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2 Reported Islamist Extremists Killed During Belgian Police Raid

BRUSSELS (REUTERS/AFP) – Belgian police killed two men who opened fire on them during one of about a dozen raids on Thursday against an Islamist group that federal prosecutors said was about to launch “terrorist attacks on a grand scale”.

Coming a week after Islamist gunmen killed 17 people in Paris, the incident heightened fears across Europe of young local Muslims returning radicalised from Syria.

But prosecutors’ spokesman Eric Van Der Sypt said the Belgian probe had been under way before the Jan 7 attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

A third man was detained in the eastern city of Verviers, where police commandos ran into a hail of gunfire after trying to gain entry to an apartment above a town centre bakery.

All three were citizens of Belgium, which has one of the biggest concentrations of European Islamists fighting in Syria.

Other raids on the homes of men returned from the civil war there were conducted across the country, Mr Van Der Sypt said, adding that they were suspected of planning attacks on Belgian police stations.

Security had been tightened at such sites.

“The searches were carried out as part of an investigation into an operational cell some of whose members had returned from Syria,” he said.

“For the time being, there is no connection with the attacks in Paris.”

Describing events in the quiet provincial town just after dark, he said: “The suspects immediately and for several minutes opened fire with military weaponry and handguns on the special units of the federal police before they were neutralised.”

Earlier in the day, prosecutors said they had detained a man in southern Belgium whom they suspected of supplying weaponry to Amedy Coulibaly, killer of four people at a Paris Jewish grocery after the Charlie Hebdo attack.

After the violence in Verviers, La Meuse newspaper quoted an unidentified police officer saying: “We’ve averted a Belgian Charlie Hebdo.”

Two French brothers, who like Coulibaly claimed allegiance to Islamist militants in the Middle East, killed 12 people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo.

ISLAMIST STRENGTH

Belgium has seen significant radical Islamist activity among its Muslim population.

Public television RTBF showed video of a building at night lit up by flames, with the sound of shots being fired.

“When we began running, we heard three or four big explosions and shots,” she said. “It was really startling.”

Another local resident said “machineguns were firing for about 10 minutes.”

A third witness said he saw two young men apparently of North African origin “dressed all in black carrying a bag of the same colour,” adding that the pair looked terrified.

Three Islamic State militants threatened attacks on Belgium in a video broadcast on Wednesday, the Belga news agency reported.

Belgian investigators said earlier on Thursday they were probing whether an arms dealer sold weapons used in the Paris attacks, after confirming supermarket gunman Amedy Coulibaly sold the man a car belonging to his partner Hayat Boumeddiene.

There was no immediate confirmation of any link between the Coulibaly investigation and Thursday’s raid.

The man, Neetin Karasular, from the airport city of Charleroi in French-speaking southern Belgium, is in detention on suspicion of a possible link to the weapons used in the Paris attacks.

“The issue of weapons is under investigation,” Mr Van der Sijpt told AFP earlier in the day, adding that Karasular was under suspicion for “arms trafficking Belgian prosecutors are working with French authorities to establish any “possible link” to last week’s Paris attacks.

Coulibaly, who was killed by police on Friday, is also believed to have shot dead a policewoman in another Paris attack.

Mr Van der Sijpt added that the Belgian suspect “bought the car belonging to Coulibaly’s wife.”

Karasular handed himself into police on Tuesday, saying he had been in contact with Coulibaly in recent months and had tried to “swindle” the Frenchman over the car deal, but was scared after the Paris attacks.

Investigators searched his house and found documents proving the sale of the vehicle and papers showing negotiations with Coulibaly about arms and ammunition, including a Tokarev pistol of the sort used by the Frenchman during the supermarket attack, Belga said.

Karasular will appear before a magistrate in Charleroi on Monday who will decide whether he will remain in custody.

Spain, meanwhile, opened an investigation Thursday into Coulibaly and Boumeddiene’s visit to Madrid shortly before the attacks.

Turkish authorities say Boumeddiene crossed into Syria on Jan 8 from Turkey.

She had arrived in Istanbul on a flight from Madrid before the Paris attacks took place.

