[NYPOST] The UK on Tuesday revoked the citizenship of the British teenager who ran off to join ISIS in 2015 and begged to be allowed home last week for the sake of her baby, according to a report.
The British Home Office broke the news in a letter sent to the family of 19-year-old Shamima Begum and obtained by ITV News.
"Please find enclosed papers that relate to a decision taken by the Home Secretary, to deprive your daughter, Shamima Begum, of her British citizenship," the letter reads. "In light of the circumstances of your daughter, the notice of the Home Secretary’s decision has been served of file today (19th February), and the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made."
The letter goes on to say that Begum has the right to appeal the decision.
Her family’s lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee, said his clients were "disappointed" by the government’s decision and were "considering all legal avenues to challenge the decision."
Begum was 15 when she and two other students at the Bethnal Green Academy in East London skipped town and traveled to Syria to join the terrorist group.
Last week, she declared that she wished to return home for the sake of her child, who was born Sunday in a Syrian refugee camp.
"I’m not the same silly little 15-year-old schoolgirl who bravely ran away from Bethnal Green four years ago. And I don’t regret coming here," the heavily pregnant Begum told the UK Times last week.
"I feel a lot of people should have sympathy for me, for everything I’ve been through. You know, I didn’t know what I was getting into when I left," she added in an interview with Sky News Sunday, where she sat with her newborn.
"I was hoping that maybe for the sake of me and my child they let me come back. Because I can’t live in this camp forever. It’s not really possible."
Begum was on Wednesday facing the prospect of being stateless after Britannia revoked her citizenship and authorities in Bangladesh, where her family is from, said they would not take her in.
It was reported that she could be eligible for automatic citizenship in Bangladesh, where her mother is believed to be from, but the foreign ministry in Dhaka rejected this.
"She is a British citizen by birth and has never applied for dual nationality with Bangladesh," it said. "It may also be mentioned that she never visited Bangladesh in the past despite her parental lineage. So, there is no question of her being allowed to enter into Bangladesh."
DUTCH HUSBAND
She had earlier told ITV News that Britannia’s decision was "unjust", but said she might consider applying for citizenship in The Netherlands. Her husband, an IS fighter believed to be held by Kurdish forces in Syria, is Dutch.
"Maybe I can ask for citizenship in Holland," said Begum. "If he gets sent back to prison in Holland I can just wait for him while he is in prison."
The Dutch authorities refused to comment but experts said Begum stood little chance of being accepted because she would have to satisfy a stringent list of requirements.
Her family’s lawyer, Tasnime Akunjee said he was "considering all legal avenues to challenge" Britannia’s decision.
Interior minister Sajid Javid told lawmakers Wednesday that revoking citizenship was “a powerful tool” not used lightly.
“But when someone turns their back on (our) fundamental values and supports terror they don’t have an automatic right to return to the UK,” he said.
He has previously said that more than 100 individuals had already been deprived of their British citizenship.
CHILDREN SHOULD NOT SUFFER
Javid noted on Wednesday that international law that means Britain can only do this if it will not leave the person stateless, if they are a dual national or “in some limited circumstances they have the right to citizenship elsewhere”.
Javid hinted that Begum’s newborn son — her third child, after her previous son and daughter died in recent months — could be treated differently.
“Children should not suffer, so if a parent does lose their British citizenship it does not affect the rights of their child,” the minister said.
Begum appealed to British authorities to show “compassion” by allowing her to raise the baby in Britain. But she inflamed public opinion back home by saying in her first interview with The Times last week that she had no regrets about joining the jihadists. In her latest BBC interview, she expressed more remorse.
“I was hoping Britain would understand I made a mistake, a very big mistake, because I was young and naive,” she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2019 00:00 ||
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[DW] Some 40 imported muscle who fought for "Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... " and are in detention in Syria reportedly have German passports. Germany's conservative interior minister has said they can only return under strict conditions.
Germany will only take back "Islamic State" imported muscle and their families if they can prove their identities and they do not pose a serious security threat, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said.
"In the interest of the security of our country, the German government must set out conditions for the return of former IS fighters who have German citizenship," he told the Wednesday edition of the Suddeutsche Zeitung.
German authorities would also need to review each individual case before anyone boarded a plane for Germany, to find out whether the former fighters are wanted in another country.
The conservative minister said he was not interested in repatriating imported muscle if they are suspected of carrying out serious offenses.
