The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

The mysterious identity of the "King of the North" and "Small Horn" discussed here. The "Great War" of Daniel 10:1 (NIV) discussed here. The heavenly & earthly establishment of God's Kingdom discussed here at length. Answers such questions as when does Jesus' Kingdom Rule begin and end.

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Sunshine
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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#196 Post by Sunshine » Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:06 am

Afghan Militants Say Deadly Blast Was Revenge For Film
Image
Nato soldiers arrive at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul September 18, 2012. Afghan insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the suicide bomb attack on a minivan carrying foreign workers that killed 12 people saying it was retaliation for a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail
By Mirwais Harooni
Article Source
Reuters – 5 hrs ago

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan militants claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a suicide bomb attack on a minivan carrying foreign workers that killed 12 people saying it was retaliation for a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad.

A short film made with private funds in the United States and posted on the Internet has ignited days of demonstrations in the Arab world, Africa, Asia and in some Western countries.

In a torrent of violence blamed on the film last week, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in an attack in Benghazi and U.S. and other foreign embassies were stormed in cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by furious Muslims. At least nine other people were killed.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber blew up a minivan near the airport in the Afghan capital and a spokesman for the Hezb-e-Islami insurgent group claimed responsibility.

"A woman wearing a suicide vest blew herself up in response to the anti-Islam video," said militant spokesman Zubair Sediqqi. Police said the woman may have been driving a Toyota Corolla car rigged with explosives, which she triggered.

But the claim will raise fears that anger over the film will feed into deteriorating security as the United States and other Western countries try to protect their forces from a rash of so-called insider attacks by Afghan colleagues.
Image
An Afghan security officer investigates at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul September 18, 2012. A suicide bomber blew up a mini-bus carrying foreign and local contract workers near Kabul airport in Afghanistan on Tuesday, with at least nine bodies lying near the wreckage, a Reuters witness at the scene said. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani
Thousands of protesters clashed with police in Kabul the previous day, burning cars and hurling rocks at security forces in the worst outbreak of violence since February rioting over the inadvertent burning of Korans by U.S. soldiers.

The protesters in Kabul and several other Asian cities have vented their fury over the film at the United States, blaming it for what they see as an attack on Islam.

The outcry saddles U.S. President Barack Obama with an unexpected foreign policy headache as he campaigns for re-election in November, even though his administration has condemned the film as reprehensible and disgusting.

In response to the violence in Benghazi and elsewhere last week, the United States has sent ships, extra troops and special forces to protect U.S. interests and citizens in the Middle East, while a number of its embassies have evacuated staff and are on high alert for trouble.

Despite Obama's efforts early in his tenure to improve relations with the Arab and Muslim world, the violence adds to a host of problems including the continued U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, the Syrian civil war and the fall-out from the Arab Spring revolts.

PROTESTS, BANS

The renewed protests on Monday dashed any hopes that the furor over the film might fade despite an appeal over the weekend from the senior cleric in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines, for calm.

Afghan police said among the 12 dead in the Kabul bomb attack were eight Russians and South Africans, mostly working for a foreign air charter company named ACS Ltd.

It followed a bloody weekend during which six members of Afghanistan's NATO-led alliance, including four Americans, were killed in suspected insider attacks carried out by Afghans turning on their allies.

Protesters also took to the streets in Pakistan and Indonesia on Monday and thousands also marched in Beirut, where a Hezbollah leader accused U.S. spy agencies of being behind events that have unleashed a wave of anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim and Arab world.

Authorities in Bangladesh have blocked the YouTube website indefinitely to stop people seeing the video. Pakistan and Afghanistan have also blocked the site.

Iran has condemned the film as offensive and vowed to pursue those responsible for making it. Iranian officials have demanded the United States apologize to Muslims, saying the film is only the latest in a series of Western insults aimed at Islam's holy figures.

The identity of those directly responsible for the film remains unclear. Clips posted online since July have been attributed to a man named Sam Bacile, which two people connected with the film have said was probably an alias.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, a Coptic Christian widely linked to the film in media reports, was questioned in California on Saturday by U.S. authorities investigating possible violations of his probation for a bank fraud conviction.


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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#197 Post by Sunshine » Fri Sep 28, 2012 1:48 pm

Calif. Man Behind Anti-Muslim Film Ordered Jailed
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Associated Press/CBS2-KCAL9, File - FILE - In this Sept. 15, 2012 file image from video provided by CBS2-KCAL9, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man behind a crudely produced anti-Islamic video that has inflamed parts of the Middle East, is escorted by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies from his home in Cerritos, Calif. Nakoula, 55, was arrested Thursday for violating terms of his probation, authorities said. (AP Photo/CBS2-KCAL9, File) MANDATORY CREDIT CBS-KCAL9, LOS ANGELES OUT, LOS ANGELES TV OUT
By GREG RISLING
Article Source
Associated Press
September 28, 2012 – 4 hrs ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mystery surrounding the man behind the crudely produced anti-Islamic video that sparked violence in the Middle East deepened when he appeared in court and identified himself by yet another name.

Arrested on Thursday after authorities said he violated his probation from a 2010 check fraud conviction, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula told a judge his real name was Mark Basseley Youseff. He said he'd been using that name since 2002, even though he went by Nakoula in his fraud case.

The full story about Nakoula and the video "Innocence of Muslims" still isn't known more than two weeks after violence erupted in Egypt and Libya, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others were killed in Benghazi. Violence related to the film has since spread, killing dozens more.

Citing a lengthy pattern of deception and the potential to flee, U.S. Central District Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal ordered Nakoula to remain in prison without bond until another judge can hold a hearing to determine if he broke the terms of his probation.
"The court has a lack of trust in this defendant at this time," Segal said.

Prosecutors noted Nakoula had eight probation violations, including lying to his probation officers and using aliases. He could face new charges that carry a maximum two-year prison term.

After his 2010 conviction, Nakoula was sentenced to 21 months in prison and was barred from using computers or the Internet for five years without approval from his probation officer, though prosecutors said none of the violations involved the Internet. He also wasn't supposed to use any name other than his true legal name without the prior written approval of his probation officer.

Three names, however, have been associated with Nakoula this month alone.

The movie was made last year by a man who called himself Sam Bacile. After the violence erupted, a man who identified himself as Bacile spoke to media outlets including The Associated Press, took credit for the film and said it was meant to portray the truth about Muhammad and Islam, which he called a cancer.

The next day, the AP determined there was no Bacile and linked the identity to Nakoula, a former gas station owner with a drug conviction and a history of using aliases. Federal authorities later confirmed there was no Bacile and that Nakoula was behind the movie.

Some of the false statements in Nakoula's alleged probation violations had to do with the film, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Dugdale said. Nakoula told probation officials his role was just writing the script, and denied going by the name Sam Bacile in connection with the film, Dugdale said.

Before going into hiding, Nakoula acknowledged to the AP that he was involved with the film, but said he only worked on logistics and management.

Nakoula, a Christian originally from Egypt, then went into hiding after he was identified as the man behind the trailer, which depicts Muhammad as a womanizer, religious fraud and child molester. He met with federal probation officials two weeks ago, led out of his home in suburban Cerritos in the middle of the night, flanked by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and cloaked in heavy clothing to protect his identity.

The public got their first good look at Nakoula on Thursday, although the news media was banned from the courtroom and reporters had to watch the proceedings on a TV in a nearby courthouse.

Nakoula wore beige pants and a collared shirt when he was led into the courtroom handcuffed and shackled. He appeared relaxed, smiling at one point before the hearing and conferring with his attorney.