Per head of population, Belgium is the European country from where the highest number of citizens have taken part in fighting with Syrian rebels in the past four years, data compiled by security researchers has shown.

Belgium has taken a lead in EU efforts to counter the threat perceived from the return of “foreign fighters” from Syria.

The Belgian government believes about 100 of its nationals have come back from there, while a further 40 may have been killed and about 170 are still in the ranks of fighters in Syria and Iraq.

Belgium is part of the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and has six F-16 aircraft taking part in bombing raids on Syria and Iraq.

A court in Antwerp is due to deliver its verdict on 46 people accused of recruiting young men to join militants or of becoming militants in Syria – Belgium’s largest Islamist militant trial to date.

The court was to have given its verdict this week, but it was delayed for a month after the Paris violence.

In Germany, police arrested a suspected supporter of the insurgent group Islamic State who was recently in Syria, federal prosecutors said.

The 26-year-old German-Tunisian suspect, named as Ayub B, is thought to have entered Syria via Turkey last year to be trained in ISIS combat and recruiting, before returning to Germany in August, the German prosecutor said in a statement.

The German authorities have not uncovered any evidence of concrete preparations for an attack on their soil. Berlin estimates that some 550 German nationals have gone to fight in ISIS ranks in Syria and Iraq.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

January 16, 2015
Pope: Free Speech Should Not Involve Insults On Others’ Faith

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis said Thursday there are limits to freedom of speech, especially when it insults or ridicules someone’s faith.

Francis spoke about the Paris terror attacks while en route to the Philippines, defending free speech as not only a fundamental human right but a duty to speak one’s mind for the sake of the common good.

But he said there were limits.

By way of example, he referred to Alberto Gasbarri, who organizes papal trips and was standing by his side aboard the papal plane.

“If my good friend Dr. Gasbarri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch,” Francis said half-jokingly, throwing a mock punch his way. “It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”

His pretend punch aside, Francis by no means said the violent attack on Charlie Hebdo was justified. Quite the opposite: He said such horrific violence in God’s name couldn’t be justified and was an “aberration.” But he said a reaction of some sort was to be expected.

Many people around the world have defended the right of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to publish inflammatory cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed in the wake of the massacre by Islamic extremists at its Paris offices and subsequent attack on a kosher supermarket in which three gunmen killed 17 people.

Others, though, have noted that in virtually all societies, freedom of speech has its limits, from laws against Holocaust denial to racially motivated hate speech.

Recently the Vatican and four prominent French imams issued a joint declaration that, while denouncing the Paris attacks, urged the media to treat religions with respect.

Francis, who has called on Muslim leaders in particular to speak out against Islamic extremism, went a step further Thursday when asked by a French journalist about whether there were limits when freedom of expression meets freedom of religion.

“There are so many people who speak badly about religions or other religions, who make fun of them, who make a game out of the religions of others,” he said. “They are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to Dr. Gasbarri if he says a curse word against my mother. There is a limit.”

In the wake of the Paris attacks, the Vatican has sought to downplay reports that it is a potential target for Islamic extremists, saying it is being vigilant but has received no specific threat.

Francis said he was concerned primarily for the safety of the faithful who come to see him in droves, and said he had spoken to Vatican security officials who are taking “prudent and secure measures.”

“I am worried, but you know I have a defect: a good dose of carelessness. I’m careless about these things,” he said. But he admitted that in his prayers, he had asked that if something were to happen to him that “it doesn’t hurt, because I’m not very courageous when it comes to pain. I’m very timid.”

He added, “I’m in God’s hands.”

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

January 16, 2015
Ustazah: Allah Gave Permission For Girls To Hug K-Pop Idols

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 — The three Muslims girls who have been vilified for hugging K-pop stars during a concert last week actually had “Allah’s permission”, a Muslim religious teacher claimed.

The young woman, who did not provide her name and was identified by some YouTube accounts as an “ustazah” or religious teacher, said that the three girls would have been stopped by God from going onstage if there was no divine permission.

“They were onstage with Allah’s permission because in this life, Allah gives us one thing—that is choice. Allah gives us the choice. Allah gave us the choice whether we want to go or not, do something consciously or not,” the tudung-clad woman explained in a YouTube video that is 5:42 minutes long.