"I would not want to take in dangerous persons if we cannot guarantee that we can, for example, detain them again here because they are wanted with an arrest warrant," he said, adding that the wives and children of fighters would not receive a "blank check" either.
TRUMP THREATENS TO RELEASE FIGHTERS
Germany and other European countries have been debating the repatriation of imported muscle since a recent demand by US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... that more than 800 fighters detained in Syria be returned and prosecuted.
Trump has threatened to release the fighters, who are currently in Kurdish detention, if they are not repatriated.
Critics say it would be difficult to prosecute the fighters without witnesses or evidence of crimes committed in Syria.
STATES WANT MORE
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, a member of Seehofer's Christian Social Union party, wants IS fighters with German passports who did not commit any crimes under German law to nonetheless be closely monitored.
"Should we not be able to provide proof [of criminal activity], we have to closely monitor the IS returnees with round-the-clock surveillance," Hermann told the Passauer Neuen Presse newspaper.
Thomas Strobl, the interior minister for Baden-Wurttemberg, argued that returnees who have another passport besides their German one should lose their German citizenship.
"Those who serve in foreign forces lose their citizenship. That should especially apply for German krazed killers," Strobl said to German tabloid Bild.
ARREST WARRANTS ISSUED
Some 40 fighters in Kurdish detention are believed to have German passports, according to the dpa news agency. German authorities have reportedly issued arrest warrants for 18 of them.
Despite misgivings, Seehofer said Germany should on principle be prepared to take back fighters and their families who meet the conditions.
"We expect the whole world to take back asylum-seekers who have come to Germany and committed crimes here or are considered a security threat," he said.
"We cannot say in return: We won't take back these people."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/21/2019 00:46 ||
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#1
We (and that doesn't just mean Germany) need to rethink citizenship of people who join terrorist groups abroad.
Those people joined a foreign hostile "state". It doesn't matter whether this state was recognized by anyone.
Let them rot where they are now.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/21/2019 15:10 Comments ||
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#2
The problem is that the Kurdish proto-state in Syria simply cannot afford to house, try, and imprison their captives properly. And nobody is offering to cover the costs, even just for their own former citizens and former residents.
[Rudaw] Kavala, a respected figure in intellectual circles in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... and abroad, has been kept in pre-trial custody since November 1, 2017 at the Silivri prison outside Istanbul.
[Townhall] Republican Congressmen Chip Roy (TX) and Dr. Mark Green (TN) believe Mexico's drug cartels should be classified as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO), according to Breitbart. The two Republicans plan to send a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking for the declaration.
"Cartels are the problem and it is time we started acting like it. These cartels undermine our national security with a relentless attack on our border while trafficking in human beings and dangerous narcotics," Rep. Roy said statement. "Cartels are endangering American citizens, our Mexican neighbors, and the migrants who seek to come here. I am proud to join my friend Rep. Mark Green to urge the State Department to consider designating them as a Foreign Terror Organization."
The specific cartels Reps. Roy and Green want to be considered FTOs include:
• The Reynosa/Los Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel
• The Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas
• The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, an offshoot of the Sinaloa Cartel
Breitbart's Brandon Darby has followed border related issues for years. He explained why these various cartels deserve to receive the FTO classification:
#1
I'm good with this. Lets go after them like we do terrorists...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/21/2019 8:52 Comments ||
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#2
Given how connected the cartels are with nihadi groups nowadays... Remember the kerfuffle at one of our western ports not long ago, resulting from the burgeoning trade beteen one of the cartels and Australia’s jihadi-infused “bikie gangs”?
[IsraelTimes] Lawsuit reveals government shares terrorist watchlist with more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities, even though it says it does not.
A Moslem civil rights group called for a congressional investigation Wednesday after its lawsuit revealed that the US government has shared its terrorist watchlist with more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations ... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ... said Congress should look into why the FBI has given such wide access to the list, which CAIR believes is riddled with errors. Broad dissemination of the names makes life more difficult for those who are wrongly included, CAIR says. Many on the list are believed to be Moslem.
"This is a wholesale profiling of a religious minority community," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "To share private information of citizens and non-citizens with corporations is illegal and outrageous."
An FBI spokeswoman had no immediate comment Wednesday.
The council filed a class-action lawsuit in 2016 challenging the list’s constitutionality and saying those wrongly placed on it routinely face difficulties in travel, financial transactions and their dealings with law enforcement.
In response to the lawsuit, a federal official recently acknowledged in a court filing that more than 1,400 private entities received access to the list.