Nakoula's attorney, Steven Seiden, sought to have the hearing closed and his client released on $10,000 bail. He argued Nakoula has checked in with his probation officer frequently and made no attempts to leave Southern California.

Seiden was concerned that Nakoula would be in danger in federal prison because of Muslim inmates, but prosecutors said he likely would be placed in protective custody.

Lawrence Rosenthal, a constitutional and criminal law professor at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, said it was "highly unusual" for a judge to order immediate detention on a probation violation for a nonviolent crime, but if there were questions about Nakoula's identity it was more likely.

"When the prosecution doesn't really know who they're dealing with, it's much easier to talk about flight," Rosenthal said. "I've prosecuted individuals who'd never given a real address. You don't know who you're dealing with, and you're just going to have very limited confidence about their ability to show up in court."

Enraged Muslims have demanded punishment for Nakoula, and a Pakistani cabinet minister has offered a $100,000 bounty to anyone who kills him.

First Amendment advocates have defended Nakoula's right to make the film while condemning its content. And federal officials likely will face criticism from those who say Nakoula's free speech rights were trampled by his arrest on a probation violation.

In arguing that Nakoula is a possible flight risk, Dugdale said Nakoula couldn't even reveal something as fundamental as his real name.
"He's a person who simply can't be trusted," he said.


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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#198 Post by Sunshine » Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:19 am

Turkey's Parliament Authorises Military Action in Syria
BBC News
Article Source
4 October 2012

BBC's Peter Biles: "Turkey has strongly condemned the action by Syria"

Turkey's parliament has authorised troops to launch cross-border action against Syria, following Syria's deadly shelling of a Turkish town.

The bill, passed by 320 to 129, also permits strikes against Syrian targets.

But Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay insisted this was a deterrent and not a mandate for war.

Turkey has been firing at targets inside Syria since Wednesday's shelling of the town of Akcakale, which killed two women and three children.

Ankara's military response marks the first time it has fired into Syria during the 18-month-long unrest there.

Several Syrian troops were killed by Turkish fire, a UK-based Syrian activist group said. Damascus has not confirmed any casualties.

Apology

The Turkish parliament passed the bill in a closed-doors emergency session.

It permits military action, if required by the government, for the period of one year.

However, Mr Atalay insisted the priority was to act in co-ordination with international bodies.

He told Turkish television: "This mandate is not a war mandate but it is in our hands to be used when need be in order to protect Turkey's own interests."

He said Syria had accepted responsibility for the deaths.

"The Syrian side has admitted what it did and apologised," Mr Atalay said.

Zeliha Timucin, her three daughters and her sister died in Akcakale when a shell fell in their courtyard as they prepared the evening meal.

They were buried in a local cemetery on Thursday.

Turkey had called for the UN Security Council to meet and take "necessary action" to stop Syrian "aggression".

However, Mr Atalay said on Thursday that UN and Syrian representatives had spoken on Wednesday evening.

He said: "Syria... said nothing like this will happen again. That's good. The UN mediated and spoke to Syria."

Nato has held an urgent meeting to support Turkey, demanding "the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally".

The US, the UK, France and the European Union have already condemned Syria's actions.

Akcakale

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  • Akcakale is a district of southern Sanliurfa province, close to the border with Syria
  • The last published census in 2000 shows its population stood at just over 77,000
  • It is just under 50km (31 miles) from the Syrian border town of Tall al-Abyad and about 240 km (150 miles) from Aleppo
  • The area surrounding the town is known for its archaeological excavations
Russia, which is allied to President Bashar al-Assad's government, had asked Damascus to acknowledge officially that the cross-border attack was "a tragic accident" which would not happen again.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says neither Turkey nor Syria wants this to develop into a war. He says there is no appetite in Nato or the West for military conflict and that it is noticeable how conciliatory Syria has been since the news of the shelling broke.

Many social media users in Turkey have been reacting strongly against the possibility of war with Syria.

Hashtags such as #notowar drew a lot of attention.

One user, coymak, tweeted: "There is no victory in war, only victory is the happiness in the eye of the children when it is ended!"

There were many tweets referring to the call for an anti-war rally in central Istanbul on Thursday evening.

In Syria itself as many as 21 members of Syria's elite Republican Guards have been killed in an explosion and firefight in the Qudsaya district of Damascus, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told the BBC.

The SOHR is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be independently verified.


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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#199 Post by Abaddon (Ex. 23:21) » Sun Aug 25, 2013 10:09 am

U.S. Cruise Missile Syria Attack In Response To 4,000 Chemical Weapons Victims

Image

Source of Article

August 25, 2013

A U.S. cruise missile Syria attack in response to Syria’s 4,000 chemical weapons victims is waiting for President Obama’s green light. “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel indicated that U.S. military forces are positioned in the Mediterranean and ready to act if President Barack Obama orders a strike on Syria amid allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in an attack this week,” reported Bloomberg on Aug. 24, 2013.

After the Aug. 21, 2013, chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb that killed 1,300 people, many of them children, President Obama is under increased pressure to intervene in Syria.

According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the international organization Doctors Without Borders, 3,600 patients are in hospitals with symptoms of poisonous gases. In Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, 322 deaths have been reported -- including 54 children, 82 women, and dozens of rebels.

Many of the poisonous gas victims were attacked while sleeping. “The attackers used rockets to release fatal fumes over the suburb in the early hours of yesterday morning as people slept in their homes.”

Despite the publication of pictures of the dead in mass graves and uploaded YouTube videos, the international community is hesitant to intervene in Syria because the Syrian government, especially President Bashar al-Assad, is denying of having any involvement in the chemical weapons attack.

While China, Russia, and Iran are emphasizing that further evidence is needed, Britain and the United States have called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to discuss military options available to the West.

According to a report coming from Europe, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that all indications show the Syrian government was behind the "chemical massacre".

"All the information at our disposal converges to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the Bashar regime is responsible. France has previously stated that any confirmed use of chemical weapons would provide grounds for military intervention.”

According to a U.S. official, the United States has now four destroyers equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Mediterranean Sea: the USS Gravely, the USS Barry, the USS Mahan and the USS Ramage.

Judging from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s statement that “the international community is moving swiftly in getting facts on what did happen and getting the intelligence right and all the other factors that go into a decision will be made swiftly and should be made swiftly,” -- a U.S. cruise missile Syria attack will happen without much notice to the public and will occur “swiftly.”

*** End of Article
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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#200 Post by Abaddon (Ex. 23:21) » Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:59 am

Syria 'gave assurances' it will meet chem handover deadline


Source of Article

Agence France-Presse -- September 18, 2013 16:49

The Syrian government gave assurances Wednesday that it will comply with a one-week deadline to hand over information about the size and location of its chemical weapons arsenal, a Russian diplomat said after talks with the Damascus regime.

The Saturday deadline is the first big test of a US-Russian plan to eradicate Syria's chemical weapons in a bid to ward off US-led military action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime over a gas attack on a Damascus suburb last month.

"We have received assurances here that this will be done on time," Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian television after talks in Damascus, which included a meeting with Assad.

Despite having jointly agreed a deal under which Syria will turn over its chemical weapons stockpile, Moscow and Washington remain at loggerheads over who launched the August 21 attack.

Ryabkov accused UN inspectors studying the gas attack of ignoring "very factual" evidence provided by the Damascus regime.

Evidence related to the deadly incident "was given to Mr. (Ake) Sellstrom who headed the group of UN inspectors," he said according to remarks aired on Russian state television.

"We are upset that it did not receive adequate attention in the report."

A UN report released on Monday concluded that sarin gas was used in the attack in which hundreds died, and the US and its allies have claimed that the findings by Swedish expert Sellstrom and his team showed that the attack was perpetrated by the Syrian government.

