Report: ISIL Turkey office recruits militants

/in /by

German television station ARD revealed recently that office, run by ISIL-affiliated Turks, helps foreign militants cross the Turkish border to join the terrorist group’s militants in Iraq and Syria. The report said that militants have been paid up to 400 euros, to join the battles.

“There is a liaison office of the terrorist organization in Fatih [district]. Militants have been given money, up to 400 euros and provided help to cross the border,” the report said.

The German state TV station also said that there are more than 2,000 militants joining ISIL who come from Europe, adding that they enter Istanbul as a tourist and then cross borders into Iraq and Syria.

This is not the first time that media expose links between the Turkish government and Takfiri militants.

A member of the Republican People’s Party in Turkey revealed earlier at the Turkish parliament that the government has been treating ISIL leaders in Turkish hospitals.

Meanwhile, Turkish media reported that four Turkish officers have been arrested in the city of Falluja in Iraq, adding that the officers were engaged in training ISIL militants.

The crisis in Iraq escalated after the ISIL militants took control of the city of Mosul in a lightning attack on June 10, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit. Tikrit was later taken back by the Iraqi army forces.

The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people have been killed in the violence. ISIL terrorists have been behind many of the attacks across Syria over the past three years.

/149

Syrian Refugees Surpass 3 Million, U.N. Says + Photos

/in /by

The number of refugees from the Syrian civil war has risen above three million, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday, calling the crisis “the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era.”

More than a million people have fled in the last 12 months alone, the refugee agency said, counting only those who registered as refugees. The total number is believed to be significantly higher. Countries surrounding Syria that have borne the brunt of the exodus estimate that several hundred thousand more Syrians have escaped across their frontiers seeking safety.

Lebanon, with a population of less than five million, has taken in more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees, while Jordan has 608,000 and Turkey 815,000, according to the agency, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Tens of thousands more fled to Iraq over the past three years only to face new dangers from the onslaught of Islamic militants based in Syria.

“Almost half of all Syrians have now been forced to abandon their homes and flee for their lives,” the refugee agency said in a statement, noting that another six and a half million Syrians in the country had also been displaced in warfare between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and various rebel forces.

“The Syrian crisis has become the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, yet the world is failing to meet the needs of refugees and the countries hosting them,” António Guterres, the high commissioner for refugees, said in a statement marking the new milestone in the conflict.

His agency’s staff members said they believed the number of refugees would have passed the three-million mark even sooner had not the border with Iraq been closed and the authorities in Turkey and Jordan, fearful for their own nations’ security, taken measures to manage the flow of Syrians.

Moreover, there are “worrying signs,” the refugee agency said, that the already perilous journey to get out of the country through fast-shifting lines of conflict was becoming harder, with fugitives forced to pay off smugglers or guards at checkpoints.

Many of those arriving were first forced to flee from village to village in Syria, said Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the relief agency, pointing to the case of a Syrian woman who said she had moved 20 times before getting to Lebanon.

“These are people who are fleeing as an absolute last resort because they have nothing left; they are absolutely desperate,” Ms. Fleming added. “If they’re not affected by war, they’ve been affected by a collapsed health system or by months and months and months of being afraid.”

A growing number of arrivals came needing treatment for long-term ailments like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Others also reported soaring costs for even the most basic needs.

/149

Iraqi forces liberate ISIL-besiged Iraqi Shia town

/in /by

Iraq’s Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi announced that the operation to recapture Amerli began at dawn Sunday and the forces entered the town shortly after midday.

Speaking in a televised briefing, Moussawi said the forces suffered “some causalities” but did not immediately elaborate on a specific number.

He further noted that the fighting was “still ongoing to clear the surrounding villages.”

Breaking the siege of Amerli, he said, was a “major achievement and an important victory” for all involved: the Iraqi army, elite troops, Kurdish fighters and Shia volunteer militiamen.

Meanwhile, Turkmen lawmaker Fawzi Akram al-Tarzi said the Iraqi forces entered the town from two directions and were distributing aid to the residents.

Nearly 15,000 Shia Turkmens were stranded in the farming community, about 170 kilometers north of Baghdad.

However, the town’s Shia Turkmen community did not abandon their town in the face of ISIL’s terrorist rampage across northern Iraq. Instead they remained in the area and fortified their town with trenches and armed positions.

