..
Ex-ISIS fighters claim paying their way out of jail
22 Nov, 2021 14:56
© Reuters / Goran Tomasevic
Former ISIS fighters have claimed the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are charging $8,000 per person to free militants from prisons under a so-called ‘reconciliation’ scheme.
According to a report in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, former ISIS fighters, who fought for the militant group until it was defeated in 2019, secured their freedom from the Syrian al-Hawl prison facility through the scheme.
Currently, three SDF-controlled jails in northeast Syria are thought to hold around 8,000 Iraqi and Syrian individuals who are accused of fighting for ISIS, as well as 2,000 foreigners who are waiting to be deported back to their home nations.
The ex-ISIS militants claimed that at least 10 people, to their knowledge, have bought their freedom through what’s been reportedly dubbed a ‘reconciliation’ scheme. The two men provided the British-based newspaper with documentation to back up their claims, as well as testimony of how they’d been released from detention.
One individual, Abu Jafar, who claims he was released after his family sold some property, stated he paid $8,000 as a fine, as well as a further $22,000 in bribes to SDF officials. Similarly, Abu Muhammad, who says he fought alongside ISIS on the frontline, said he had paid the $8,000 figure and $14,000 in bribes.
SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami has denied the existence of the scheme, rejecting the documentation seen by the Guardian and stating that no payment has been taken to free former ISIS fighters. However, Shami did accept that some individuals, who worked in “IS-run offices or were forced to join IS” were freed if their “hands were not stained by blood.” However, he said anyone released is “monitored by security forces” to ensure they don’t seek to rejoin or aid the militant group again.
The international anti-IS coalition refused to comment on the reported scheme, stating that the prison facilities are controlled by the SDF.
France tears down major migrant camp
16 Nov, 2021 16:19
A large settlement of migrants in the suburbs of Dunkirk in northern France has been dismantled, in the wake of yet another wave of tensions with the UK over the growing number of illegal crossings.
“At my instruction, the security forces are evacuating the illegal migrant camp in Grande-Synthe this morning,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter on Tuesday. He added that state services in the region would provide shelter for the group.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the decision to dismantle the camp was primarily based on the intention to put people into shelters ahead of the winter season.
Around 1,500 migrants were evacuated from the site via buses and their tents removed. According to Utopia 56, one of the charities monitoring the process of dismantling the camp, people “were forced to board buses, without being informed of their destination, and some of their personal belongings have been destroyed.”
In a separate tweet, Darmanin announced the arrest of 13 alleged migrant smugglers, “bringing the total to 1,308 since January.”
“These smugglers are criminals who exploit human misery, responsible for irregular immigration,” the minister wrote.
Tuesday’s actions by French authorities came in the wake of a phone call between Darmanin and his British counterpart Priti Patel. The two discussed the increasing number of illegal migrants attempting to cross the English Channel, and reiterated the importance of cooperation in making this route “unviable,” Patel said afterwards.
The UK and France have a history of mutual accusations when it comes to illegal migration. While British officials have claimed that French authorities do not do enough to prevent migrants from embarking for the dangerous trip, France’s government has said that the UK should reform its labor market rules in order to become less attractive to migrants.
More than 23,000 people have crossed the Channel by boat this year, compared to 8,404 in 2020, according to Press Association figures.
Liverpool bombing suspect converted from Islam to Christianity – reports
16 Nov, 2021 10:47
outside Liverpool Women's hospital. © Reuters / CCTV
Emad Al Swealmeen, the man suspected of detonating an improvised explosive device in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital, converted from Islam to Christianity in 2017, according to an evangelical couple he stayed with.
On Monday, British authorities said 32-year-old Al Swealmeen died in the explosion, which also injured a taxi driver who was inside the vehicle.
Evangelical couple Elizabeth and Malcolm Hitchcott, who said they housed him for eight months, told UK media he converted from Islam to Christianity at a ceremony in Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral on March 27, 2017.
“He changed from Islam to Christianity and was confirmed as a Christian by at least March 2017, just before he came to live with us. He was destitute at that time and we took him in,” the couple said.
Hitchcott described Al Swealmeen as a “very quiet fellow,” adding that there was “nothing to suggest he could go on to become radicalised.”
