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Tag: Islamic State

  • Barack Obama Confirms Death Of American Hostage Held By IS

    Barack Obama Confirms Death Of American Hostage Held By IS

    WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – US  President Barack Obama on Tuesday confirmed the death of  Kayla Jean Mueller, an American aid worker who had been held hostage by ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) militants, saying the United States would “find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible”.

    Mueller’s family also said in a statement that they were “heartbroken” to learn of her death and released a copy of a letter she had written in 2014 while in captivity.

    The comments by Obama and the family come four days after ISIS said Mueller, a 26-year-old humanitarian worker from Arizona, was killed when Jordanian fighter jets bombed a building where she was being held, although Jordan expressed doubt about the Islamist militant group’s account of her death. Mueller was determined to have died after her ISIS captors privately contacted her family over the weekend, a White House spokeswoman said.

    “Over the weekend, the family received a private message from Kayla’s ISIL captors containing additional information,”National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said, using an acronym for Islamic State. “Once this information was authenticated by the intelligence community, they concluded that Kayla was deceased.”

    A family representative, who asked not to be identified by name, said the family received a private message from her captors over the weekend containing “additional information, which the intelligence community authenticated and deemed credible”.

    Neither Obama nor the family gave details of the circumstances of her death. US officials said that the family received an email and photo from ISIS that confirmed she was dead.

    US officials said they had no evidence to support Islamic State claims that she was killed in a Jordanian air strike, adding the details surrounding her death remained unclear.

    “It’s unclear from the intelligence picture how she died,”said one US official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

    Mueller was the last-known American hostage held by Islamic State, which controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq. She was taken hostage while leaving a hospital in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in August 2013.

    The group has beheaded three other Americans, two Britons and two Japanese hostages – most of them aid workers or journalists – in recent months.

    “No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

    “ISIL is a hateful and abhorrent terrorist group whose actions stand in stark contrast to the spirit of people like Kayla,” Obama added.

    Even after ISIS Friday announced her death on Friday, the family had expressed hope that she was still alive.

    On Tuesday, her parents and brother issued a statement saying, “Kayla was a compassionate and devoted humanitarian. She dedicated the whole of her young life to helping those in need of freedom, justice and peace.”

    The family also released a handwritten letter they said she wrote to them in the spring of 2014 while in captivity. In it, she states that she was “in a safe location, completely unharmed + healthy.”

    “I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free,” the letter states. “I am not breaking down + I will not give in no matter how long it takes,” the letter states.

    US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement, “The world is united in condemning ISIL’s continued murder and imprisonment of innocents.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Malaysia’s Fatwa Committe In The National Council For Islamic Affairs Declared Ideology Preached By IS Contradicts Islam

    Malaysia’s Fatwa Committe In The National Council For Islamic Affairs Declared Ideology Preached By IS Contradicts Islam

    PETALING JAYA: The Fatwa Committee of the National Council for Islamic Affairs has declared the ideology being preached by the Islamic State (IS) as contradicting Islam, saying that those who join the terrorist organisation are “fighting in vain”.

    The council said that the tendency of some Muslims to fight for IS in Syria stemmed from confusion and a lack of understanding on the concept of jihad and martyrdom.

    “The call of jihad held by IS  contradicts Islam and can lead to kufr (disbelief) because they permit the killing of fellow Muslims.

    “Therefore, the council stresses that the actions of Muslims in Malaysia who have or wish to join IS in the name of jihad are fighting in vain as their struggle is not classified as jihad nor are their deaths categorised as martyrdom under Islamic law,” the committee said in a statement on the e-Fatwa portal on Sunday.

    It advise Malaysians to seek awareness and not be easily influenced by the IS propaganda.

    “Most Sunni scholars worldwide have reminded Muslims not to be influenced by IS due to their violent tendencies and their practice of apostatising those who do not share their beliefs, as well as permitting the shedding of their blood.