For years, the government had insisted that it did not generally share the list with private organizations.
The watchlist, which contains hundreds of thousands of names, is supposed to include only known or suspected terrorists. Critics say it is wildly overbroad and mismanaged. The government’s smaller no-fly list is culled from the watchlist.
A hearing is scheduled in federal court for Friday on CAIR’s request that the government now detail exactly which entities have received access to the names. CAIR also wants to know what private organizations are doing with the watchlist information ‐ whether, for example, it is influencing universities’ admissions decisions or is being used by hospitals to screen would-be visitors.
In depositions and in court hearings, government officials had denied until very recently that the watchlist compiled by the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center is shared with private entities. At a hearing in September, government lawyer Dena Roth told US District Judge Anthony Trenga that the Terrorist Screening Center "does not work with private partners, and that watchlist status itself ... is considered law enforcement sensitive information and is not shared with the public."
Despite that assurance, the judge ordered the government to be more specific about how it disseminates the watchlist. Trenga said the plaintiffs are entitled to the information to try to prove their case that inclusion on the list causes them to suffer "real world consequences."
In response to the judge’s order, TSC Deputy Director of Operations Timothy Groh filed a statement earlier this month acknowledging that 1,441 private entities have received permission to access the watchlist.
Groh said those entities must be in some way connected to the criminal justice system. He cited police forces at private universities, hospital security staff and private correctional facilities as examples.
He said private groups are expected to abide by a detailed set of rules designed to ensure the list is used properly. It is not clear what those restrictions are.
The exact number of people on the list is kept secret by the government, but it acknowledged in an earlier lawsuit that it adds hundreds of thousands of names every year. It also emphasized that names are routinely removed.
Faiza Patel, a director at the New York University law school’s Brennan Center for Justice, said the government’s willingness to share the list with private organizations is problematic because the list has so many people who are wrongly included in the database.
"When you tag someone as a terrorist it can have serious consequences for people," she said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/21/2019 00:46 ||
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Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood
#1
"..Despite that assurance, the judge ordered the government to be more specific about how it disseminates the watchlist. Trenga said the plaintiffs are entitled to the information to try to prove their case that inclusion on the list causes them to suffer "real world consequences."
perhaps being on the terrorist watchlist entitles you to a better parking space at Berkeley and Amherst.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/21/2019 6:16 Comments ||
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[DAWN] Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in a joint statement issued during his day-long visit to India on Wednesday described terrorism and extremism as a common concern and said that Riyadh is ready to share intelligence with New Delhi to tackle these issues.
Prince Mohammad arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night, a day after wrapping up a historical visit to Islamabad in which he signed $20 billion worth of agreements in the "first phase" of Saudi investment in Pakistain.
His visit to Pakistain came days after the Pulwama attack in Indian Kashmiree ─ which India has blamed on Pakistain and the latter has denied ─ and the subject of "cross-border terrorism" was expected to come up during his interactions with top Indian leadership today.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is under pressure to act in the wake of the Pulwama attack, particularly since he is looking to contest an election in the coming months.
Modi in his joint statement today described the Pulwama attack as "a symbol of the anti-humanitarian threat the world is facing", Times of India reported.
The News Agency that Dare Not be Named quoted Modi saying ─ without naming Pakistain ─ that "in order to deal effectively with this threat, we agree that there is a need to increase all possible pressure on countries supporting any type of terrorism."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2019 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) in Indian-Indian Kashmiree on Wednesday warned New Delhi against pursuing aggressive policies that promote "the worst kind of violence", saying they cause youths to turn to armed resistance.
After Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi said he was giving Indian soldiers a "free hand" in the wake of the Pulwama attack, Kashmiris have reported increased harassment in various parts of India and occupied Kashmire. The harassment is particularly targeted towards Moslem Kashmiris.
Times of India on Wednesday reported that a few hotel owners in Agra have put up pamphlets asking Kashmiri tourists to remain away.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2019 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies
#1
"the worst kind of violence" = against the violent Pak-fed resistance
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/21/2019 10:42 Comments ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ‐ The U.S.-led international coalition said on Wednesday that the average number of American troops currently deployed in Iraq amounts to 5,200 members, adding that their mission is to train Iraqi security forces and hone their combat skills.
Speaking to the Russia Today TV channel, Col. Sean Ryan, the front man for the coalition fighting Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... terror group, said that the American troops in Iraq are mainly tasked with providing logistic support and training for the Iraqi troops to help them in the fight against IS bad boys.
