatah captives (hostages) they seized Tuesday, July 19, in the northern district “confessed” the PA was planning to murder the heads of the Hamas “military” arm, the Ezz-e-din al Qassam Battalions. The videotaped “confession” is going around the Gaza Strip. 3. Factions of the Fatah al Aqsa Brigades in a sudden burst of loyalty are helping patchy efforts by PA security men and Mahmoud Abbas to confront Hamas gunmen shooting at Israelis. They are in fact obeying - not Abbas but the Damascus-based hardline Fatah leader Farouq Kaddumi. He has set a price for their support. As soon as the Israelis are gone from the Gaza Strip, he plans to transfer his headquarters there, along with the heads of the Damascus commands of Hamas and Jihad Islami. 4. Kadoumi’s first demand will be the abolition of the Palestinian Authority as the legitimate government of the Gaza and the West Bank and the transfer of rule to the Palestinian Liberation Organization to which Hamas and Jihad will be co-opted. 5. While these al Aqsa Brigades factions are siding with the PA for the infighting against Hamas, they have jumped aboard Hamas’s bombing offensive against Israel. Together they intend seizing the real estate Israel is about to evacuate. The Brigades therefore support the Abbas and the PA on one issue, oppose it on two. 6. After six days of hard bargaining, Hamas and the Brigades informed Abbas and the visiting Egyptian mediators, Generals Mustafa Bakri, deputy intelligence chief, and Mohammed Ibrahim, head of the Palestinian Desk, that their offensive against Israel will continue. They therefore rejected the bid for a return to the de facto truce. 7. A large group of 20 Egyptian military officers is due in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, July 20, to take up positions as “responsible observers” to monitor the Palestinian deployment (still non-existent) which is supposed to cordon off Israeli’s pull-out operation against a Hamas grab. 8. The PA, the Egyptian mediators and all the Palestinian organizations including Hamas and the Jihad Islami failed to deliver on a promised joint communiqué Tuesday announcing that the comparative lull shattered this month was back in place. Monday and Tuesday, July 18-19, saw a certain slackening of Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets, compared with the preceding five days. DEBKAfile’s Palestinian sources explain that this improvement has nothing to do with the talks Abu Mazen backed by Egyptian generals has been conducting in Gaza with no results since last Thursday. In any case, the Jihad Islami, for instance, which sent the suicide bomber who killed 5 Israelis at a Netanya mall earlier this month, never joined the truce in the first place. What the terrorist leaders, led by Hamas, are keeping their powder relatively dry for is a mass Israeli target in the form of the anti-disengagement march, which was supposed to reach the Kissufim checkpoint at the entrance to the Gaza Strip Wednesday, July 20. If the demonstrators’ arrival is prevented by the all-out police-military effort launched Tuesday night to block their path, then Hamas will aim at the concentrations of Israeli troops and police as an alternative target of attack. Terrorist teams will at the same time resume their missile and mortar barrage of Sderot, Gaza communities and Israeli military positions. According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the Hamas has called up reserve gun squads and broken open ammunition stores kept for emergencies. Thursday, July 21, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is due in the Middle East to try and defuse the crisis generated by the Hamas offensive lest it threaten the pull-out. Hamas will do its utmost to demonstrate Abu Mazen’s helplessness in the face of the Gaza turmoil. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon will wait politely for her to leave before launching reprisals – if then.

