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Africa North
Jihadists Get Life for Deadly 2015 Tunisia Attacks on Tourists
2019-02-10
More on this report from yesterday.
[AnNahar] A Tunisian court has sentenced seven jihadists to life in prison over attacks at a museum and on a beach in 2015 that killed 60 people, many of them tourists, prosecutors said Saturday.

Dozens of defendants faced two separate trials over the closely linked shootings, which occurred just months apart in Tunis and Sousse, but many were acquitted.

Three were given life sentences for homicide over the first attack in March 2015 at the capital's Bardo museum, in which two button men killed 21 foreign tourists and a Tunisian security guard.

Four received the same term for the shooting rampage at a Sousse tourist resort in June that year, which killed 38 people, mostly British tourists.

Other defendants were sentenced to between six and 16 years, said prosecution front man Sofiene Sliti on Saturday.

Prosecutors said afterwards that they planned to launch appeals in both cases.

The court heard that the two attacks, both claimed by 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....
group (IS), were closely linked.

Several defendants pointed to the runaway Chamseddine Sandi as criminal mastermind of both.

According to Tunisian media, Sandi was killed in a US air strike in neighbouring Libya in February 2016, although there has been no confirmation.

- 'DUTY TO IS' -
Among those who were facing trial were six security personnel accused of failing to provide assistance to people in danger during the Sousse attack.

That shooting was carried out by Seifeddine Rezgui, who opened fire on a beach before rampaging into a high-end hotel, where he continued to fire a kalashnikov and throw grenades until being rubbed out by police.

Four Frenchies, four Italians, three Japanese and two Spaniards were among those killed in the Bardo attack, before the two button men themselves, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, were rubbed out.

Investigations showed one of the button men, Yassine Laabidi -- who was born in 1990 and was from a poor district near Tunis -- had amphetamines in his body.

His fellow attacker Jaber Khachnaoui, born in 1994 and from Tunisia's deprived Kasserine region, had travelled to Syria in December 2014 via Libya.

One suspect questioned in court, Tunis labourer Mahmoud Kechouri, said he had helped plan the Bardo attack, including preparing mobile phones for Sandi, a neighbour and longtime friend.

Kechouri, 33, said he was driven by a "duty to participate in the emergence of the (IS) caliphate".

Other defendants accused of helping prepare the attack said they had only discussed ideas with friends. Several alleged they were tortured in detention.

- 'FINALLY RECOGNISED VICTIMS' -
Victims' family members in La Belle France and Belgium watched the Sousse attack hearing via a live video feed.

"It was important for us to see, and especially to hear -- to try to understand the role" of each defendant, said one French survivor. "Arriving at the end of the process will help us to turn the page, even if we can never forget."

"The trial allowed them -- by organising the video conferencing and giving the floor to lawyers chosen by the victims -- to finally be recognised as victims by the Tunisian state," said Gerard Chemla, a lawyer for the French victims.

But he lamented that the families of those killed had not been compensated.

The Sousse attack, which killed 30 Britons, is also the subject of proceedings in front of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, which is seeking to establish what happened.

Since a 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, jihadist attacks in Tunisia have killed dozens of members of the security forces.

As well as leaving many dead, the Bardo and Sousse attacks dealt a devastating blow to Tunisia's vital tourism sector -- although it has begun to recover.
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Africa North
Trial opens over 2015 Tunisia beach attack
2017-05-28
[DW] A Tunisian court on Friday held its first public hearing in a trial over a jihadi attack at a resort beach in 2015 in which 38 holidaymakers died, 30 of them Britons. Two German nationals were also among the dead.

The trial, which opened under heavy security, was quickly adjourned after lawyers for both sides sought more time to prepare their cases. The next hearing was set for October 3, a judiciary front man told AFP news agency.

Most of the 26 defendants face charges including homicide and forming a terrorist group in connecton with the attack in Sousse, in which a student armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and grenades went on a rampage in a resort before being rubbed out by police.

Six of the defendants are, however, coppers accused of failing to help people in danger.

The trial hearing in Tunis was attended by British diplomatic officials.