    “They kill innocent people and drove the Christians and Yazidis from their land with so much brutality,” it added.

    The committee made the ruling after convening for its 106th conference in October, where it discussed the issue of Malaysian Muslims fighting for IS in the Middle East.

     

    Source: www.thestar.com.my

  • Former Islamic State Commandant Arrested In Kuala Lumpur

    Former Islamic State Commandant Arrested In Kuala Lumpur

    KUALA LUMPUR – A 45-year-old former commandant of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), on the most-wanted list in the Middle East, was detained by the Malaysian Police Counter Terrorism unit in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 31.

    The suspect, who had been part of the terrorist group operating in Syria from May 2012 to May 2014, was deported to his country of origin yesterday (Feb 6) after five days in detention for allegedly using a fake passport.

    Police, who seized a large amount of money from the suspect, have yet to release more details of the operation, saying keeping the identity of the suspect under wraps is vital until the entire operation is completed.

    The arrest was a result of cooperation between Malaysian police and other foreign countries that have vouched to tackle the terror group from widening its influence abroad.

    Intelligence sources said the man from the Middle East who arrived in mid-January was detained at a four-star hotel near Bukit Bintang.

    Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar in a statement today (Feb 7) confirmed the arrest, but did not link the terrorist to any group.

    It is understood that the suspect had travelled to several countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South-east Asia before slipping into Malaysia.

    “The Royal Malaysian Police takes a serious view of the activities of foreign terrorists attempting to use Malaysia as a transit, safe haven and base of operations.

    “The success in the suspect’s arrest is the result of close cooperation between the police and foreign enforcement agencies. This cooperation will continue to eradicate and manage the threat of terrorism, be it regionally or globally,” Mr Khalid said.

    About 59 Malaysians are officially known to have joined ISIS.

    More than 65 have been arrested by police either on their way to Syria and Iraq or on their way back since the start of last year.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Jordan Preacher Lashes Out Against Islamic State Militants Over Death Of Jordanian Pilot

    Jordan Preacher Lashes Out Against Islamic State Militants Over Death Of Jordanian Pilot

    AMMAN — A prominent jihadi preacher lashed out today (Feb 6) against Islamic State militants for burning to death a Jordanian pilot, saying this is “not acceptable in any religion”.

    Mr Abu Mohammed Maqdesi, considered a spiritual mentor for many al Qaeda militants, spoke a day after being released from more than three months in detention in Jordan.

    His release and harsh criticism of the Islamic State group come at a time when the Jordanian government is trying to win broad popular backing for intensified airstrikes against the militants in response to the killing of the pilot.

    Earlier this week, Islamic State militants released a video showing the pilot, Lt. Muath Kaseasbeh, being burned to death in a cage.

    In an interview with the Jordanian TV station Roya, Maqdesi said that such an act “is not acceptable by any religion and by anyone”.

    The cleric indicated that he had been involved in back-channel talks to arrange a possible prisoner swap to win the release of the pilot, who was captured after his plane crashed over Syria in December. Jordan offered last week to swap an al Qaeda prisoner for the pilot, but said after the release of the video that it became clear that the pilot had already been killed in early January.

    Maqdesi said he believed the militants were never serious about arranging a swap.

    “During my communication, they lied and they were evasive,” he said. “They acted like they were interested (in a swap), but in fact they were not interested.”

    He also criticised IS for declaring a caliphate last year in the areas under its control in Syria and Iraq. Maqdesi said a caliphate, or state run according to Islamic law, is meant to bring Muslims together, but that the militants have been a divisive force.

    A decade ago, Maqdesi was considered a mentor of the al Qaeda branch in Iraq, a precursor to the Islamic State group. However, the cleric fell out with his protégés over their methods, including attacks on fellow Muslims.

    Jordan arrested the cleric in October, after he criticised Jordan’s participation in a US-led military coalition against Islamic State. Jordan, which borders Syria and Iraq, joined the coalition in September.

