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Showing posts from April 10, 2016

France Following 9,000 Tips on Islamic Extremism

French authorities have received 9,000 tips related to Islamic extremism through a dedicated hotline and a website, President  Francois Hollande  said Thursday. French officials believe some 600 Muslims have left the country for  Syria  and Iraq, but the president's comments about thousands of tips offer a hint of the scale of the concern over religious radicalism in  France . Hollande was quick to note that not all the tips were linked to genuine dangers, but said it was a sign that France needed a program to fight extremism. "We should create de-radicalization centers," he said. The period during which the tips were made wasn't made clear, although a hotline has been active in some form since 2014. Hollande was speaking during a televised exchange with Veronique Roy, whose son is believed to have died in Syria after converting to a radical form of Islam. Roy was one of four citizen panelists brought as part of a town hall-style question-and-answer ses

AFP: Troops track down gunmen who took 4 Indon crewmen

ZAMBOANGA CITY  (Updated)  – The Armed Force’s Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) has alerted the troops in the provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu to monitor possible landing of a gunmen-laden speed boat bringing four Indonesian hostages. This as one of the gunshot victim and five other crewmembers who managed to escape Friday night’s kidnapping by alleged Abu Sayyaf bandits are now in Indonesia, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry said. Major Filemon Tan, Jr., Westmincom spokesperson, said the incident took place around 6:30 p.m. Friday in the seawaters near Pondo Sibugal, Sitangkai, Tawi-Tawi. The report said the wounded Indonesian is in a stable condition. Tan said the victims’ identities were not immediately available except that they are among the 10 Indonesian crew of TB (Tugboat) Henry. He said the victims were attacked by at least seven gunmen aboard a gray and blue color speedboat while they were passing Pondo Sibugal, Sitangkai. The gunmen seized the four Indonesia

Corruption fuels extremism, warns US

WASHINGTON: The US State Department has warned that corruption fuels extremism, increases economic instability and has a corrosive effect on society. The department’s spokesman John Kirby made these remarks when asked if the United States supported the opposition’s demand for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down because of his alleged involvement in the Panama leaks scandal or continued to back him. “These are decisions that the Pakistani people have to make, and...I’m not talking about this specific case,” said Mr Kirby but he did offer his views on corruption, `separate and distinct’ from this case. The US official recalled that Secretary of State John Kerry had also been very clear about the dangers of corruption around the world and “what that does to fuel extremism and to increase economic instability and the corrosive effect that it can have on entire societies”. Mr Kirby pointed out that Mr Kerry had addressed this issue on Wednesday as well, when he released th

Islamist militants in Philippines set deadline to execute foreigncaptives

Islamist militants seized four Indonesian crew of a tugboat in the southern Philippines on Friday night, the third attack on slow moving vessels in about a month, a military spokesman said on Saturday, as troops battled Muslim rebels on a nearby island. Major Filemon Tan said seven gunmen in a blue speed boat attacked two Indonesian flagged tugboats off the Philippines' southernmost island of Sitangkay in Tawi-tawi, near the border with Malaysia's eastern Sabah state, and took the four crew. "We don't exactly know who took them but the only lawless group operating in that area is the Abu Sayyaf," Tan said, adding 10 Indonesians and four Malaysians were also abducted in two separate incidents early this month in the south. The Indonesian foreign ministry issued a statement said four Indonesian crew were taken captive after gunmen attacked two tugboats, TB Henry and TB Cristy, on their way to Kalimantan from Cebu. Six other crew were left behind but one was

Ban on JeM chief: India criticises China's hidden veto at UN

India has criticised the use of hidden veto by China, blocking its bid at the United Nations (U.N.) to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar. India's Permanent Representative to the U.N., Syed Akbaruddin told the U.N. Security Council in New York that general members are never informed about the reason for not acceding to requests for sanctioning terrorists. Akbaruddin said this in an open debate on 'Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts', adding that the procedures of unanimity and anonymity of the Al Qaeda, Taliban and Islamic State Sanctions Committees need to be revisited. "Counter terror mechanisms such as the Sanctions Committees that act on behalf of the international community need to build trust not engender impunity by the use of this form of a hidden veto," said Akbaruddin. After the attack on the Pathankot airbase in January, India had in February written to the U.N. calling for immediate action to list Masoo

Police to record statement of Indonesian crew who escaped kidnap bid

KOTA KINABALU: Police will record statements from the Indonesian crew of a tugboat who escaped from being kidnapped by an armed group in the southern Philippine waters. Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun  (pic)  said at the moment, one of the ship's crew who was undergoing treatment for an injury at the Semporna Hospital would be transferred to the Tawau Hospital for further treatment. "If it (the time) is suitable, we (police) will take his statement," he said via a WhatsApp message Saturday. Abdul Rashid said five other crew members of the ship who also escaped would be going to Lahad Datu for further action. On Friday, four of the 10 crew members who were Indonesian nationals were reported to have been abducted by the armed group who were believed to have overtaken the tugboat which was on its way from the Philippines to Indonesia, at about 6.30pm. Shortly after the incident that occurred in international waters, six of the crew members who escaped were

Muslim nations accuse Iran of supporting terrorism: summit communique

By Yesim Dikmen and Melih Aslan ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Leaders from more than 50 Muslim nations accused Iran on Friday of supporting terrorism and interfering in the affairs of regional states, including Syria and Yemen, a condemnation that may widen the divide between Iran and its main rival, Saudi Arabia. The leaders, including Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, have been attending a summit in Istanbul this week of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss a such issues as the humanitarian fall-out from Syria's civil war. "The conference deplored Iran's interference in the internal affairs of the States of the region and other member states including Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia, and its continued support for terrorism," the OIC said in its final summit communique. It also stressed the need for "cooperative relations" between Iran and other Muslim countries, including refraining from the use or threat of force. Both