Moscow and Damascus have strongly denied the allegation, blaming rebels for the attack.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said evidence implicating Syrian rebels in the attack would be given to the United Nations Security Council.

"There is a lot of (data) regarding the incidents that occurred in August in Ghouta near Damascus. We will be reviewing all of it in the Security Council," Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.

Ryabkov is on a visit to Damascus for two days of talks with the Syrian regime to go over the high-stakes US-Russian agreement reached in Geneva at the weekend.

Ryabkov said he had assured the Syrian side that there was "no basis" for a UN Security Council resolution on the chemical weapons agreement to invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter that allows the use of force.

The United States, meanwhile, has said it will maintain the threat of force if Damascus fails to abide by the accord.

***
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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#201 Post by Abaddon (Ex. 23:21) » Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:24 pm

Officials: US drone strike kills 13 in Yemen wedding convoy

By Ahmed Al-Haj, The Associated Press

Source of Article

Missiles fired by a U.S. drone slammed into a convoy of vehicles traveling to a wedding party in central Yemen on Thursday, killing at least 13 people, Yemeni security officials said.

The officials said the attack took place in the city of Radda, the capital of Bayda province, and left charred bodies and burnt out cars on the road. The city, a stronghold of al Qaeda militants, witnessed deadly clashes early last year between armed tribesmen backed by the military and al Qaeda gunmen in an attempt to drive them out of the city.

There were no immediate details on who was killed in the strike, and there were conflicting reports about whether there were militants traveling with the wedding convoy.

A military official said initial information indicated the drone mistook the wedding party for an al Qaeda convoy. He said tribesmen known to the villagers were among the dead.

One of the three security officials, however, said al Qaeda militants were suspected to have been traveling with the wedding convoy.

While the U.S. acknowledges its drone program in Yemen, it does not usually talk about individual strikes.

If further investigations determine that the victims were all civilians, the attack could fuel an outburst of anger against the United States and the government in Sanaa among a Yemeni public already opposed to the U.S. drone strikes.

Civilian deaths have bred resentments on a local level, sometimes undermining U.S. efforts to turn the public against the militants. The backlash in Yemen is still not as large as in Pakistan, where there is heavy pressure on the government to force limits on strikes — but public calls for a halt to strikes are starting to emerge.

In October, two U.N. human rights investigators called for more transparency from the United States and other countries about their drone programs, saying their secrecy is the biggest obstacle to determining the civilian toll of such strikes.
The missile attacks in Yemen are part of a joint U.S.-Yemeni campaign against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which Washington has called the most dangerous branch of the global terrorist network.

Thursday's drone strike is the second since a massive car bombing and coordinated assault on Yemen's military headquarters killed 56 people, including foreigners. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was retaliation for U.S. drone strikes that have killed dozens of the group's leaders.

Security forces in the Yemeni capital boosted their presence Thursday, setting up checkpoints across the city and sealing off the road to the president's residence, in response to what the Interior Ministry called threats of "terrorist plots" targeting vital institutions and government buildings.

Meanwhile, in the Yemen's restive northern, ultraconservative Sunni Muslim militants and rebels belonging to a branch of Shiite Islam battled each other with artillery and machine guns in clashes that killed more than 40 people, security officials said.

The violence between Islamic Salafi fighters and Hawthi rebels has raged for weeks in Yemen's northern province of Saada, but the latest sectarian clashes marked an expansion of the fighting to the neighboring province of Hagga. The government brokered a cease-fire last month to try to end the violence, but both sides have repeatedly broken the truce.
Officials said clashes began when ultraconservative Salafis took over a Hawthi stronghold in a mountainous area near the border with Saudi Arabia. The officials say that most of the casualties were on the Hawthi side.

The officials said that Salafis, however, accused Hawthis of trying to infiltrate their strongholds in the town of Fagga.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the fighting publicly.

Hawthi launched in insurgency in 2004 against autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 after a popular uprising against his rule. Over the course of the Hawthi rebellion, hundreds of people were killed and an estimated 125,000 people uprooted until the rebels and the government struck a fragile cease-fire in 2010.

But the north remained restive despite the truce, and fighting flared along another fault line in November after Hawthis accused the Salafis of trying to gain a foothold in their territory by spreading their brand of Islam.

The rebels say their community of Shiite Muslims suffers discrimination and neglect and that the government has allowed ultraconservative Sunni extremists too strong a voice in the country. Hard-line Sunnis consider Shiites heretics.

***
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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#202 Post by Sunshine » Mon May 12, 2014 10:19 am

Osama Bin Laden 'Alive and Recruiting',
Claims Terror Expert
Image
India TV world desk
Article Source
Updated 11 May 2014, 07:06:21


New Delhi: If claims by an al-Qaeda expert are to be believed, world's most wanted man Osama Bin Laden is still alive and recruiting fresh support in Britain and Europe.

Dr Rohan Gunaratna, a world authority on Islamic terrorism, said that the Saudi-born militant was the author of a defiant message posted last week on an al Qaida website, reports The Daily Mail.

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The statement in Arabic was posted last Friday on Arabic website alneda.com in response to criticism levelled at al Qaida for its role in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Dr Gunaratna said.

It stated: 'We don't care about Western public opinion because it is for the Western people and in any case backs Western governments.

'Therefore it should not be a matter of concern for us whether western public opinion turns against us or not. We did this operation not for human kind but for Allah.'

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Dr Gunaratna, who is based at St Andrews University, Fife, said: 'From the style of that message and the way in which it's been issued it's very clear that this is from Osama bin Laden himself.

Dr Gunaratna said that the message, which featured prominently on the website, had bin Laden's 'signature all over it' but did not state that he was its author because 'it is important for al Qaeda to maintain ambiguity about whether he is alive or dead'.

He went on: 'It's in the interests of the Jihad campaign to keep people guessing about whether Osama bin Laden is still living.

Image
'If they admit he's alive then the threat to the command structure of the organisation will increase and the coalition will intensify their efforts to find him.'

He said the statement was a response to a wave of criticism from Muslims all over the world after the broadcast of a video last month by a Gulf TV station showing bin Laden, his deputy and a man identified as one of the 11 September hijackers.

In one excerpt of the video - broadcast by Al Jazeera on April 15 - a man identified as Ahmed Ibrahim Al Haznawi speaks to the camera.

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Al Jazeera said the recording was made months before the attack. US officials have identified Al Haznawi as one of four attackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

Dr Gunaratna said that prior to the release of the video there was still some doubt in the minds of Muslims about whether al-Qaeda were definitely responsible for the US attacks.

But the broadcast finally erased that doubt provoking criticism from Muslims everywhere concerned that the extremist group was giving Islam a bad name, said Dr Gunaratna.

He said he believed that Western military leaders have privately accepted that the war in Afghanistan, where the Royal Marines are busy combing mountain lairs used by al-Qaeda fighters, was 'far from over'.


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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#203 Post by Sunshine » Mon May 19, 2014 5:08 pm

Syrian Elections: Democratic Reform Undermines US-NATO Agenda
By Prof. Tim Anderson
Global Research, May 19, 2014
Region: Middle East & North Africa
Theme: US NATO War Agenda
In-depth Report: SYRIA: NATO'S NEXT WAR?
Article Source
Image
ASSAD
There is no doubt that incumbent President Bashar al Assad remains hot favourite for Syria’s June 3 elections. Even NATO’s advisers put his support at around 70%.

However the country’s first competitive presidential elections in recent times threatens to add a ‘normality’ to Syria’s previously one party system, a normality the western powers are desperate to avoid.