The gunman in the attack, Seifeddine Rezgui, had been "mainly" radicalized on the internet before receiving weapons training in neighboring Libya, Tunisian authorities say.
'Shambolic response'
A British inquiry in February found that Tunisian security had delayed their arrival on the scene, thus failing to protect the victims of the attack. The judge in charge of the inquest, Nicholas Loraine-Smith, said that the police response had been "at best shambolic, at worst cowardly."

If convicted, the accused could face the death penalty under a 2015 anti-terror law, even though Tunisia has had a moratorium on capital punishment since 1991.

Lawyers representing some defendants asked for their clients to be released from prison as they were not materially implicated in the attack, saying also that they had been subjected to torture while detained.

The attack in Sousse was the second of two deadly attacks on foreigners in 2015 claimed by 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....
" (IS) jihadi group. The massacre devastated Tunisia's important tourism sector, with British authorities still advising citizens against undertaking non-essential travel to the country even two years later.

The gunman in the attack, Seifeddine Rezgui, had been "mainly" radicalized on the internet before receiving weapons training in neighboring Libya, Tunisian authorities say.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Factory that makes 'Terror Potion' turning ISIS fighters into drug-fuelled Jihadi junkies
2016-02-03
Seems to me a little Polonium inserted into the supply chain at some point couldn't do much harm.
Highly-addictive Captagon pills keep terrorists awake for days and stop them feeling pain

A FACTORY making the highly-addictive drug used by terrorists and ISIS fighters has been uncovered by rebels in Syria.

Tablets and syringes were found inside hotel rooms used by the 'zombie-like' gang before last November's Paris atrocities.

French police believe the evil killers launched their killing spree while high on the lethal 'Terror Potion' which has also fuelled the war in Syria.

ISIS chemists are producing millions of the cheap, easy-to-make amphetamine pills that help keep fanatics awake for days, turning them into wide-eyed Jihadi junkies.

The small tablets, named Captagon, are produced in Syria and are widely available across the Middle East.

It is thought that the trade of the drugs brings in millions in revenue for ISIS, providing funding for weapons and ammunition.

Now the al-Nusra Front - a rebel faction fighting the Syrian government - has found a factory making the drug and confiscated thousands of the pills plus chemical equipment near the city of Aleppo.

The drug was first produced in the West in the 60s to treat hyperactivity, narcolepsy and depression, but by the 80s was banned in most countries because of its addictive properties and no longer has a legitimate medical use.

The "Terror Potion" nickname was gained because of its shockingly powerful effects.

It's usually taken in pill form but it can be dissolved into a liquid and injected.

Seifeddine Rezgui, the killer who caused carnage in Tunisia in the summer, took a Captagon pill before carrying out his shootings.

It has become the drug of choice for ISIS fighters -- who are bizarrely permitted to take it despite being strictly banned from drinking alcohol.

The drug's active ingredient, fenethylline, is metabolised by the body into the stimulants amphetamine and theophylline.

Lebanese psychiatrist Ramzi Haddad says the drug has the typical effects of a stimulant.

He explained: "It gives you a kind of euphoria. You're talkative, you don't sleep, you don't eat, you're energetic.

Syrian state media regularly mention Captagon pills, which sell for between as little as ÂŁ2.50 as one of the items government forces seize alongside weapons when they capture ISIS fighters or raid their bases.

A drug control officer in the central city of Homs said he had observed the effects of Captagon on protesters and fighters held for questioning.

He said: "We would beat them, and they wouldn't feel the pain. Many of them would laugh while we were dealing them heavy blows."

And a former fighter in the Syrian civil war spoke of the effects of the drug, revealing: "The brigade leader came and told us this pill gives you energy. Try it.

"So we took it the first time, and we felt physically fit, and felt like if there were ten people in front of you, you could catch them and kill them."

Photos of the drugs find were yesterday posted online by Terrormonitor.org.
Link


Africa North
UK Police Link Beach, Museum Attacks in Tunisia
2015-08-07
[AnNahar] British police helping the Tunisian authorities investigate the beach massacre that left 30 Britons dead said Wednesday they were linking it to an earlier attack on a Tunis museum.

The Britons were among 38 holidaymakers bumped off at a beach hotel near Sousse on June 26, three months after a shooting at the Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis in March. Both attacks were claimed by 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....
group.