US condemns Syrian journalist's murder by IS in Turkey

The US has condemned the "vicious murder" of a Syrian journalist in Turkey by an Islamic State militant - the fourth such attack in a year. Zahir al-Shurqat, a presenter for online TV channel Aleppo Today , was shot on a street in the south-eastern border town of Gazientep on Sunday. The 36-year-old died in hospital two days later, Turkish media reported. A US state department spokesman  said  Mr Shurqat had courageously worked to expose the "hypocrisy" of IS. A prominent media advocacy group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, earlier called on the authorities in Turkey to ensure journalists can work safely throughout the country. Death threats Mr Shurqat, who was from the IS-held town of al-Bab and regularly travelled to Syria to report on the fight against the jihadist group, was shot in the neck in broad daylight by a masked man, who fled the scene. He was taken to hospital and remained in a critical condition until his death on Tuesday. The I

Pakistan forces battle to free police held hostage by gang

Security forces in Pakistan are battling to take control of an island river from a criminal gang holding 24 police officers hostage. The officers were seized by the so-called Chotu Gang earlier in the operation in Punjab province, which is now in its tenth day. Reports say that troops have been sent in to aid police. Six policemen have been killed so far. The gang has been blamed for hundreds of kidnappings and other crimes in recent years. Leader Ghulam Rasool told local media on Friday that the gang would not surrender to the police but to the army, as they "respected" it. The operation against the gang has involved more than 1,500 security personnel, which has been called an unprecedented show of force, with the army saying it had deployed helicopter gunships. "The gang will not be allowed to get away," Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told Pakistani TV, Reuters reports. "Political and military leaders agree that there will be no negotiat

Afghan air strike against Islamic State kills 40: Official

Afghan aircraft killed more than 40 fighters loyal to Islamic State in a raid in the eastern province of Nangarhar, officials said on Friday. Although casualty claims by all sides are difficult to verify, Thursday's operation appears to have been an unusually large strike by Afghanistan's fledgling air force, which has been building up its capacity since the withdrawal of the NATO-led coalition from most combat operations in 2014. "Based on our intelligence, the Afghan air force carried out the strike and killed more than 40 Daesh fighters," Khogyani told Reuters, using a common Arabic acronym for Islamic State. He said the militants had gathered to launch attacks in Nangarhar, bordering lawless areas of Pakistan. The Afghan army public relations directorate said 42 IS militants had been killed in a joint operation in Nangarhar and a training centre destroyed. It said the Afghan air force had carried out 83 fighting operations around the country, causing he

French youths learn to resist jihadi sellers of dreams

Noisy-le-Sec (France) (AFP) - The first time jihadi recruiters approached 16-year-old Yacine outside his mosque in a rundown Paris suburb, they got right to the point. "We started talking about Syria right off the bat," he said, recounting how they talked about "the holy war and how you should die a martyr and go to paradise, it was the best way to die." The following Friday, he tried to leave the mosque before the end of prayers, but they cornered him, again pressuring him with their "precise, well-honed pitch", but he managed to get away. Now Yacine, who assumes he was targeted because he is a devout Muslim, has started going to a different mosque. But he does not hang around afterwards: "I pray and I leave." The attacks in Paris and Brussels of November and March have thrown a spotlight on poor mainly immigrant neighbourhoods as targets for jihadist recruiters. France's communities minister, Patrick Kanner, claimed that some

Special Report: Israeli military struggles with rising influence ofReligious-Zionists

By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - On a searing night in July 2014, Israeli troops gathered on the border with Gaza to prepare for war. Hamas militants had been firing rockets into Israel for days, and Israeli warplanes had begun bombing the Palestinian territory. The orders for the Givati brigade, an elite infantry unit, came in a typed, single-page letter. "History has chosen us to spearhead the fight against the terrorist Gazan enemy who curses, vilifies and abominates Israel's God," Colonel Ofer Winter, the unit's commanding officer, wrote in the letter to his troops. He ended with a biblical quote promising divine protection for Israel's warriors on the battlefield. The letter quickly circulated on social media and from there to the press. Secular Israelis condemned it, saying it broke a decades-old convention that kept religion out of military missions. Two years on, the letter remains a symbol of a profound shift within Israeli society: t

Belgian court gives top jihadist recruiter harsher sentence on appeal

Brussels (AFP) - A Belgian appeals court on Thursday increased top jihadist recruiter Khalid Zerkani's sentence to 15 years in prison for enlisting dozens of people, including key suspects in the Brussels and Paris attacks. He is "the biggest recruiter of jihadists Belgium has ever known," federal prosecutor Bernard Michel had said during a court hearing in February. Moroccan-born Zerkani, 42, who has denied all charges, was originally sentenced in July 2015 to 12 years behind bars, but appealed. The higher court however chose to increase his sentence to the maximum 15-year term. His "attitude of obvious denial" showed that he had not changed his stance in the least, the appeal court said. Zerkani, also known under the nom de guerre Abu Riad, wasn't present to hear the appeal court decision. Emerging as a central figure in the jihadist super-cell behind the attacks in both Brussels and Paris, the bearded, balding and pot-bellied jihad recrui