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Sunday, August 31, 2014
Excerpts: Saudi King warns West re extremists.France arrests Syrian jihad recruiter,Churches defaced with Islamic State warnings.IS captives tough quandary for Obama.Egypt remaining Muslim Brotherhood August 31, 2014

Excerpts: Saudi King warns West re extremists.France arrests Syrian jihad
recruiter,Churches defaced with Islamic State warnings.IS captives tough
quandary for Obama.Egypt remaining Muslim Brotherhood August 31, 2014


+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 31 Aug.’14:” Saudi King says West will be
extremists next target”



SUBJECT: Saudi King warns West re extremists



QUOTE:King Abdullah has warned that the West will be the next target of
extremists . . .unless there is ‘rapid action’ “



FULL TEXT:JEDDAH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has
warned that the West will be the next target of the extremists sweeping
through Syria and Iraq, unless there is “rapid” action.



“If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America
in another month,” he said in remarks quoted by Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on
Saturday [30 Aug.].



“Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries
outside the Middle East,” said the King who was speaking at a welcoming
ceremony early Saturday[30 Aug.] for new ambassadors.



The Islamic State (IS) group has prompted widespread concern as it advances
in both Syria and Iraq, killing hundreds of peoples. Lack of action would be
“unacceptable” in the face of the phenomenon, King Abdullah said.



“I ask you to convey this message to your leaders. Terrorism at this time is
an evil force that must be fought with wisdom and speed. I hope all
ambassadors convey the message literally because fighting terrorism requires
speed and capabilities.



“I have noticed that most of you have not spoken about those terrorists and
this is a completely unacceptable matter in terms of human rights. Those
terrorists do not know the meaning of humanity. You see how terrorists carry
out beheadings and make children show the severed heads in the street.



“These are cruel acts and against the words of Almighty Allah Who does not
accept the killing of a person in the remotest place in the world because
killing a person is like killing all humanity. You see how those kill day
and night.



“It is no secret to you, what they have done and what they have yet to do.



“If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America
in another month. Mark my words well and transmit this message to your
leaders.”



US Secretary of State John Kerry called Friday[29 Aug.] for a global
coalition to combat Islamic State fighters’ “genocidal agenda.”



Writing in the New York Times, Kerry said he and Defense Secretary Chuck
Hagel will meet European counterparts on the sidelines of a NATO summit in
Wales next week, to enlist assistance. They will then travel on to the
Middle East to build support “among the countries that are most directly
threatened.” — SG/Agencies



+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 31 Aug.’14:” ‘Recruiter for Syrian Jihad
Arrested in France”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT:France arrests Syrian Jihad recruiter

QUOTE: “around 800 French nationals or residents –including several dozen
women – have traveled toSyria or returned from the conflict ridden country,
or plan to go there”

FULL TEXT:A 22-year-old man suspected of acting as a recruiter for jihadist
groups in Syria has been arrested at an airport in the south of France, the
interior ministry said Sunday [31 Aug.].

The man, who is said to be of Chechen origin, was stopped at the Nice
airport on Saturday[30 Aug.] and taken into custody.

He is suspected of having paid in cash for a 16-year-old girl to fly to
Turkey with the intention of then crossing the border to Syria, a statement
by Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

Turkish Airlines contacted the border patrol, who unconvinced by her
explanation that she was planning on visiting her grandmother in Istanbul,
called the security services.

When investigators rang her father, he had no idea of her plans and said the
family had no relatives in Turkey.

A source close to the case said the girl's father had "objected to her
leaving the country", while another source said the family, who live in
Nice, were "taken by complete surprise" by her plans.

Further investigations later led police to the suspect, who is believed to
live in France and was already known to intelligence officers.

Like a number of European countries, France has expressed concern over
radicalized young people leaving the country to fight in Iraq and Syria, and
who could pose a risk to domestic security on their return.

According to official estimates, around 800 French nationals or residents --
including several dozen women -- have traveled to Syria, returned from the
conflict-ridden country or plan to go there.

Across the channel, police in Britain have asked the public to identify
"aspiring terrorists" amid government concern over people who go to fight
with extremist groups in the Middle East could return to carry out attacks
on home soil.




+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 31 Aug.’14:”Justice Minister Rifi Calls for
Investigation in Burning of Crosses inTripoli as 2 Churches Defaced with
Islamc State Warnings”

SUBJECT: Churches defaced with Islamic State warnings.

EXCERPTS:Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi called on Sunday[31 Aug.] for an
investigation to be carried out into the burning of crosses in the northern
city of Tripoli.

The crosses were allegedly burned on Saturday[30 Aug.] in retaliation to the
burning of an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant flag in Beirut's
Ashrafiyeh district also on Saturday[30 Aug.].

Supporters of the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front burned the crosses on
the al-Tabbaneh highway, said Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

“The investigation will be carried out to safeguard the sanctity of
religious, both Muslim and Christian, symbols and practices,” said Rifi in a
statement.

“These practices should not be violated in any way, shape, or form or under
any excuse because the cross is the most important symbol in Christianity,”
he added.