"The attack at the Bardo museum which left 22 dead, including one British woman, is now being linked to the Sousse murders," said Commander Richard Walton, head of counter-terrorism at London's Metropolitan Police. He said he could not give further details because the investigation was still live.

"I can confirm that a team of officers, led by a senior detective from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, are working closely with the Tunisian authorities on both investigations and we have advised the coroner of the connection between the two," he said.

Tunisian authorities have previously said that the gunman in Sousse received training in Libya at the same time as the two men behind the Bardo attack and may well have known each other, although they could not confirm that.

In the June attack at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, 23-year-old student Seifeddine Rezgui bumped off foreign tourists after pulling a Kalashnikov assault rifle from a beach umbrella.

Many of the British survivors flew home shortly afterwards and detectives here have been collecting details of their harrowing experiences. Walton said that officers had so far taken 459 witness statements and were examining more than 370 photo and video files from mobile phones.

A number of witnesses had referred to a second gunman wearing red shorts. The police commander said Sherlocks now believe he was a member of beach security, although they "retain an open mind on this issue".

He added that about 150 people had been tossed in the slammer
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
in Tunisia in relation to the Sousse attack, of whom 15 have been charged with terrorism offenses and remain in jug.

Walton praised the Tunisian investigation but the attack has caused tensions between Britannia and Tunisia after London advised its tourists to stay away, warning that local authorities could not protect them.
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Britain
Runaway British schoolgirl marries the Ginger Jihadi
2015-07-13
[Daily Mail] A British teenager who fled to Syria has married a notorious Islamic State terrorist, who sent a chilling message on Sunday threatening attacks on Britain. Amira Abase, 16 - who went to Syria with two other school friends – has married Australian extremist Abdullah Elmir.
How nice -- they speak the same languages: English and vicious idiocy.
Elmir has boasted that IS would not stop waging jihad until their flag was flying over Buckingham Palace. Police have launched an urgent investigation after the radicalized militant sent a warning to this newspaper that IS supporters are 'itching to do an attack' on targets in London.

Elmir also callously mocked the slaughter of 38 tourists on a beach in Tunisia last month, urging Allah to bless Seifeddine Rezgui for carrying out the attack. Communicating through an encrypted text message service called Kik, he said, "And on the Tunisia attacks, May Allah bless the man who slaughtered those filthy kuffar and May Allah grant him the highest level in Jannah."

Dubbed the 'Ginger Jihadi' because of his long red hair, 18-year-old Elmir became an Islamic State poster boy after he fled his home city of Sydney last year, and later turned up in Syria, appearing in horrific propaganda videos.
Link


Africa North
Tunisia Beach Gunman Had Worked in Tourism: PM
2015-07-06
[ALMANAR.LB] The Tunisian gunman behind the June 26 attack at a resort that killed 38 foreigners had worked in the tourism industry, Prime Minister Habib Essid said in an interview published Sunday.

"We know he was a member of a dance club and was familiar with the tourism sector, having worked in it as an events organizer," Essid told the French-language newspaper La Presse.

Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid Tourists fled in horror as 23-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui pulled a Kalashnikov assault rifle from inside a furled beach umbrella and went on a shooting spree outside a five-star hotel.

The attack at Port El Kantaoui, north of Sousse, killed 30 Britons, three Irish nationals, two Germans, one Belgian, one Portuguese and a Russian.
The assailant was himself later rubbed out by police.

Both the authorities and relatives later described the gunman as having been an apparently normal young Tunisian who had been keen on breakdancing.

A resident near where his parents live in the town of Gaafour had previously told AFP that Rezgui worked "in tourism in the area of Kantaoui", where the attack is thought to have been planned, although there had been no confirmation of this from another source.
Link


Africa North
Libya magnet for militants from Tunisia and beyond
2015-07-06
[ARABNEWS] Lawless Libya has become a magnet for radical bandidos gunnies who receive weapons training in holy warrior camps before launching deadly attacks in other countries, like last week's beach massacre in Tunisia.

The oil-rich North African country bordering Tunisia has rival governments and parliaments as well as a slew of gangs vying for power in the aftermath of its 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...a reminder that a single man with an idea can change an entire nation, usually for the worse...
.