Hence Washington’s decision to deliver new weapons systems (like anti-tank missiles) to the al Qaeda-style ‘rebel’ groups, even when it has become clear that the Government and national army are prevailing in most parts of the country.

Let’s be clear about these elections, it is not some simple political choice to hold them at this time. They are required by Syria’s constitution, before the end of President Bashar’s term in July. To ignore this requirement, to suspend the constitution, would have deepened rather than help resolve the crisis.

Of course, a major test will be voter turn-out. Prospects for participation have improved strongly with the recent elimination of armed groups from Homs, Syria’s third largest city. A turn-out rate that exceeded that of 2012 would be a good sign for Syria’s democratic process.

Turnout in the 2012 Assembly and constitutional reform votes was estimated at a little over 51%; not high, but higher than the 2010 US Congressional elections participation rate of 41.6%. Remember, at that time, the Muslim Brotherhood-backed ‘Free Syrian Army’ was threatening and delivering death to those who participated in the voting.

No doubt the FSA’s al Qaeda-style successors are making the same threats now. But Syria’s army has backed them into a few corners. The last thing these sectarian fanatics want is any sort of democracy.

It is precisely because of the constitutional changes in 2012 that Syrian voters now have presidential choices, apart from the incumbent. The other candidates are Maher Hajjar, an independent communist from Aleppo, and businessman Hassan al-Nouri.

All three candidates have accepted a set of ‘national principles’ which include support for the Syrian Arab Army as ‘the protector of Syria against any foreign aggression and internal sabotage’. There is no Washington or Paris-backed candidate calling for an Islamic state; such sectarianism remains banned under the constitution.

However neither Hajjar nor al-Nouri can be dismissed as simple patsies for President Bashar. Under current rules each had to secure the support of at least 35 MPs in the current 200+ parliament; and MPs can only back one candidate. That means there is substantial electoral support for the two non-Ba’ath Party candidates, albeit support for those who back a ‘secular’ or pluralist nation.

Getting over the 35-MP hurdle, the new candidates still face the fact that President Bashar counts not only on the backing of the 60% of MPs who belong to the Ba’ath Party. The Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) and the Communist Party have also thrown their weight behind him. Bashar is increasingly seen as a symbol of resistance and national unity, and essential to winning the war.

In actual policy terms some more conventional themes have emerged. Hajjar, as the left candidate, remains a pan-Arabist and backs redistributive policies alongside huge capital works, to address unemployment. He also aims to attack corruption, probably the key complaint of the wider reform movement in recent years.

For his part, Al-Nouri, as the right-wing candidate, stresses a type of ‘modernization’ called the ‘smart free economy’, with emphasis on public-private partnerships. Indeed many of the major investments in Syria in recent years, like the large tourist hotels, have been joint venture operations. The small business sector, of course, is extensive.

As a candidate, Bashar al Assad sits at the centre left of this new configuration. His government has maintained free health and education, throughout economic hard times and war and, if anything, the conflict has deepened Bashar’s commitment to state investment. He was always seen as a reformer and moderniser but now, importantly, he is seen as a ‘rock’ which has successfully defended Syria against the western-backed sectarian Islamists. That is what will clinch the vote for him. He seems likely to get a higher vote than his Ba’ath party colleagues did in the Assembly elections of 2012.

By failing to engage with the reform process at the Geneva 2 talks in January (when there still existed the possibility of constitutional change) the exiled, Muslim Brotherhood-led ‘opposition’ have effectively shot themselves in the collective foot.

Rather like the pro-coup opposition in Venezuela, ten years ago, they rejected ‘normal’ politics in the hope that backing from the big powers would deliver them government by violence and deception. They rejected dialogue and reform for attacks on schools, hospitals, and ordinary people, blaming the government for their own sectarian massacres. That strategy backfired and they have now excluded themselves from Syrian political life for many years.

Syria’s democratic reform process is advancing, despite the ongoing terrorist war, and it threatens to derail the western ‘regime change’ agenda. The al Qaeda-style groups have served to unite the reform movement with pro-government forces. For these reasons, Syria’s June 3 vote will be a patriotic election.


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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#204 Post by Sunshine » Fri May 23, 2014 7:08 pm

Syrian al Qaeda Reach Foothills of Israeli-held Golan
Reuters
May 22, 2014 2:21 AM
Article Source
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi
Image
Weapons are seen in the sand near Adra, east of Damascus,
in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA
August 7, 2013. REUTERS/SANA/Handout
AMMAN (Reuters) - Atop the hill of Tel Ahmar just a few kilometers from Israeli forces on the Golan Heights, Syrian Islamist fighters hoist the al Qaeda flag and praise their mentor Osama bin Laden.

One of the men, a leader of al Qaeda's Nusra Front, compares their battlefield - a lush agricultural region where dead soldiers lie on the ground near a charred Soviet-era tank - with the struggle their comrades waged years ago in Afghanistan.

"This view reminds us of the lion of the mujahideen, Osama bin Laden, on the mountains of Tora Bora," he can be heard saying in a video posted by the group, which shows the fighters in sight of Israeli jeeps patrolling the fortified frontier.

Last month's capture of the post was followed days later by the seizure of the Syrian army's 61 Infantry Brigade base near the town of Nawa, one of the biggest rebel gains in the south during the three years of Syria's war.

The advances are important not just because they expand rebel control close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the Jordanian border, but because President Bashar al-Assad's power base in Damascus lies just 40 miles to the north.

They have brought heavy retaliation from Assad's forces, including aerial bombardment. The army has also sent elite troop reinforcements to the south in recent days after rebels pulled out of Homs city, relieving pressure on the army there.

The reinforcements reflect Assad's determination, on the eve of a June 3 presidential election likely to extend his power for another seven years, not to lose control of the towns of Nawa and Quneitra in the Golan foothills.

Rebels last year briefly took the Quneitra border crossing with Israel and now control many rural villages in the area.

"The regime has rung alarm bells, fearing that the fall of Nawa and Quneitra could open an axis towards Damascus," said Brigadier General Assad Zoubi, who headed an air force academy before defecting in early 2012.

AL QAEDA POWER GROWS

The southern front's potential as a launchpad for an offensive against the capital means it could ultimately pose the main challenge to Assad.

"It's a much shorter distance than that required for a push to Damascus from the rebels' northern strongholds. The southern front, contrary to all previous expectations, may ultimately be the crucial one," said Ehud Yaari, a fellow at the Washington Institute, a leading U.S. think-tank.

"Coalitions of rebels are proving effective against regime outposts," said Yaari, adding Syrian army units in the south were thinly spread and often isolated.

Recent rebel advances have been mainly achieved by the Nusra Front together with other Islamist brigades and rebels fighting under the broad umbrella of the Free Syrian Army.

In all, Western intelligence sources estimate around 60 insurgent groups are operating in southern Syria. In contrast to the deadly internecine rebel fighting further north, so far they have coordinated well in battle.

Echoing the trend in the north, however, radical groups such as Nusra, Muthana and Ahrar al-Sham have grown in influence, eroding the dominance of larger brigades backed by Saudi Arabia.

The weakness of those brigades was further exposed when they failed to respond to Nusra's abduction of Colonel Ahmad Neamah, a critic of radical Islamists who leads the Western- and Saudi-backed military council which has around 20,000 rebels under its nominal authority.

The trial earlier this month of Neamah in a Nusra court, where he was videoed confessing to holding back weapons from rebels to suit foreign powers who wanted to prolong the conflict, has further discredited the moderate rebels' cause.

Rebels in Deraa, the cradle of the 2011 uprising against Assad, have long complained that unlike their comrades in the north, they have been choked of significant arms, with both the West and Jordan wary of arming insurgents so close to Israel.