“And they chose to go and Allah permitted them to go; they chose to stand up there and Allah permitted them to be onstage,” she added in the video carried by YouTube users like Pen Merah Dot Com and Siakap Keli.

In the same video that surfaced yesterday, she also trained her guns on “keyboard warriors”, calling them out for their alleged holier-than-thou attitude and abusive words.

“But behind Allah’s permission for this to become viral, Allah actually wants to test us who are so good in becoming keyboard warriors to abuse, to speak ill; as if you are all so good since you were born until now,” she said.

She also pointed out that the three Muslim girls could end up being far better than their critics by learning from this incident, also saying that the girls and their families and friends were already suffering shame from this controversy.

She said love should be shown to the three girls instead, and sounded exasperated when noting how Muslims and Malays have been squabbling online over this incident.

The controversy erupted after a video of the meet-the-fans session here for K-pop band B1A4 on Saturday was uploaded online, prompting thousands of angry Facebook users to share and comment on a three-minute viral video of the artists hugging and embracing the tudung-clad Malay girls on stage.

The clip, which was posted on the Sukan Star TV Facebook page, was suggestively titled “Perempuan melayu dicabul atas pentas oleh mat kpop semalam” (Malay girls molested on stage by K-Pop artists last night).

But B1A4’s management firm WM Entertainment has since then denied claims that its artistes “molested” the three Malay girls, saying that they were mindful of local Muslim sensitivities and said the consent of the three had been obtained.

The mini-concert’s organisers TGM Events have also denied the molest claim, pointing out that the event company was run mostly by women and were against “molestation or sexual harassment.”

The organiser also said the fans were told beforehand not to “touch” or “get too close” to the B1A4 members, adding that the selected fans had given their full consent to appear on stage.

On Monday, JAWI said it is investigating the girls for public indecency and outraging Muslims, and would probe the matter under Section 29 of Shariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997.

Section 29 of the Act allows for a fine of up to RM1,000 and imprisonment of no more than six months upon conviction.

Yesterday, Utusan Malaysia reported that JAWI said it will apply for an arrest warrant if the Malay girls refuse to turn themselves in for investigation within a week, but the department’s official told Malay Mail Online that they may be spared prosecution and sent for rehabilitation instead if they are underage.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

January 16, 2015
Charlie Hebdo’s Muslim Tragedy

There is a self-inflicted tragedy in the Muslim response to Charlie Hebdo.

In the discussions of Charlie Hebdo and the events surrounding it, one divide between the west and Islam was clear.

While the cultural west (those who identify culturally and/ideologically with values that grew out of the West) cry out the attack on Charlie Hebdo as an affront to freedom of speech, Muslims reiterate the demand that the Prophet not be depicted in any form.

The issue is not about violence. It is not about response to the cartoon. Any attempt to refer to the issue as though it is about violence is akin to saying the Christian response to abortions is to bomb its clinics. That violence have occurred is a secondary event. It resulted from other concerns that have not been sufficiently explored.

What need to be investigated is the difference in values. It is this difference that determined our action and reaction.

While the west claim freedom of speech as an absolute right, Islam does not confer a similar position to speech.

Instead, in Islam, freedom is qualified to only what is good. We have the freedom to do what is good, not to participate in conduct that are evil or criminal.

The west however, has struggled in framing the discussion within a coherent discourse. It claims to grant absolute freedom to speech. But it admits that freedom to speech cannot impinge on another person’s rights or represent public menace.

The concept of “shouting fire in a crowded theatre” is traditionally seen as a limit to speech. To falsely shout fire in the theatre may cause a panic resulting in stampede, death and destruction. The person’s right to speech then, does not include his right to be a menace.

But that is not where the limits are now. While France and its cultural allies claim to believe unequivocally in freedom of speech, to deny the holocaust, performing the quenelle and other expressions deemed to be anti-Semitic lay outside of this freedom.

The limit to freedom is therefore not only in relation to public menace but also on who it applies to.