The chaos in Libya has "serious security implications for the region," said Michael Nayebi-Oskoui, senior Middle East analyst at Stratfor, a global intelligence and advisory firm based in the US city of Texas.

Libya has witnessed "a small but steady return of fighters" from the conflict in Syria, he said.

Tunis says 3,000 of its citizens are fighting alongside holy warrior groups in Syria, Iraq and Libya, and that 500 battle-hardened veterans have returned home where they pose a security threat.

On June 26, a student armed with an assault rifle mowed down 38 tourists at Tunisia's popular Port el Kantaoui beach resort, the second deadly attack on holidaymakers in three months in Tunisia.

Authorities identified the gunman as 23-year-old Tunisian student Seifeddine Rezgui and said he had received weapons training from bandidos gunnies in Libya.

He was said to have been in Libya at the same time as the two gunnies who in March attacked the National Bardo Museum in Tunis, killing 21 tourists and a policeman.

"It is confirmed that he went to Libya illegally. He was trained in Sabratha," west of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, said Tunisia's secretary of state for security, Rafik Chelli.

He said the Bardo assailants were out of Tunisia at the same time and had trained with Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet...
, an Al-Qaeda-linked group classified as a terrorist organization by Washington and the UN.

Sabratha, where Tunisian authorities say Rezgui received weapons training before going on the killing spree on a beach, lies 60 kilometers (35 miles) west of Tripoli.

The coastal town is also only 100 kilometers from Ras Jdir, the main border crossing between Libya and Tunisia.

"Sabratha is on the edge of a region that straddles the Libya-Tunisian border known as 'Jefara.' The region is characterised by a network of formerly nomadic tribes which have made a living out of trafficking and smuggling," said Philip Stack of global risk analysts Verisk Maplecroft.

"The description of Sabratha as a 'training camp' does not necessarily mean it's military in nature. There is a good chance that its main focus is centered on radicalization," said Stack, an expert on Middle East and North African affairs.

Sabratha falls under the jurisdiction of the powerful Fajr Libya militia alliance which last year seized Tripoli, setting up a government and parliament opposed to the internationally-recognized administration.

Security officials in Tripoli say hundreds of imported muscle, including Tunisians returning from Syria and Iraq, have entered Libya in recent months, taking advantage of the breakdown in security.

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Britain
Cameron gives SAS permission to launch raids inside Syria and Iraq
2015-07-06
[Daily Mail] British special forces have been given the go-ahead to launch raids deep into IS territory in Syria and Iraq, top intelligence sources have revealed.

In response to the threat posed directly to Britain, the SAS has been given 'carte blanche' to kill or capture IS leaders, including those who planned the Tunisian beach massacre. An elite force of up to 100 troops is expected to be committed to the secret war, working with US special forces and Navy Seal teams.

Prime Minister Cameron last week promised a 'broad spectrum' response to the murder of 30 British tourists by IS gunman Seifeddine Rezgui in the beach resort of Sousse in Tunisia. Reports say the SAS and SBS will be working with MI6 and GCHQ, the government's eavesdropping service, to target the IS and other terror groups which pose a threat to the nation.

One senior intelligence source said, "The SAS have been pushing to be more proactive for quite a while. In the past couple of years they have planned a number of operations in Syria when the chemical weapon threat was high but the missions were vetoed at the highest level because of the risks involved. The Tunisian attack has led to a rethink and has speeded up the inevitable use of SF [special forces] against Islamic State."

Last week Defense Secretary Michael Fallon it was 'illogical' for the RAF to be bombing ISIS in Iraq, but not joining the American-led assault on their bases in neighbouring Syria. He said, "IS has to be defeated in both countries. It's evil in Iraq is being directed by its headquarters in Syria."
Link


Africa North
Tunisia PM admits police took too long to react to attack
2015-07-04
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid told the BBC on Friday that police took too long to react to last week's jihadi attack that killed 38 people, mostly Britons.

"The time of the reaction - this is the problem," Essid told the British broadcaster. Police had been "blocked everywhere," he added.

Essid spoke as Britannia's Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron
... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
led a minute's silence Friday for the victims, 30 of whom were British tourists.