Residents succeeded in fending off the initial attack in June, but Amerli has been surrounded by the Takfiri terrorists since mid-July.

Many residents said the Iraqi military’s efforts to fly in food, water and other aid had not been enough, as they endured the oppressive August heat with virtually no electricity or running water.

Nihad al-Bayati, who had taken up arms with fellow residents to defend the town, said some army units had already entered while the Shia militiamen were stationed in the outskirts. He said residents had fired into the air to celebrate the arrival of the troops.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s state TV network stopped regular programing and began airing patriotic songs following the victory announcement, praising the country’s armed forces.

Moreover, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki congratulated the nation’s military forces and militiamen as well as the heroic resistance of the Amerli population in separate messages, according to Iraqi media outlets.

/149

Senior Hezbollah official warns of ISIL plot to invade Lebanon

/in /by

A senior Hezbollah official has warned that the threat of ISIL Takfiri terrorists to Lebanon cannot be underestimated, emphasizing that occupation of the country was part of the terror group’s expansionist scheme.

“The terrorist threat on Lebanon is actual, real and continuous,” deputy head of Hezbollah’s executive council Sheikh Nabil Kaouk said Sunday. “And whoever doubts or underestimates [this threat] is either ignorant or negligent, and he harms the top national interest of Lebanon.”

Speaking at a ceremony at southern village of Shaqra in honor of a Hezbollah martyr killed last Sunday, Kaouk said “whoever denies Hezbollah’s role in protecting” Lebanon is “oblivious to the truth.”

He then underscored that “ISIL’s decision has [clearly] been declared. Their portrayed slogan is to establish the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria, which includes Lebanon.”

According to Kaouk, the fundamentalist group that has claimed authority over large parts of Syria and Iraq also has Lebanon on its sights, but might have been more focused on Syria and Iraq for strategic objectives.

“It is just a matter of priorities,” he said.

He said that while the tripartite o the “Army, people and resistance” was the right equation to protect Lebanon, the Army should be politically empowered to act, “before being given the tools and equipment.”

Stressing that Lebanon needed a unified defense strategy, Kaouk argued that “hesitation, procrastination, underestimation and aggressive and instigating speech give a free service to the takfiri plot.”

Also during the event Hezbollah’s MP Nawwaf Al-Moussawi echoed Kaouk’s argument, stressing that Lebanon needed “agreements that should lead to establishing one united Lebanese front against the Takfiri threat that wishes to impose darkness on Lebanon and the region.”

“If there is an increasing global interest in forming an international-regional alliance to confront Takfiri groups,” he said, “those eager to [safeguard] Lebanon should be even more progressive by forming this front, through which Lebanon’s diversity could be protected.”

Moussawi further underlined that Lebanon was not able to accept Takfiri ideologies, because the country was built on diversity, “which requires the necessity to acknowledge the other.”

/129

Bahrain regime issues death and life sentences based on confessions under torture

/in /by

The Bahraini courts have upheld a number of vengeful sentences to activists and citizens with cases of political backgrounds, today. The Court of Appeals has upheld a death sentence against Mahir Abbas Alkhabbaz who is also to serve a 5 year sentence in prison. Six other citizens have been sentenced to life in prison, another defendant was handed a 6 year sentence and finally one was handed a 5 year sentence.

Activists and lawyers said Alkhabbaz, who was sentenced to death on 19th February 2014, was at work the time the incident he is accused of took place. However, the court disregarded this information although his managers testified to it. The court also ignored his allegations of torture.

Five others have been sentenced to 5 years in prison with what has come to be known as the Formula1 case as the two women appeared in the F1 event wearing T-shirts showing advocacy to human rights. Among the defendants are 2 females, Nafeesa Alasfour and Rayhanna Almusawi, who were subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Rayhanna had complained of being stripped of her clothes during detention, but the abusers have not been held accountable.

Al Wefaq National Islamic Society said such politically-motivated sentences issued by the regime reflect a vengeful doctrine. These sentences are issued in sham trials in disregard to the prisoners’ complaints of torture and coercion to extract confessions.

Al Wefaq said the regime’s harsh sentences and repression cannot end the people’s revolution for a democratic state where the people are the source of all powers.