While Islam provides an objective and clear standard, the west’s limit is subjective. It demands some groups to be protected while denying others of that right.

But what is interesting in the discussion the last week is how Muslims are internalising western cultural values. Muslim leaders have come out in support and promotion of freedom of speech as though it is an absolute. And this support is subsequently promoted and universalised.

Tony Abbott’s response to Keysar Trad’s comments is a case in point. Trad, an Australian Muslim community leader claimed to reject Charlie Hebdo’s caricature of the Prophet but recognise their right to offend. This was promoted by the media and the Prime Minister with the added demand that Muslims who took umbrage should emulate Trad’s stance.

Western values are not theirs. It is ours.

The right to offend and insult is now a given. It does not merit further discussion. It is universalised and we are to adopt it as our values.

Islamic values do not exist independently anymore. It only exists if it is compatible with the west.

That is the self-inflicted tragedy of the Muslim response to Charlie Hebdo.

Source: www.almakhazin.com

January 16, 2015
Al Qaeda Claim Of Responsibility In Charlie Hebdo Attack Serves As Reminder Of Danger It Still Poses

WASHINGTON — The younger of the two brothers who killed 12 people in Paris last week most likely used his older brother’s passport in 2011 to travel to Yemen, where he received training and US$20,000 (S$26,600) from Al Qaeda’s affiliate there, presumably to finance attacks when he returned home to France.

American counterterrorism officials said on Wednesday that they now believed Cherif Kouachi was the aggressor in the attacks — not his elder brother Said Kouachi, as they had first thought — but that Said might also have travelled to Yemen, as the American and French authorities have said.

A fuller portrait of the brothers has emerged as an international effort is focused on determining who might have been behind the attack on the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, and what direct role, if any, that Al Qaeda, its affiliates or their bitter rival, the Islamic State, had in planning and ordering the assault.

In a video and written statement, the Al Qaeda branch in Yemen on Wednesday formally claimed responsibility for the deadly assault. It said the target had been chosen by the Al Qaeda leadership, but did not specify which leaders.

If the claim of direct responsibility holds up, it would make the attacks in France the deadliest planned and financed by Al Qaeda on Western soil since the transit bombings in London in 2005 that killed 52 people. It would also serve as a reminder of the continued danger from the group at a time when much of the attention of Europe and the United States has shifted to the Islamic State, the militant organisation that controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq and has become notorious for beheading hostages.

The new information about the Kouachi brothers could help explain what Cherif Kouachi had told a French television station before his death last week; that he had gone to Yemen in 2011, probably through Oman, and was financed by Anwar Awlaki, the American-born cleric who oversaw attacks against the West by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as AQAP.

The American authorities now believe Cherif most likely had contact with Awlaki in Yemen, possibly in person.

But it is still unclear what specific guidance the Al Qaeda branch gave the Kouachis about carrying out an attack, though it is believed that the satirical magazine was one of the targets discussed, an American counterterrorism official said.

“I suspect that Cherif Kouachi did engage AQAP members in Yemen, but that he was not fully brought into the organisation,” said Mr Brian Fishman, a counterterrorism researcher at the New America Foundation in Washington. “Perhaps concerned about infiltration by Western agents, AQAP might have offered minimal training, directed the group towards publicly-announced target lists and sent him on his way.”

Mr Fisher added that if that had happened, “AQAP did not exactly direct the attack, but it had some knowledge of the Kouachis and could plausibly try to claim credit”.

The statement by the Al Qaeda branch in Yemen called the Kouachi brothers, who were killed by the police last Friday, “two heroes of Islam”.

But it referred to the actions of Amedy Coulibaly, who attacked a police officer and was killed by the police after holding hostages in a kosher supermarket, as a coincidence and did not take responsibility for them.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the US said it had determined that the video clip claiming responsibility was genuine, but that it had not reached a conclusion on whether or not the claims being made in the video were valid.

“The big question that investigators need to look at is, how much of a role did AQAP play in the actual planning in the final stages of this process?” said Mr J M Berger, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. “They could have given these guys money and training three or four years ago, but when they executed it, it could have been done with money (from other sources).”

Source: www.todayonline.com

January 16, 2015