Link

Iraq-Jordan

Egypt vows Dire Revenge™

2005-07-13

The Egyptian government vowed to avenge the slaying of its top envoy in Iraq as it tried to fend off sharp criticism at home Tuesday, including accusations it didn't do enough to save the diplomat killed by Al Qaeda-linked militants. Egypt's top pro-government newspapers carried banner headlines quoting President Hosni Mubarak saying, "Egypt does not forget its sons," and promising to take care of the family of Ihab Sherif. They showed prominent photos of the foreign minister meeting with Sherif's wife, wearing a white veil and black dress. On Egyptian television on Monday, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit vowed to "take vengeance on the killers of the head of the Egyptian mission in Iraq." Though he did not specify how Egypt could take action, it was an unusually aggressive statement for a government that has refrained from vocal criticism of the insurgency in Iraq. Sherif's slaying, announced by a statement last week by Al Qaeda in Iraq, stunned many in Egypt, where opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq is high. Al Qaeda in Iraq said it abducted the envoy and condemned him to death as an "apostate" because his government intended to install a full ambassador in Baghdad as a sign of support for Iraq's new government. Mubarak's government has faced an onslaught of criticism in the opposition press, denouncing it for knuckling under US pressure to send an ambassador despite the continuing violence in Iraq and accusing it of not doing enough to save Sherif's life. The Araby and Osboa weekly newspapers proclaimed in red-letter headlines that "the government bears sole responsibility for the spilling of Sherif's blood." "The Egyptian foreign minister refused to cut his visit to Libya, he dealt with the issue in an irresponsible way, the Egyptian government refused to declare a state of mourning or even half-mast the flags and all what it did was four lines lamenting the martyr," Mustafa Bakri, editor-in-chief of Osboa said in a front-page editorial. With Mubarak heading into September presidential elections — in which he will face competition for the first time — his government has tried to turn off the heat over the diplomat's slaying. It proclaimed Sherif a "martyr" — even though Al Qaeda in Iraq did not release a video showing the diplomat's killing and his body has yet to be found. Mubarak spoke to Sherif's family twice. "I am personally taking care of the family of Sherif," government papers quoted him as saying, and Abou Gheit held a strongly publicised meeting with his wife to express condolences. Aboul Gheit also took pains to point out that Sherif had not been appointed ambassador in Iraq and that Egypt does not have a full embassy there. Sherif's credentials, with the title of chief of mission, "prove the falsity of what has been said by some concerning an upgrade in the level of representation and the establishment of an Egyptian embassy in Iraq and the conduct of full diplomatic relations," Aboul Gheit told the state-run Middle East News Agency. "These are nothing more than inflammatory and can't be characterised as truthful or ethical," he added. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced during an international conference in Brussels last month that Egypt had decided to become the first Arab country to send a full ambassador to Iraq under the new government elected in January. Though Egypt never confirmed or denied the announcement, Aboul Gheit was among the delegates at the conference and voiced no objection to Zebari remarks. Many believed that Sherif, sent to Baghdad in early June, was paving the way for a full ambassador posting.

Link

Southeast Asia

Arrested al-Qaeda links MILF to terrorism

2004-06-06

An Egyptian suspected of Al-Qaeda membership has revealed links between the terror network and the Philippines’ main Muslim separatist group, the military chief said Thursday. Another 'dog bites man' story. Hassan Mustafa Bakry entered the Philippines in 1999 with six other unidentified foreigners and trained local Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas in demolitions in camps on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, General Narciso Abaya said. Bakry, who was arrested in the town of Datu Piang on Tuesday, had even helped to defend the MILF stronghold Camp Abubakar before it fell to government forces in 2000, Abaya said. Abaya said there would be a further investigation of Bakry’s allegations, adding that this issue had already been raised in a joint ceasefire monitoring committee between the MILF and the government. "We have long suspected that there are foreign instructors that were giving instructions on explosives, demolitions and even... in the manufacture of RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades). They do have links to the Al-Qaeda," Abaya added. He expressed hope that Bakry would yield more information after further spirited questioning.