SAUDI CONTAINMENT POLICY

From a covert operations room in the Jordanian capital Amman, intelligence officers from countries including the United States, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates assess arms requests by the rebels.

They have ensured some light arms and ammunition cross the border - enough only to make tactical gains every once in a while - rebels in contact with the operations room say.

They say Saudi Arabia, the main backer, is now focusing less on a military challenge to Assad and more on financing groups such as the Yarmouk Brigade, Ahfad al-Rasoul Brigades and al-Omari Brigade to counter the future spread of al Qaeda.

"They are supporting groups that will one day stand up to the extremist radical groups and now want to disrupt the road to Damascus so that the battle is prolonged," said one Islamist rebel leader, who asked not to be identified.

Riyadh's deeper concern stems from the impact an al Qaeda enclave so close to home could have on thousands of young disaffected Saudis, according to Jordanian security sources. At its closest point, Saudi Arabia is separated from southern Syria by just 100 km (60 miles) of Jordanian desert.

Moderate rebels say they are losing ground because of Western reluctance to provide anti-aircraft weapons that could curb Assad's devastating air strikes.

In contrast, financial support from private Salafi funders mainly in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has enabled Nusra and hardline Islamist brigades to recruit more young men and tap into anger at perceived betrayal by the West and regional powers.

FROM BATTLEFIELD TO COURTS

Now nearly 2,000 Nusra Front fighters operate in the area with organizational skills that far outweigh those of their more secular-minded rivals, whose splits and squabbles have lost them much popular support.

Nusra fighters man dozens of checkpoints across the Hauran Plain, from the Golan Heights frontier in the west to Deraa on the Jordan border and other towns 60 km (40 miles) to the east.

They pay their men well and even ensure their families have enough flour and basic items, said one moderate rebel commander in the town of Jasem who has ties with Nusra fighters.

Their popularity has come at the expense of other insurgents who earned a reputation for looting and feuding. Nusra courts now deal with a growing number of issues, from family disputes to allocating financial aid to the needy, residents say.

In the last six months the Nusra Front has also established offices in the old quarter of Deraa city, where an assortment of rebel brigades set up on tribal lines had long held sway.

The emergence of Nusra has chipped away at that tribal structure of small brigades and family associations that were long viewed by Jordan and Saudi Arabia as a bulwark against the radical Salafi ideology promoted by wealthy Gulf benefactors.

"These Islamist groups have become the main actors on the ground. The Free Syrian Army has disintegrated so the expansion of Nusra in rural Deraa is natural and expected - though it was delayed because of the force of tribalism," said former Jordanian army general and military analyst Fayez Dwairi.

(Editing by Dominic Evans and Giles Elgood)


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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#205 Post by Sunshine » Sat Jul 05, 2014 6:03 pm

Video purportedly shows extremist leader in Iraq
Source of Article

Date: Jul 5th 2014 3:48PM
By RYAN LUCAS and DIAA HADID

BAGHDAD (AP) - A man purporting to be the leader of the Sunni extremist group that has declared an Islamic state in territory it controls in Iraq and Syria has made what would be his first public appearance, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq's second-largest city, according to a video posted online Saturday.

The 21-minute video that is said to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State group, was reportedly filmed on Friday at the Great Mosque in the northern city of Mosul. It was released on at least two websites known to be used by the organization and bore the logo of its media arm, but it was not possible to independently verify whether the person shown was indeed al-Baghdadi.

There are only a few known photographs of al-Baghdadi, an ambitious Iraqi militant believed to be in his early 40s with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. Since taking the reins of the group in 2010, he has transformed it from a local branch of al-Qaida into an independent transnational military force, positioning himself as perhaps the preeminent figure in the global jihadi community.

Al-Baghdadi's purported appearance in Mosul, a city of some 2 million that the militants seized last month, came five days after his group declared the establishment of an Islamic state, or caliphate, in the territories it seized in Iraq and Syria. The group proclaimed al-Baghdadi the leader of its state and demanded that all Muslims pledge allegiance to him.

In the video, the man said to be al-Baghdadi says that "the mujahedeen have been rewarded victory by God after years of jihad, and they were able to achieve their aim and hurried to announce the caliphate and choose the Imam," referring to the leader.

"It is a burden to accept this responsibility to be in charge of you," he adds. "I am not better than you or more virtuous than you. If you see me on the right path, help me. If you see me on the wrong path, advise me and halt me. And obey me as far as I obey God."

Speaking in classical Arabic with little emotion, he outlines a vision that emphasizes holy war, the implementation of a strict interpretation of Islamic law, and the philosophy that the establishment of an Islamic caliphate is a duty incumbent on all Muslims.

He is dressed in black robes and a black turban - a sign that he claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad. He has dark eyes, thick eyebrows and a full black beard with streaks of gray on the sides.

At the beginning of the video, the man purported to be al-Baghdadi slowly climbs the mosque's pulpit one step at a time. Then the call to prayer is made as he cleans his teeth with a miswak, a special type of stick that devout Muslims use to clean their teeth and freshen their breath.

The camera pans away at one point to show several dozen men and boys standing for prayer in the mosque, and a black flag of the Islamic State group hangs along one wall. One man stands guard, with a gun holster under his arm.
Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on militant factions in Syria and Iraq, said al-Baghdadi has come under some criticism since unilaterally declaring the establishment of a caliphate, in part for not appearing before the people.

"He had declared himself caliph, he couldn't hide away. He had to make an appearance at some time," al-Tamimi said. Traditionally, a Muslim ruler is expected to live among the people, and to preach the sermon before communal Friday prayers.

The brazenness of his purported appearance - nearly unheard of among the most prominent global jihad figures - before dozens of people, and issued on a video only a day after its occurrence, suggested the Islamic State's confidence in their rule of Mosul.

"The fact that he has done this without any consequences in Mosul's biggest mosque is a sign of (the Islamic State group's) power within the city," said al-Tamimi. He said it would likely boost the morale of al-Baghdadi's fighters, and deal a blow to the group's rivals.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official said that after an initial analysis the man in the video is believed to indeed be al-Baghdadi. The official said the arrival of a large convoy in Mosul around midday Friday coincided with the blocking of cellular networks in the area. He says the cellular signal returned after the convoy departed.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

A Mosul resident confirmed that mobile networks were down around the time of Friday prayers, and then returned a few hours later. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears for his safety.

Another aspect of the rule al-Baghdadi envisions was made clear in a series of images that emerged online late Saturday showing the destruction of at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory his group controls.
The 21 photographs posted on a website that frequently carries official statements from the Islamic State extremist group document the destruction in Mosul and the town of Tal Afar. Some of the photos show bulldozers plowing through walls, while others show explosives demolishing the buildings in a cloud of smoke and rubble.

Residents from both Mosul and Tal Afar confirmed the destruction of the sites.

Sunni extremists consider Shiites Muslims heretics, and the veneration of saints apostasy.

Also Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki removed the chief of the army's ground forces and the head of the federal police from their posts as part of his promised shake-up in the security forces following their near collapse in the face of the militant surge.

Military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said al-Maliki signed the papers to retire Lt. Gen. Ali Ghaidan, commander of the army's ground forces, and Lt. Gen. Mohsen al-Kaabi, the chief of the federal police. Al-Moussawi said both men leave their jobs with their pensions. No replacements have been named.
___
Hadid reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#206 Post by Sunshine » Thu Jul 10, 2014 1:15 pm

Will Isis Eclipse Al Qaeda As No 1 Global Terrorism 'Brand'

Source of Article

Image

The recent military success of ISIS in Iraq is building a terrorist “brand” that is increasing the group’s following among jihadis worldwide, putting the group in a position to potentially eclipse the group that once nurtured it, Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

The battlefield accomplishments of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) are likewise pushing the group’s low-profile leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, into prominence in the world of extreme Islam, and could help him secure the leadership mantle left vacant by the death of bin Laden, according to the officials, who briefed reporters Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

That would be an ironic twist, as al-Baghdadi has long been at odds with Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over as al Qaeda’s leader when bin Laden was killed in 2011. At the center of the dispute — a “schism” in the words of one senior U.S. counterterrorism official — is a serious disagreement over the tactics of terrorism and what appears to be a high level of distrust between the two terrorist leaders.