ISIS claimed last Friday's attack by jihadi gunman Seifeddine Rezgui at the beach resort of Port El Kantaoui just north of Sousse.

Three Irish nationals, two Germans, one Belgian, one Portuguese and a Russian were also killed.

Essid offered Tunisia's condolences to Britannia.

"We feel really sorry about what happened," he said. "They were our guests. They came to spend their vacation with us, but what happened is a horror, unacceptable."

Mourners at Port El Kantaoui also held a minute's silence Friday, where they were joined by Essid.

The Tunisian beach ceremony was attended by the ministers of foreign affairs, tourism, health and youth and sports, flanked by a sizeable police presence.
Link


Africa North
8 people suspected of direct links to Tunisia beach attack
2015-07-04
Tunis, Tunisia -- Eight people are in custody in Tunisia, suspected of having direct links to a deadly beach attack that killed 38 people, but four other possible suspects have been released, a minister said Thursday.

The British Foreign Office, meanwhile, raised the death toll of British tourists killed in Friday’s attack from 27 to 30. Other European tourists were among the dead. The attack was Tunisia’s deadliest ever and threatens to be a devastating blow to its tourism sector.

Daesh group claimed responsibility for the attack, in which Tunisian student Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire on a beach in the resort of Sousse. He was later killed by police.

Government minister Kamel Jendoubi told reporters Thursday in Tunis the eight still detained — seven men and one woman — are suspected of direct links to the attack. He did not elaborate on their identities or roles, saying only that the investigation “has allowed us to discover the network behind the operation in Sousse.”

The minister also urged greater international terrorism cooperation in a “war ... between democratic Tunisia and an international jihadi movement.”

Sofiane Selliki, an official in the prosecutor’s office, said no one had been brought before a judge for charges.

A top security official told the AP this week that Rezgui had trained in an extremist camp in Libya at the same time as the two men who attacked a leading Tunisian museum in March, killing near. That raised fears of more attacks on this North African nation’s budding democracy.

More Tunisians — about 3,000 — are believed to have gone to Syria and Iraq to join radical extremists including Daesh group than fighters from any other country.
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Africa North
Tunisia says resort gunman was trained in Libya
2015-07-01
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The gunman who killed 38 tourists in Tunisia received weapons training from jihadis in Libya, a top official said Tuesday, as the president admitted security services were unprepared for the attack.

On Friday, a student identified as 23-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui pulled a Kalashnikov assault rifle from inside a beach umbrella and went on a bloody rampage at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba hotel in Port El Kantaoui near Sousse.

Secretary of state for security Rafik Chelli told AFP Rezgui had been in Libya at the same time as the two authors of a March attack at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis that killed 21 tourists and a policeman.

Both attacks were claimed by ISIS, which controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

"It is confirmed that he (Rezgui) went to Libya illegally. He was trained in Sabratha (west of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
)," Chelli said.

"They were away at the same time ... In Sabratha, there is only one camp that trains young Tunisians," he said, although he could not confirm whether they had trained together.

The camp was run by the jihadi Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet...
h group, Chelly added.
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Africa North
Beach massacre gunman reportedly told Tunisians to flee during shooting
2015-06-29
[FOXNEWS] The gunman who fatally shot 38 beachgoers Friday at a popular Tunisian tourist location reportedly instructed his fellow Tunisians to get away while he fired his assault rifle into the fleeing crowd.

Witnesses told The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
that the gunman, identified as Seifeddine Rezgui-- a 23-year-old student-- acted businesslike during the attack and as tourists fled the beach, he pursued them to a nearby pool and into offices on the second floor of the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse.

"He seemed like he did not know how to handle the weapon, because it is heavy," Hassen, a witness who declined to give his full name, told the paper. "He seemed not to be experienced."

The shooting has been labeled the worst terror attack in Tunisia's history and prompted a tourist exodus Saturday as many Europeans cut short vacations and headed home.

Other travelers who booked trips to Tunisia called to cancel those plans. A major German tour operator said 300 customers had called to rebook trips to Tunisia. Many sought new destinations.

The massacre, the second deadly attack on Tunisia's tourist industry this year, was expected to deal a heavy blow to the country's tourism industry which accounts for nearly 15 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.
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