Link

Iraq-Jordan

Arab media muted in coverage of beheading

2004-05-12

Arab media reacted cautiously Wednesday to the videotaped beheading of an American civilian by Islamic militants in Iraq, with some newspapers conspicuously playing it down or even ignoring it. The biggest pan-Arab satellite television channels broadcast an edited version of the gruesome video, not showing the actual killing of Nick Berg, 26, of West Chester, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb. The businessman was abducted in April. In one of the most explicit displays, Kuwait’s Al-Siyassah daily ran a photo of a masked militant holding up Berg’s severed head. The video of the execution was released on the Internet too late for some Middle East newspaper columnists to react to it. The killing, attributed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s group, appalled many Arabs, including Iraqis who said described it as just the latest atrocity in a cycle of violence that is driving them to despair. Some opinion-makers condemned the killing. “This shows how base and vile those who wear the robe of Islam have become,” said Abdullah Sahar, a Kuwait University political scientist. Some said it surpassed the American military’s abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison, which has been the top story for the past 10 days in the Middle East. “We were winning international sympathy because of what happened at Abu Ghraib, but they come and waste it all,” said Abdullah Sahar, another political scientist at Kuwait University, referring to the Islamic militants responsible for the killing. In the video, the masked militants said they were taking revenge on Berg because of the abuses at the Baghdad prison. Mustafa Bakri, editor of Al-Osboa weekly newspaper in Egypt, said Berg’s death will only hurt efforts to expose American offenses against Iraqis. “Such revenge is rejected,” Bakri said of the execution. “The American administration will make use of such crimes just to cover their real crimes against Iraqis.” Bakri spoke as he took part in a Cairo demonstration by about 50 Egyptian journalists and lawyers against American human rights abuses in Iraq. Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, the big two satellite networks, aired carefully edited versions of the video. In Al-Arabiya’s edit, a militant is seen drawing a knife and jerking Berg’s body to one side. The rest is not shown. “The news story itself is strong enough,” said Jihad Ballout, spokesman for Qatar-based Al-Jazeera. “To show the actual beheading is out of the realm of decency.” Lebanon’s private Al Hayat-LBC station led its bulletins Wednesday with the video. Its news presenter said: “We apologize to our viewers for not showing the entire tape because of the ugliness of the scene.” Kuwait state television broadcast the news of the execution late Tuesday but not the video. Iraqi newspapers reported nothing about the killing, although the story may have broken too late for them. Egypt’s leading daily, Al-Ahram, ignored the beheading Wednesday. Two other major pro-government newspapers ran news agency reports on their inside pages, without photos. An Al-Ahram editor, Ahmed Reda, said the news came too late Tuesday night for the paper to confirm the video’s authenticity with the U.S. government. Newspapers in Syria, where the government controls the press tightly, did not report it at all. A professor of journalism at the American University in Cairo, Hussein Amin, said the handling of the story by Egypt’s pro-government papers was political and appropriate. “I think that the government does not want to show this on the front page as a main item because it shows a very poor — poor is not the proper word; disgusting maybe is the better word — example of revenge,” Amin said. “There is also the threat that it could be happening to other Americans. If they put it on the front page, (it could be seen as) they are favoring this kind of action.” Jordanian newspapers, state television and radio reported Berg’s killing, but without commentary. Most Lebanese newspapers, such as the left-wing As-Safir, published the report and a photograph of Berg sitting in front of the militants. As-Safir ran the headline: “Al-Zarqawi slaughters an American to avenge Iraqi prisoners.” In many Arab newspapers, the beheading received less display than the news of America’s imposing sanctions on Syria and the killing of six Israeli soldiers in Gaza City.

Link

Iraq-Jordan

U.S. Demands Retraction for Abuse Photos

2004-05-06

The U.S. Embassy demanded a retraction Wednesday for photographs published in the Egyptian press that it said were faked pictures of American soldiers sexually abusing female prisoners in Iraq. But editors of two of the three publications involved said Wednesday they saw no grounds for a retraction. The editor-in-chief of the third publication, Al-Wafd, was not available. "We have done a thorough investigation of the origin of these photos and have conclusive evidence that they originated on a pornographic Web site," the embassy said in a statement. "They are clearly staged photos, done by actors, as the site itself states." But try convincing people now. "Their publication needlessly inflames an already heated atmosphere," the statement added, referring to Arab outrage over the revelation last weekend that U.S. soldiers had sexually humiliated male prisoners in Iraq. U.S. authorities have condemned the soldiers' actions and promised to bring them to justice. The editor of the Egyptian weekly Al-Osboa, Mustafa Bakri, dismissed the U.S. Embassy's complaint. His newspaper published at least one photograph of a man, purportedly an American soldier, taking sexual advantage of a woman as one of a series run across three pages on May 3. "We have published, maybe, one picture from the Internet, which was one of several pictures published by the media," Bakri told The Associated Press. "The kind of pictures on CBS made us believe that any other picture is authentic. Now the U.S. Embassy is speaking about pictures that were published only on the Internet. OK, let us agree on what CBS published, aren't they enough?" If that's so, why use the fake ones? The editor of Al-Mussawar, Makram Mohammed Ahmed, said he was not aware of the U.S. Embassy complaint. This week, his magazine published a picture of a partially naked woman with parts of her body blacked out. Ahmed said he would not rule out that fake pictures were circulating.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-11 More