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 31 Aug.’14:”Captives held by Islamic State prove
tough quandary for Obama”, Reuters

SUBJECT: IS captives tough quandary for Obama

QUOTE: “Obama’s administration is making little headway in efforts to secure
the release of three other Americans held by the insurgent group in Syria”

FULL TEXT:WASHINGTON — After Islamic State's beheading of journalist James
Foley, President Barack Obama's administration is making little headway in
efforts to secure the release of three other Americans held by the insurgent
group in Syria, officials said.

Journalist Steven Sotloff and two others whom Reuters is not naming are
among fewer than 10 Westerners that Islamic State (IS) is holding in
kidnappings that until recently were aimed at simply raising ransoms, they
said. The US government has said it does not pay ransoms or negotiate with
IS.

Washington has contacted about two dozen countries for help in freeing the
three, but no foreign government appears to have influence over or even
significant contact with IS, which has declared an Islamic caliphate in
parts of Iraq and Syria.

"What we've found is that ISIS isn't responsive" to outreach, said a senior
US official, speaking on condition of anonymity and using an alternate
acronym for the group.

Another administration official said Washington was working with other
Western countries whose citizens are being held hostage, and with Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and others in the region thought by the
United States to possibly have influence with the groups Al Nusrah and IS.

The hostages' fate received little public attention until Islamic State
posted an online video on August 19 showing Foley's beheading. It now
presents a frustrating challenge for Obama.

Islamic State "is far more difficult to deal with" than Iran or the group
Hizbollah, which also took Americans captive, said Bruce Riedel, a former
CIA and White House official now at the Brookings Institution think tank.
The group "wants to terrorise Americans, it's not really interested in
deals”.

White House involvement

US officials and supporters of the remaining hostages requested that most
details about them and efforts to free them be withheld.

One is Steven Sotloff, a freelance journalist kidnapped in Syria in August
2013. At the end of the video depicting Foley's murder, a militant holding
Sotloff threatened his life.

Sotloff's mother Shirley appealed on Wednesday[27 Aug.] in a videotaped
message to Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, for
her son's release.

One of the other US hostages is a female aid worker, age 26, for whom
Islamic State has demanded $6.6 million in ransom, according to ABC News.

Lisa Monaco, Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, has been "very deeply
involved in this", the senior US official said. Monaco, along with the State
Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, has been in contact with
hostages' families, the official said.

Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council,
said, "The Administration has had regular interactions with the families of
those Americans who have been held hostage in Syria since the kidnapping of
their loved ones. These interactions included representatives from all the
relevant agencies, including the Department of State, the FBI, the
Intelligence Community, and the White House."

Obama authorised a covert raid in Syria in July to rescue Foley and other
American hostages, but they were not at the site where they were thought to
be held. Another rescue attempt would be risky for US special forces and the
hostages.

The American diplomatic effort also is aimed at persuading European
countries not to pay ransoms, officials said.

US and European officials have said that France, Spain and Italy have
tolerated or facilitated ransom payments for citizens held in Syria. Islamic
State released numerous European journalists this year, including two
Spaniards in March and four Frenchmen in April.

The French government has denied a news report that it paid a ransom to free
the four. Spain's foreign ministry has not commented on the matter.

The US policy of refusing to pay ransoms to discourage further
hostage-taking "is as close as we are likely to come to governments
influencing ISIS on the matter of seizing hostages", said Paul Pillar, a
former senior CIA analyst now at Georgetown University.

US officials have said that Qatar played a critical role in persuading a
rival group in Syria, the official Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al Nusra, to
free American journalist Peter Theo Curtis, whom it had been holding since
2012.

Qatar is working to help free other Americans held captive in Syria, a Gulf
source told Reuters, but US officials said the Qatari government has little
if any leverage with Islamic State.



+++SOURCE:Jordan Times 31 Aug.’14:”Egypt court commutes Brotherhood leader’s
death sentence”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT:Egypt Muslim Brotherhood

QUOTE:”With much of its leadership behind bars or in exile, the Muslim
Brotherhood has insisted on organizing small and sometimes violent protests
across the country.”

FULL TEXT:CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Saturday[30Aug.] commuted a death
sentence against the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader to life in
prison, in one of many trials of Islamists since their removal from power.

Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood's supreme guide, still faces the gallows,
however, after another court in southern Egypt passed a separate death
sentence over deadly riots in August 2013, almost a month after the army
toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

In Saturday's[30Aug.] ruling, a Cairo court that had initially sentenced him
to death for violent protests in the capital reduced the ruling to life in
prison, on the recommendation of the mufti, the government's Islamic law
expert.

The government that took over after Morsi's overthrow cracked down on
Islamists, with at least 700 pro-Morsi protesters killed in clashes with
police in a single day in August 2013.

Thousands have been imprisoned, including Morsi himself, and placed on
trials that resulted in death sentences for more than 200 people.

The Cairo court on Saturday[30Aug.] sentenced seven other Brotherhood
leaders to life in prison, and six who were tried in absentia to death.

Those sentenced to death in absentia have the right to retrial if they
surrender themselves.

With much of its leadership behind bars or in exile, the Muslim Brotherhood
has persisted in organising small and sometimes violent protests across the
country.

The government has designated the group, once the country's largest
political movement, as a terrorist organisation, blaming it for militant
attacks that have killed scores of policemen and soldiers.

The Islamists deny involvement in the attacks, the deadliest of which have
been claimed by an Al Qaeda inspired group based in the Sinai Peninsula.
======
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA

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