    In the wake of the killing of the pilot, Jordan said it would intensify its attacks. Yesterday, dozens of fighter jets struck Islamic State weapons depots and training areas, the military said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • IS Women’s Brigade Manifesto Used As Recruitment Tool

    IS Women’s Brigade Manifesto Used As Recruitment Tool

    A semi-official manifesto by an all-female brigade from the Islamic State lays out a guide for women, including their main role (being a wife), chief focus (stay at home, study religion) and tips on marriage (beginning at age 9).

    The manifesto — possibly the first of its kind — was published on a jihadi forum in Arabic last month and is purported to be from the media wing of the al-Khanssaa Brigade, an all-female militia set up by the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

    The Quilliam Foundation, a British-based anti-terrorism think-tank that published the text in English, said it is a recruitment tool for Muslim women to join the militant group, which controls parts of Iraq and Syria. Quilliam calls the document a “heavily propagandized snapshot of living conditions for women in its territory.”

    The treatise describes an idyllic setting for women in the main Islamic State cities of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, offering a harsh comparison with life for women in Saudi Arabia. It says women in cities controlled by the Islamic State can move about in safety, are not forced to study or mingle with men and have access to education, primarily the study of Islam.

    It strives to underscore that women should not be relegated to an uneducated status; nonetheless, it stresses that the fundamental function for women is “in the house with her husband and children” and notes a distinction between studying and earning a living.

    “Pursuing these desired goals, above all else, is enlightened, cultured and developed,” the manifesto says. “We say, regarding each gender’s role, that to have a job is a task reserved only for men —- he has been given the body and brain, and he must tend to his women, wives, daughters and sisters, according to his circumstances.”

    It emphasizes that a woman’s place is in the home, to look after husband and children, although there are some exceptions: to study the sciences of religion, to serve as a doctor or teacher or to to engage in jihad “if the enemy is attacking her country and the men are not enough to protect it.”

    Otherwise, the manifesto stresses, it is “always preferable for a woman to remain hidden and veiled, to maintain society from behind this veil.”

    The manifesto offers what it calls an unofficial but “quick, simple proposal” for how women should live.

    From ages 7 to 9, they should study religion and Quranic Arabic, as well as subjects such as accounting and natural sciences. From 10 to 12, they would concentrate on more religious studies, focusing on the rules for marriage and divorce, as well as train in such skills as textiles, knitting and basic cooking.

    From 13 to 15, they would focus on sharia, or religious law, more manual skills, particularly regarding raising children, and on Islamic history, the life of the prophet Mohammed and his followers.

    “It is considered legitimate for a girl to be married at the age of 9,” it points out. “Most pure girls will be married by 16 or 17, while they are still young and active. Young men will not be more than 20 years old in those glorious generations.”

    Far from presenting this life as constraining, the manifesto portrays it as an idyllic condition seen in Mosul and Raqqa. After Islamic State militants took control of those areas, veils and hijabs returned, “and decency swept the country.”

    “Now, women are able to travel to their people in Raqqa without having to show their face to the eyes of even one inspector,” the manifesto says. “Respect for their bodies has returned and has been taken from the eyes of onlookers, with their corrupted hearts. Causes of their humiliation are prevented, revealing dresses were confiscated from shops, and scandalous photos were banned from walls and shelves. Muslims, with the permission of God, were cleansed.”

    By comparison, the manifesto says, women are trapped in a “sorry situation” in Saudi Arabia, where women “work alongside men in shops like banks, where they are not separated by even a thin sheet of paper.”

    In Saudi universities, the manifesto says, men and women “mingle in the hallways as if they were in an infidel country in Europe.”

    Haras Rafiq, managing director of the Quilliam Foundation, says the manifesto answers what kind of life “jihadist brides” will find if they join the Islamic State.

    The manifesto, he says, allows people “to get into the mind-set of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women who willingly join its (Islamic State’s) ranks.”

     

    Source: www.usatoday.com

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