Image

U.S. officials do not for now consider ISIS more dangerous than al Qaeda, noting that the latter continues to focus on international operations while the former is strictly regional.

Al-Baghdadi, whose real name is not known, had been largely a cipher prior to ISIS’s recent emergence as a military force to be reckoned with. He does not issue videos on a regular basis like bin Laden did. There are only two pictures of him circulating on the Internet. And charisma is not considered to be part of his kit bag.

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But the U.S. officials say there is little doubt that al-Baghdadi has ambitious goals, aiming to install himself as the leader, or "caliph," of a vast Islamic state governed by sharia law and stretching from the middle of Iraq into central Syria.

Image

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, commander of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, in a U.S. State Department wanted poster.

In doing so, he is emulating bin Laden, the man to whom he swore “bayat” — personal loyalty — in 2006 following an application process that included tests of ideology, battlefield experience, etc.

But while bin Laden launched the 9-11 attacks and helped the Taliban take over Afghanistan, he never controlled a vast territory in the heart of the Middle East as al-Baghdadi now does. So he never came close to realizing his dream of establishing a caliphate — or Islamic state — governed by sharia.

If ISIS can hold or expand the territory it now controls in Iraq and Syria, al-Baghdadi may be able to supersede his master.

He has done so without any help from Zawahiri, whom he despises and who detests him in return.

"He is headstrong, having bucked al Qaeda leader Zawahri’s commands on multiple occasions to the point of schism," said the senior U.S. counterterrorism official. "It is difficult to see al-Baghdadi returning to the al Qaeda fold any time soon, especially with the ISIS brand gaining increasing credibility as an alternative to al Qaeda among violent jihadists worldwide."

In February, relations between the two became so acrimonious that Zawahri expelled ISIS and its leader from al Qaeda. The language was bureaucratic.

"Al Qaeda declares that it has no links to the ISIS group," Zawahri said in a posting on jihadist websites. "We weren't informed about its creation, nor counseled. Nor were we satisfied with it; rather we ordered it to stop. ISIS isn't a branch of al Qaeda and we have no organizational relationship with it. Nor is al Qaeda responsible for its actions and behavior."

Image

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in a video frame grab, provided by the SITE Intel Group on Feb 12, 2012

The latter was a reference to al-Baghdadi’s embrace of bloody tactics — including attacks that aim to kill innocent Muslims in great numbers — that al Qaeda considers counterproductive in the context of a greater war against the “infidels” of the West.

The dispute hasn’t only been fought on jihadi forums, however. "ISIS has been violently clashing with al-Nusra (an al Qaeda affiliate fighting in Syria) in recent months," said Evan Kohlmann, an NBC News counterterrorism analyst. "It's making it increasingly uncomfortable for them (ISIS) in many parts of Syria."

The decision to expel ISIS came after a number of disagreements over strategy in Syria, where Zawahri preferred al-Nusra, which is more Syria-focused and less about a caliphate. Zawahri also didn't like ISIS's arrogance, its failure to engage in “consultation” and lack of “teamwork,” according to the posting.

Zawahri has a history of disagreement with ISIS and its predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

He disapproved of wanton massacres of Shiite Muslims carried out by the group in Iraq, calling it a "deviation" from its stated goal.

In a 2005 letter from Zawahri to AQI's then leader, Abu Musab Zarqawi, the former asked, “Can the mujahadeen kill all the Shia in Iraq? Has any Islamic state in history ever tried that?” The letter was later found by U.S. intelligence.

Image

Another point of dispute, says the U.S. counterterrorism official, is the manner in which ISIS raises funds, under al-Baghdadi's orders.

"He has endorsed the use of brutal methods to terrorize civilian populations under ISIS control and employs coercive methods that would be familiar to an organized crime group to secure needed financing," the official said.

Specifically, added a second senior U.S. intelligence official, the group preys on fellow Muslims. ISIS gets some money from foreign donors, but it "pales to what they get from extortion, robbery, kidnapping," the official said. "They require drivers to pay 'road taxes' in territories it controls." The total take is several million dollars a month, added the official.

Still, ISIS has shown its ability to gain control over vast stretches of Iraq, where its estimated 3,000 to 5,000 ISIS fighters are vastly outnumbered by the Iraqi security services, which had 930,000 troops in uniform as of late 2011, 70 percent of which were in the Iraqi army.

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"Al-Baghdadi is a ruthless, resilient and ambitious terrorist leader," said the counterterrorism official, conceding, "Unfortunately, he has shown he has a knack for tactical operations and, it seems, military strategy.

But it is uncertain whether those skills will translate to administration.

"The one saving grace is that every affiliate has failed at running territory," added another U.S. intelligence official. "They are universally hated by the local populace in territory they seize. They alienate local populations every time."


First published June 25th 2014, 3:54 am

ROBERT WINDREM

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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#207 Post by Sunshine » Sat Sep 13, 2014 6:21 am

Isis air strikes: Obama's plan condemned by Syria, Russia and Iran


Ian Black, Middle East editor, and Dan Roberts in Washington
theguardian.com, Friday 12 September 2014 02.42 EDT


Source of Article

Claims that strikes would violate sovereignty, as Syrian rebels welcome move and other Arab states offer 'appropriate' support

• A tale of two speeches: emboldened Obama moves from dove to hawk
• Illegal? Irrational? Irrelevant? Obama's Isis address falls down on every front

Image

The Syrian government and its close allies in Moscow and Tehran warned Barack Obama that an offensive against Islamic State (Isis) within Syria would violate international law yesterday, hours after the US president announced that he was authorising an open-ended campaign of air strikes against militants on both sides of the border with Iraq.

Syrian opposition groups welcomed Obama's announcement and called for heavy weapons to fight the "terror" of Isis and Bashar al-Assad. Saudi Arabia and nine other Arab states pledged to back the US plan "as appropriate".

Hadi al-Bahra, head of the western-backed Syrian National Coalition, said the group "stands ready and willing to partner with the international community not only to defeat Isis but also rid the Syrian people of the tyranny of the Assad regime". In Reyhanli, on the Turkish-Syrian border, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) said that moderate anti-Assad forces urgently needed anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

But long-standing international divisions over Syria were starkly highlighed in the hours after the speech. Iran's foreign ministry said that "the so-called international coalition to fight the Isil [Islamic State] group ... is shrouded in serious ambiguities and there are severe misgivings about its determination to sincerely fight the root causes of terrorism."

Russia said it would not support any military action without a UN resolution authorising it. "The US president has spoken directly about the possibility of strikes by the US armed forces against Isil positions in Syria without the consent of the legitimate government," said a spokesman. "This step, in the absence of a UN security council decision, would be an act of aggression, a gross violation of international law." China said that the world should fight terror but that national sovereignty must be respected.

In Damascus, the Assad government warned against US raids. "Any action of any kind without the consent of the Syrian government would be an attack on Syria," said the national reconciliation minister, Ali Haidar. Analysts believe, however, that Assad would be likely to ignore strikes on Isis targets – and even seek to quietly cooperate with western efforts.