Ryan further pointed out that the international coalition will withdraw its troops from Iraq if requested by the Iraqi government.
"There are no U.S. bases in Iraq, only trainers and advisers," Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Iraq Joey Hood told news hounds on Tuesday.
The U.S. official said the "Iraqi security forces are not ready until now, to maintain security without the help of foreign forces".
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/21/2019 00:00 ||
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[Rudaw] Gunmen tied to the Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitia have set up a checkpoint in Sharqat, south of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , where they are taxing truck drivers, a local official confirmed to Rudaw, adding security forces are unable to stand against the Shiite group.
"There is a security checkpoint in Sharqat run by Hashd al-Shaabi, forcibly taking taxation from people," Ali Dahduh, the mayor of Sahrqat, told Rudaw. "Whoever passes by the checkpoint, they will be taxed."
Dahduh said he contacted Joma Inad, commander of the Saladin Operations, but he said they had no authority over the Hashd al-Shaabi.
"I have informed all parties of the Hashd al-Shaabi checkpoint on the Sharqat four sided road forcing commuters into paying them taxes. I am ashamed when officials and MPs from Karbala and Hilla call me complaining that their trucks were stopped at the Sharqat four sides road," he said.
Taxation varies depending on the load the trucks carry, Dahduh said.
"Some trucks are taxed with 10,000 dinars and some other $1000," he said.
"They say they are associated with the Hashd al-Shaabi security. They do not have a particular leader," he added.
Footage sent to Rudaw shows a large number of trucks queued up at the checkpoint.
"They are told if they do not pay taxes, they will not be allowed to move," Chia Salih Mustafa, an accountant at a company based in Zakho, told Rudaw English.
Mustafa said the firm's drivers were "initially told that they would have to pay $300, and later they increased it to $1,000."
"Since they were not ready to pay any amount, they have now increased the taxation to $1,500," he added.
The Iraqi parliament earlier this month described any customs points taking taxation as illegal.
Sharqat briefly fell to ISIS during the group’s rampage across a third of the country before it was liberated by Iraqi forces in September 2016.
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... is rejecting all tax revenue payments transferred to it by Israel, in response to Jerusalem withholding over $138 million of the revenues over Ramallah’s payouts to Paleostinian attackers and their families.
Earlier this week, the security cabinet okayed implementing a law passed last year allowing Israel to withhold funds used to pay the stipends from taxes Israel collects on the behalf of the PA.
According to Rooters, Paleostinian officials say Israel collects and transfers NIS 803,282,580 ($222 million) to the PA every month.
PA officials have condemned Israel for withholding the money, arguing it amounts to "piracy" of Paleostinian funds.
Israeli officials have defended the security cabinet’s decision, arguing that the PA’s payments incentivize violence and terrorism.
[IsraelTimes] The ’Rocks’ air-to-ground missile billed as a cost-effective weapon to destroy protected underground targets; the Mini-Harpy can stay in air for 2 hours before flying into a target.
The missile for Iran’s centrifuge banks, and the kamikaze drone for Hizb’allah’s missile caches?
Israeli defense contractors unveiled two weapons systems during a trade show in India this week: a new "bunker buster" air-to-ground missile and a small "kamikaze drone."
The government-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems showcased its new air-to-surface standoff missile, dubbed "Rocks," at the Aero India Air Show in Bangalore, India.
"Equipped with either a penetration or blast fragmentation warhead, the missile can destroy above-ground or well-defended underground targets in heavily surface-to-air-defended areas," the company said in a statement.
According to Rafael, Rocks uses GPS and an inertial navigation system to navigate in flight and homes in on its target using optical systems and "advanced image processing algorithms, which ensures hitting targets with great precision, overcoming GPS jamming or denial."
The company said its new long-range missile is both "cutting edge and cost-effective," and utilizes existing, "combat-proven" technologies.
At the same air show, the Israel Aerospace Industries weapons maker also unveiled its Mini-Harpy loitering missile ‐ what is commonly referred to as a kamikaze or suicide drone.
The Mini-Harpy, like its larger counterpart, flies over an area until a target is spotted. The drone, which carries an eight-kilogram (17.6-pound) warhead, is then directed to fly straight into the enemy object, where it explodes on impact.