According to Hitchcott, the suspect had previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act for six months. This came after he was detained following an incident in Liverpool involving “a bridge and a knife” and the refusal of his asylum claim.
Authorities have speculated that the cathedral where Al Swealmeen converted to Christianity could have been his target, as it was a short distance from where the taxi stopped. At the time of the blast, the cathedral was hosting a Remembrance Day event, with around 1,200 in attendance.
Police investigating the explosion outside the hospital declared it a terrorist incident but have not yet identified a motive for the attempted attack.
It would appear he rejected Christianity in the end.
Australia slaps ‘terrorist’ label on all of Hezbollah
24 Nov, 2021 09:57
FILE PHOTO: Hezbollah members hold flags marking Resistance and Liberation Day. © Reuters / Aziz Taher
Australia has designated all of Lebanon’s influential Hezbollah movement as a terrorist organization, expanding the earlier ban on its armed units to the political wing.
Hezbollah poses a “real” and “credible” threat to Australia, Karen Andrews, the country’s home affairs minister, said on Wednesday.
The Lebanon-based group “continues to threaten terrorist attacks and provide support to terrorist organizations,” Andrews added.
The move means that Australian citizens are now forbidden from becoming members of Hezbollah or providing funds for its operations. The group’s military wing has been on Australia’s terrorist list since 2003.
People from Lebanon make up the largest Middle Eastern community in Australia – estimated at around 230,000, mainly in the Greater Sydney area and Melbourne. Immigration to Australia peaked during the Lebanese Civil War between 1976 and 1981, but has declined significantly since then.
Hezbollah operates in various fields in Lebanon, acting as a political party, a military organization, and a provider of basic services to the population.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who reportedly asked his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison to ban Hezbollah’s political wing during the UN climate summit in Glasgow in early November, thanked Canberra for the move. He said the two countries will continue “to act in every way possible against terrorism, including in the international arena.”
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also expressed his gratitude that Australia, which he described as “a close friend of Israel,” joined 17 other nations that realize “there are no separate wings to terrorist organizations.”
Israel, which waged a war against Hezbollah in 2006, considers the group, which has strong links to Iran, a threat to national security.
Hezbollah has been labeled a terrorist organization by the US, Israel, and the Arab League. The EU and many individual European nations have banned its military wing, but were reluctant to act against the political party over concerns it could further destabilize the situation in Lebanon.
It's hard to believe the situation in Lebanon can become more unstable.
Dozens dead after migrant boat capsizes
24 Nov, 2021 19:41
to cross the English Channel on November 24, 2021. © Gonzalo Fuentes
It's possible this was the very boat that overturned.
Over 30 migrants have drowned after a boat capsized off Calais, France, during an attempt to cross the English Channel to the UK, in the worst-ever such tragedy yet involving illegal crossings of the waterway.
The accident occurred on Wednesday, when a group of migrants tried to take advantage of calm sea conditions to cross over to Britain. The waters of the English Channel, however, are currently very chilly, which has likely contributed to the large number of fatalities.
The capsized boat and multiple bodies nearby were initially found by French fishermen, who alerted the authorities, prompting a rescue operation. At least 31 people perished in the accident, Franck Dhersin, deputy head of regional transport and mayor of Teteghem, told Reuters. The death toll is expected to grow even further, as at least two people are still reported missing.
France’s PM Jean Castex called the accident a “tragedy,” blaming it on human traffickers and other facilitators of illegal migration.
“The sinking in the English Channel is a tragedy. My thoughts go out to the many missing and injured victims of criminal smugglers who exploit their distress and misery,” Castex tweeted.
A similar reaction was expressed by his British counterpart Boris Johnson, who said he was “shocked and appalled and deeply saddened” by the deaths. The PM convened an emergency COBRA meeting over the incident, to assess the situation.
The incident is the largest loss of life from a single migrant boat capsizing in the Channel. Before the Wednesday drownings, the largest such accident was recorded in October last year, when a migrant family of five died during their attempt to cross to the UK.
The Channel has seen an increased illegal migrant flow this year, with over 25,700 people taking the dangerous journey across the waterway, known for heavy maritime traffic and strong currents. The figure to date this year is already three times higher than the total of crossings registered during the whole of 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment