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France: Man converts to Islam, joins two other Muslims in robbery plot
to get ‘jihadist booty’
JAN 26, 2021 1:00 PM
BY ROBERT SPENCER19 COMMENTS
There is a whole chapter of the Qur’an entitled “Booty,” or “The Spoils of War”: sura 8. It details how Muslims can collect such booty in battle and how they must pay a fifth to the Islamic authorities (see 8:41).
“Robbery and terrorism project: three Stéphanois radicalized in court,” translated from “Projet de braquage et terrorisme: trois Stéphanois radicalisés devant la justice,” by Hélène Jaffiol, Le Progrès, January 22, 2021:
A threat of an attack, radicalized profiles, and Act I of the yellow vests as a backdrop … The affair caused a stir right up to the top of the state. The Minister of the Interior, in person, Christophe Castaner, congratulated himself, in front of the cameras, for having avoided a bloodbath on the first day of the yellow vest protests, on November 17, 2018.
Two scheming brothers and a converted former soldier
Arrested a few days earlier, the plans of the four individuals, three of whom live in Saint-Etienne, were investigated, but the terrorist case gradually weakened. It is finally for a robbery project, against a backdrop of jihadist booty, that they will appear before the Paris Criminal Court, this Friday, January 22.
Who are the protagonists of Saint-Etienne? Two radicalized brothers, Kamel and Hilial A, and Rémi M. a 50-year-old converted father of four children. Ms. Léa Dordilly, lawyer for the youngest of the siblings, Hilial, 24, paints his portrait: “He broke up with the rest of his well-integrated family. He lets himself slip and lives between petty crimes, shenanigans and swindling. ”
Under the influence of his older brother, who has just been released from prison, the young man slips into radical Islam in a matter of months. While wiretapped, they speak of “the Islamic State”, rage against “disbelievers” and speak of “taking action”.
“It is not enough to have a radicalized profile to link everything to terrorism”
In their wake appears Rémi M., 54, a former soldier, whom he met on leaving the mosque: “He had a complicated life, experienced a phase of alcoholism. He converted about fifteen years ago and practices a rigorous Islam”, emphasizes his lawyer, Mr. Michaël Bendavid. It was he who sent the text “It will bleed on 17 [November]” which accelerated the anti-terrorist operation in Saint-Etienne (see box).
But instead of an attack, it was a project to rob a van or an ATM that they seemed to be preparing on the sidelines of the yellow vest protests. A plan that was still “in its infancy”, according to Ms. Dordilly, who also referred to an attempted purchase … in a toy store in Lyon: “It was for a dummy weapon. The seller got suspicious, so my client gave up. ”
But for the lawyer, like her colleagues in the defense, it is the notion of jihadist booty, “the ghanima”, attributed to this robbery project which raises questions in this file: “We could not hold against them the preparation of an attack then we say that the robbery was intended to finance a hypothetical future action. But just having a radicalized profile is not enough to link everything to terrorism.”
Pakistan’s Supreme Court frees man convicted then acquitted for role in beheading death of US journalist Daniel Pearl
28 Jan 2021 12:13
File photo showing Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl at an undisclosed location with a copy of Pakistan's English language newspaper Dawn. © THE WASHINGTON POST / AFP
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered the release of Pakistani-British man Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, who was convicted but later acquitted for his role in the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
The court also dismissed an appeal launched by Pearl's family after Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh was acquitted, but it remains unclear whether or not he will also be freed from custody on Thursday.
Three other Pakistanis convicted of playing a role in Pearl's kidnapping and death were also ordered to be released.
Pearl's beheading and dismemberment, confirmed in an autopsy, shocked the world in 2002, long before Islamic State employed the tactic of videoing the gruesome murder of journalists and activists in the years that followed.
His dismembered remains were discovered in a shallow grave shortly after a video of his killing arrived at the US consulate in Karachi.
Pearl's family called the court ruling “a complete travesty of justice” and called on both the US and Pakistan to “correct this injustice” which they said endangers journalists the world over.
Sheikh was convicted of luring Pearl, who was investigating the so-called "Shoe bomber" Richard Reid and his link to Pakistani militants, to a site in Karachi from where he was kidnapped.
Sheikh has remained on death row since his initial conviction but the Supreme Court ruling upheld his acquittal and ordered his release.
Authorities in Washington said previously that, in the event that Sheikh were released, they would seek his extradition to the US to be tried.
Whether an extradition request materializes, and in what form, remains to be seen, in what marks the first major test for the newly-minted Biden administration and its relationship with Pakistan.
“The Pearl family is in complete shock by the majority decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to acquit and release Ahmed Omer Sheikh and the other accused persons who kidnapped and killed Daniel Pearl,” the Pearl family lawyer Faisal Siddiqi said in a statement.
Don't know why you would be shocked? You might have suspected this - An American Jew being beheaded by a Pakistani Muslim. It's a wonder the Supreme Court didn't give him a gold watch?
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