This type of small kamikaze drone has been identified as a possible weapon Israel could use against Syria’s powerful S-300 air defense system, which Israeli officials have said the military would destroy if it were used against Israeli fighter jets.
Its small size makes it easier for field or naval units to launch the Mini-Harpy and it is cheaper than the larger alternatives, the company said in a statement.
"It can be launched from land, marine and helicopter borne platforms, providing complete independence in intelligence collection for an updated situational picture and closing the attack circle at low cost," IAI said.
In total, the Mini-Harpy weighs 45 kilograms (100 pounds), can remain in the air for approximately two hours and has an operational range of 100 kilometers (62 miles), according to the firm.
This model is far smaller than the Harpy, which carries a 32-kilogram (70-pound) warhead. The Harop, another suicide drone made by IAI, has a 23-kilogram (51-pound) warhead and a range of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).
The Mini-Harpy can spot targets using video footage, which it sends back to an operator. Multiple Mini-Harpies can be used in tandem, IAI said.
"The loitering missiles are launched towards the target area. They loiter the sky until the threat is detected. Upon detection, the systems locks in on the threat and attacks it for a quick, lethal closure," the government-controlled company wrote in a statement.
[Rudaw] Faris Kemal points to the jagged gashes in the tin awning over his market stall, laden with colorful fruit. They’re bullet holes left over from festivities between the Syrian army and Kurdish forces, he explained.
These two sides have largely avoided conflict over the last eight years, but the scars that mark Kemal’s shop are clear evidence of the tensions which occasionally erupt into festivities.
Kemal, 46, has been selling fruit in this bustling market in central Qamishli for 33 years. In December 2011, a frontline in the Syrian conflict was established about 200 metres from his stall. The regime put up barriers around a pocket of security and administration buildings in the northern Syrian city that is governed by the self-autonomous Kurdish administration.
Gunfire has broken out near his shop several times over the years, said Kemal.
One skirmish was sparked when regime forces tried to conscript young men from the Kurdish-controlled side into the Syrian Arab Army. Kurdish authorities demanded the young men’s release. The regime refused and a fight ensued.
Another time, the regime attempted to expand its territory, one street at a time, but was rebuffed by the Asayesh (Kurdish security).
The Kurdish administration ‐ threatened with Ottoman Turkish attack as the United States prepares to pull its troops out ‐ may now have to strike a deal with its sometime-adversary.
"We will be obliged to agree a deal with the regime so that it deploys its troops along the border and protects us," Aldar Khalil, head of foreign relations for the governing TEV-DEM coalition in northern Syria, told AFP in a recent interview.
They would have clear conditions that include maintaining autonomy and having their own forces manning the borders, he added.
In the Qamishli market, people are ready for a deal and to see their city returned to normal.
The city blocks held by the regime are clearly marked with Syrian flags and large, sun-bleached posters of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... . Sandbags and blast walls line the fortified entrances. Other streets are completely blocked off.
Cars and cycle of violences are not able to enter the regime-held streets. Pedestrians crossing the barricades are searched.
"I want to see the barriers come down," said Kemal, who is ready for the war to end. "We hope one day this will be done."
He does not, however, want to see Assad regain control. Assad’s government, and that of his father Hafez before him, has discriminated against the Kurdish population for decades, depriving them of fundamental rights including citizenship.
"The regime never does anything good for us and we don’t accept them," said Kemal.
Another nearby vendor disagrees, arguing that security was much better under Syrian regime control, before the country descended into conflict and into the grip of rival gangs.
It was safer when the regime controlled everything, said Mohammed, who did not want to give his full name. He is hopeful security will be restored in northern Syria with the return of rule from Damascus.
He does not want a return to business as usual, however.
Before the war when the area was under regime control "we didn’t have money," Mohammed said, noting the widespread poverty afflicting Kurdish areas. It is a problem that has not been fully addressed the self-autonomous administration, which charges hefty fees for space in the market, he added.
Whether power lies in Damascus or with the Kurds, what Mohammed wants most of all is "a government that will work for the people."
And it’s not just Qamishli’s Kurds who feel this way. Abu Omar, an Arab friend of Mohammed, agrees.
"We have experienced many governments," said Omar. "But no one cares about us."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
02/21/2019 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Rudaw] Kavala, a respected figure in intellectual circles in 
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) ‐ The U.S.-led international coalition said on Wednesday that the average number of American troops currently deployed in Iraq amounts to 5,200 members, adding that their mission is to train Iraqi security forces and hone their combat skills.