In a meeting with Staffan de Mistura, the new UN envoy for Syria, Assad stressed his commitment to fight "terrorism" but he made no mention of the US president's speech on Wednesday night.

"As long as air strikes only hit Isis they will be condemned as a violation of international law but won't be dealt with as aggression that requires retaliation," Jihad Makdissi, a former Syrian diplomat, told the Guardian.

Image

Obama used a long-heralded address on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to lay out his response to the appearance of an aggressive jihadi insurgency in the heart of the Arab world. US polls show growing support for military action since Isis fighters captured large areas of northern Iraq and eastern Syria and beheaded two American citizens in the past month.

He compared the campaign to those waged against al-Qaida in Yemen and Somalia, where US drones, cruise missiles and special operations raids have battered local affiliates without, however, notably improving the stability of either country or dealing decisive blows.

Obama's new strategy won swift if vague support from America's Arab allies, with Saudi Arabia agreeing to train Syrian rebel fighters. John Kerry, the US secretary state, held talks in the port city of Jeddah with ministers from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and six Gulf states. After the meeting, participants said they had agreed "as appropriate" to "many aspects" of the military campaign against Isis, to stop the flow of funds and fighters and help rebuild communities "brutalised" by the group. Support was also expressed for the new, more inclusive Baghdad government – seen as vital to persuade Iraq's disaffected Sunnis not to support Isis. MPs in Jordan, warned, however, that they would not tolerate any participation in US action.

"We welcome this new strategy," said Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurdish politician and one of Iraq's newly appointed deputy prime ministers. "There is an urgent need for action. People cannot sit on the fence. This is a mortal threat to everybody."

There was confusion over Britain's role after Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, said the UK would not take part in air strikes. But Downing Street quickly announced that UK participation had not been ruled out. Germany said it would not participate. Both countries have sent weapons and ammuniction to the Iraqi Kurds – part of the overall anti-Isis strategy.

The Pentagon is currently working on identifying suitable targets in Syria, according to White House officials. The US will also deploy a further 475 troops to Iraq, where they are expected to help identify targets.

US officials said that Kerry would be seeking to pressure Kuwait and Qatar to stop their citizens financing al-Qaida and Isis. The Saudis, stung by accusations of support for the jihadis, have already worked to crack down on funding and announced the arrest of scores of alleged terrorist sympathisers in recent weeks.

Obama said the air strikes were a necessary counter-terrorism measure to prevent the group from becoming a future threat to the US and therefore did not require fresh congressional approval. But he is expected to receive overwhelming congressional support for separate authorisation to provide military support to rival Syrian rebels like the FSA, a vote that some Republicans fear could help boost Democratic chances in this November's midterm elections by providing political support for his tough new foreign policy.


End of article.

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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#208 Post by Sunshine » Fri Sep 19, 2014 5:50 am

The anatomy of ISIS: How the 'Islamic State' is run, from oil to beheadings

By Nick Thompson and Atika Shubert, CNN
updated 8:01 AM EDT, Thu September 18, 2014

Source of Article

Image

ISIS is putting in place structures to rule the territories the group conquers. (Source: TRAC)

(CNN) -- Put yourself in the shoes (and sixth-century black robes) of ISIS' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the mysterious boss of the terror group that is striking fear into the hearts of leaders around the world.

In the past couple of years you've managed to avoid drone attacks and survive civil wars, unify militant groups in two different countries under your banner, raise an army of jihadis from across the globe, and seize a chunk of land stretching from northern Syria to central Iraq.

Your newly-declared "Islamic State" is the size of Pennsylvania, so how do you govern it? You compartmentalize.
New data from the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC) has revealed that ISIS is putting governing structures in place to rule the territories the group conquers once the dust settles on the battlefield.

The research shows how ISIS has gone from being a purely military force to building a system that can provide basic services, such as making sure that gas and food are available, to its new citizens.

From the cabinet and the governors to the financial and legislative bodies, ISIS' bureaucratic hierarchy looks a lot like those of some of the Western countries whose values it rejects -- if you take away the democracy and add in a council to consider who should be beheaded.

Baghdadi, his Cabinet advisers and his two key deputies comprise the executive branch of the government, known as "Al Imara."

The two deputies -- Abu Ali al-Anbari and Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, veteran Iraqi military officials who served under Saddam Hussein -- oversee Syria and Iraq, respectively.

ISIS has probably split the governance of the "Islamic State" into Syrian and Iraqi branches simply to make it easier to run, according to Jasmine Opperman, TRAC's Southern Africa Director.

"They see the caliphate as one state, yet there are two different governments," Opperman told CNN. "I believe this split is purely administrative at this time. They don't want to be seen as downplaying the caliphate, but to make it easier to govern they were forced to make a separation between Syria and Iraq."

The two deputies deliver orders to the governors in charge of the various sub-states in Syria and Iraq under ISIS control, who then instruct local councils on how to implement the executive branch's decrees on everything from media relations and recruiting to policing and financial matters.

The Shura council -- which reports directly to the executive branch -- is the caliphate's religious monitor, appointed to make sure that all the local councils and governors are sticking to ISIS' version of Islamic law.

The recent murders of Western hostages James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and David Haines would have fallen under the Shura council's purview, according to Opperman.

"Let's say a significant execution is going to take place, something that will get ISIS on the front page of the newspaper," Opperman said. "It cannot be done without Shura council approval."

The Shura council also has the power to censure the leadership for running afoul of its interpretation of Sharia law, according to Opperman.

"The Shura council has the right to tell Baghdadi to go if he's not adhering to ISIS' religious standards," she told CNN. "It would most probably never happen, but the fact that it's possible indicates the council's prominence."

Baghdadi -- who was once imprisoned by U.S. forces in Iraq -- seems to have incorporated the American military's own counter-insurgency mantra of "Clear and Hold" to win territory, establish control over the area, then get the locals to help govern it.

As time goes on, ISIS is evolving into a government whose political decision-making cannot be separated from its military capabilities, according to Opperman.

"It's two sides of the same coin," she said. "We've seen the military side, with the war cabinet that directs brigades. But now on the other side we're seeing how ISIS wants to govern. The two processes inform one another."

End of article

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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#209 Post by Sunshine » Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:37 pm

About 60,000 Syrian Kurds flee to Turkey from Islamic State advance


Source of Article

BY DAREN BUTLER
SURUC Turkey Sat Sep 20, 2014 3:16pm EDT


Image

A Turkish soldier stands guard as Syrian Kurds cross the border fence into Turkey near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, September 19, 2014.

(Reuters) - About 60,000 Syrian Kurds fled into Turkey in the space of 24 hours, a deputy prime minister said on Saturday, as Islamic State militants seized dozens of villages close to the border.

Turkey opened a stretch of the frontier on Friday after Kurdish civilians fled their homes, fearing an imminent attack on the border town of Ayn al-Arab, also known as Kobani. A Kurdish commander on the ground said Islamic State had advanced to within 15 km (9 miles) of the town.

Local Kurds said they feared a massacre in Kobani, whose strategic location has been blocking the radical Sunni Muslim militants from consolidating their gains across northern Syria.

The United States has said it is prepared to carry out airstrikes in Syria to stop the advances of Islamic State, which has also seized tracts of territory in neighbouring Iraq and has proclaimed a caliphate in the heart of the Middle East.

U.S. forces have bombed the group in Iraq at the request of the government, but it is unclear when or where any military action might take place in Syria, whose president, Bashar al-Assad, Washington says is no longer legitimate.

Lokman Isa, a 34-year-old farmer, said he had fled with his family and about 30 other families after heavily armed Islamic State militants entered his village of Celebi. He said the Kurdish forces battling them had only light weapons.

"They (Islamic State) have destroyed every place they have gone to. We saw what they did in Iraq -- in Sinjar -- and we fled in fear," he told Reuters in the Turkish town of Suruc, where Turkish authorities were setting up a camp.

Sitting in a field after just crossing the border, Abdullah Shiran, a 24-year-old engineer, recounted scenes of horror in his village of Shiran, about 10 km (six miles) from Kobani.

"IS came and attacked and we left with the women but the rest of the men stayed behind ... They killed many people in the villages, cutting their throats. We were terrified that they would cut our throats too," he said.

HUDDLING IN FIELDS

Turkish soldiers looked on as the refugees, many of them women carrying bundles on their heads, streamed across. Hundreds of people huddled in the dusty fields with their few belongings.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus put the number of Syrian Kurds to have crossed the 30-km section of the border that has been open since Friday at 60,000. Officials said many thousands were still waiting to cross on Saturday evening.

"The United States, Turkey, Russia, friendly countries must help us. They must bomb Islamic State. All they can do is cut off heads, they have nothing to do with Islam," said Mustafa Saleh, a 30-year-old water industry worker.

"I would have fought to my last drop of blood against Islamic State, but I had to bring the women and children."

Kurdish forces have evacuated at least 100 villages on the Syrian side since the militants' onslaught started on Tuesday.

"Islamic State sees Kobani like a lump in the body, they think it is in their way," said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors Syria's civil war.

Islamic State has executed at least 11 Kurdish civilians, including boys, in the villages it has seized near Kobani, the Observatory said.

Abdulrahman said more than 300 Kurdish fighters had crossed into Syria from Turkey late on Friday to help push back Islamic State, but that it was not clear which group they belonged to.

"Islamic State is killing any civilian it finds in a village," Mustefa Ebdi, director of a local radio station called Arta FM, told Reuters by telephone from the northern outskirts of Kobani. He said he could see thousands of people waiting to cross the border into Turkey.

"People prefer to flee rather than remain and die," he said. "(Islamic State wants) to eliminate anything that is Kurdish. This is creating a state of terror."

On his Facebook page, Ebdi said the killing of 34 civilians - women, elderly, children and the disabled - had been documented. He said the residents of 200 villages had been forced to flee.

CLOSING IN

Scrambling to coordinate aid, the mayor of Suruc, Orhan Sansal, described the situation in the area as "chaotic".

"Help is coming but there are problems with accommodation. Some people are staying with relatives, some in wedding halls, some in mosques and municipal buildings," he said.

Esmat al-Sheikh, commander of the Kurdish forces defending Kobani, told Reuters by telephone that clashes were occurring to the north and east on Saturday.

He said Islamic State fighters using rockets, artillery, tanks and armoured vehicles had advanced towards Kobani overnight and were now only 15 km away.

At least 18 Islamic State fighters were killed in clashes with Syrian Kurds overnight as the militant group took control of more villages around the town, according to the Observatory.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani called on Friday for international intervention to protect Kobani from the Islamic State advance, saying the insurgents must be "hit and destroyed wherever they are".

Western states have increased contact with the main Syrian Kurdish political party, the PYD, whose armed wing is the YPG, since Islamic State made a lightning advance across northern Iraq in June.

The YPG says it has 50,000 fighters and should be a natural partner in the coalition the United States is trying to build.

But such cooperation could prove difficult because of Syrian Kurds' ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group listed as a terrorist organisation by many Western states due to the militant campaign it has waged for Kurdish rights in Turkey.

The PKK on Thursday called on young men in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast to join the fight against Islamic State. On Saturday Kobani's local radio station broadcast a call to arms from PKK commander Murat Karayilan in Kurdish.

(Additional reporting by Asli Kandemir in Istanbul, Sylvia Westall and Tom Perry in Beirut,; Writing by Seda Sezer and Sylvia Westall; Editing by Gareth Jones and Kevin Liffey)

End of Article.


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Re: The "King Of The North" Is Coming!

#210 Post by Sunshine » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:13 am

U.S. airstrikes hit ISIS inside Syria for first time
By Jim Sciutto, Mariano Castillo and Holly Yan, CNN
updated 8:12 AM EDT, Tue September 23, 2014


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(CNN) -- American jets began bombing ISIS targets in Syria early Tuesday, raising U.S. involvement in the war-torn country and sending a forceful message to the terror group.

The airstrikes focused on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, a U.S. official told CNN, though other locations were hit as well.

At least 20 targets in an around Raqqa were hit, the opposition group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
They're the first strikes against the terror group inside the country since President Barack Obama's announcement this month that he was prepared to expand the American efforts beyond targets in Iraq.

All foreign partners participating in the strikes with the United States are Arab countries, a senior U.S. military official told CNN. Those nations are Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Diplomatic sources told CNN that Qatar was also involved, though it was not clear whether Qatar actually conducted airstrikes itself.

Get the latest updates on CNN.com's live blog

The U.S. and "partner nation forces" began striking ISIS targets using fighters, bombers and Tomahawk missiles, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said, though he didn't specify a geographic location.

Citing the ongoing operations, Kirby said the Pentagon would not provide additional details immediately. But a U.S. military official said the strikes are meant to target the ability of ISIS to command and control, resupply and train.

Western allies reject ISIS leader's threats

Tomahawk missiles launched from the sea initiated the strike, followed by bombers and fighters, a senior U.S. military official told CNN.

The goal with this first move is to have an initial, definitive blow, the official said, describing the pace of the operation as intense.

Most of the spots hit were hard targets such as buildings, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

A post office, a recruitment center and a building in the governor's compound were among the structures in Raqqa hit by U.S. airstrikes, Syrian opposition activists said.

There was no immediate word about casualties, the activists said.

Power went out in the city shortly after the airstrikes but was restored later Tuesday morning.

A 'punch in the nose'

Until now, ISIS has been able to take over cities and operate in Syria with near impunity. Now, it's coming under attack.
"This is the punch in the nose to the bully that we talked about on the playground," former Delta Force officer James Reese said. "ISIS is the bully, and we just punched him in the nose."

Finding the 'right' rebels in Syria: One tough job

With the airstrikes, the United States enters a new level of engagement in the ongoing Syrian civil war. Obama had resisted U.S. military action in Syria, but as the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq made sweeping advances in both Middle Eastern neighbors, calls for such a step grew.

"I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are," Obama said in a September 10 speech. "That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven."

The message of the speech was clear -- it was a matter of when, not if -- the United States would carry out airstrikes inside Syria.

A U.S. intelligence official said that while law enforcement is aware the airstrikes against ISIS in Syria could incite a response, there is no evidence to suggest any terrorist strike is in the works against the United States.
200,000 flee in biggest displacement of Syrian conflict

Last week, U.S. officials told CNN that the military had everything in place it needed to strike ISIS inside Syria and was awaiting Obama's go-ahead to do so.

For weeks, intelligence and military targeting specialists have been working around the clock on a list of targets, the officials said. It is unlikely that the President reviewed all the targets individuall, but was presented broad guidance with analysis about the risks of bombing inside Syria, as well as the rewards in terms of attacking ISIS.
Al Qaeda's new Syrian franchise has a mission: Attack the West

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told the House Armed Services Committee last week that he and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey signed off on plans to strike ISIS in Syria.

"CENTCOM's plan includes targeted actions against ISIL safe havens in Syria -- including its command and control, logistics capabilities, and infrastructure," Hagel said last week. "Our actions will not be restrained by a border that exists in name only."


CNN's Steve Almasy, Jim Acosta, Barbara Starr, Arwa Damon, Pam Brown, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Elise Labott, Khushbu Shah and Josh Levs contributed to this report.

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