/129

“Imam Reza (AS) in Sunni Muslims’ Words” Published in India

/in /by

An Urdu translation of a book titled “Imam Reza (AS) in Sunni Muslims’ Words” has been published by the Iranian Cultural Center in New Delhi, India.

The book was published on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Imam Reza (AS) and the 10-day Karamat Occasion.

The custodianship of Razavi holy shrine in Mashhad cooperated with the center in publishing  the book.

Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Mohsen Tabasi is the author of the book and Seyyed Sibt Heydar Zeydi has translated it into Urdu.

Using a descriptive-analytic approach, the book discusses various aspects of Imam Reza’s (AS) life as well as his character, sayings, Imamate, and pilgrimage as well as the virtues of the 8th infallible Imam in view of Sunni Muslims.

It has seven chapters and has made references to more than 200 Sunni books and Hadiths collections.

The Iranian Cultural Center had previously published a Hindi copy of the book which was received well by Ahl-ul-Bayt’s (AS) devotees in India.

/129

Swedish professor: Shia Studies to Be Part of Academic Curriculum in Sweden

/in /by

A course on Shia studies will be included in the curriculum of the Historical and Contemporary Studies Department at the Theology Faculty of Sodertorn University in Stockholm, Sweden.

The inclusion of the course was proposed by the Iranian Cultural Center in Sweden.

David Thurfjell, Swedish associate professor in religious studies and author of “Living Shi’ism”, will teach the course starting from the next semester.  

The course will be held in the form of a seminar in which the scholar will discuss historical, social and ideological aspects of the Shia culture.

The Iranian Cultural Center in Stockholm also plans to invite the professor to present a lecture on December 11 at the 8th seminar of the center titled the “New Face of Shi’ism in Sweden”.

Professor Thurfjell traveled to Iran twice last year and presented lectures in Tehran, the holy city of Qom, and Isfahan.

He has welcomed the idea to teach Shia studies as an academic course in his country.

/129

Ayatollah Ostadi: “The Islamic lifestyle of Qom and Mashhad should be models for other cities of Iran”

/in /by

Ayatollah Reza Ostadi, a member of the Council of the Islamic Seminaries, spoke at the Holy Shrine of Lady Fatimah al-Ma’sumah in the holy city of Qom in a ceremony marking the joyous birth anniversary of this noble lady. In his sermon, Ayatollah Ostadi discussed the dimensions of the personalities of Lady Ma’sumah (S) and Imam ‘Ali ar-Ridha (A) and the status of the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad.

Ayatollah Ostadi explained that Lady Ma’sumah is one of the greatest and most knowledgeable of the children of the Ahlul-Bayt (A) and that there a numerous narrations from the Infallible Imams (A) about her. She is described as the most virtuous of the children of Imam Musa al-Kadhim (A) after Imam ar-Ridha (A). He explained that many people, especially the great scholars of Shi’ah Islam, gave great importance to performing pilgrimage to the grave of Lady Ma’sumah. “Due to its proximity to the blessed grave of Lady Ma’sumah, the Islamic Seminary of Qom has received many blessings,” he stated.

His Eminence added: “We live in an Islamic country and the entire world is watching us closely and they expect more from us on the international level, thus we must pay special attention to the divine message of the Ahlul-Bayt (A) so that they will acknowledge that the entire Iranian nation has integrity.”

He emphasized that the holy cities of Mashhad and Qom have always been different from the other towns and cities of Iran: “The people of these two cities follow an Islamic lifestyle which should be a model for the rest of the country. The streets, recreational areas and other common places must be distinct from the rest of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The great teacher of Islamic ethics explained that the entire holy city of Qom is considered the shrine of the Ahlul-Bayt (A). For this reason, we must uphold its requirements. Qom should be a model of faith across the country. We are fortunate that there are religious and cultural differences between these two cities in comparison to other cities. However, we should not be satisfied until the entire country is a model of Islamic behaviour and morality.

/129

Houthi Shia leader slams Yemeni government

/in /by

A leader of Shia Houthi fighters in Yemen has criticized the Yemeni government for seeking to keep the status quo in the country that has plunged people into poverty.

On Sunday, Sheikh Sayyid Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said the Yemeni people have the right to stand up for their legitimate demands.

He further noted that Yemenis from all walks of life are against the government’s “unjust policies and will not keep silent”.

He slammed the situation in Yemen, saying that the failed government will fall.

Houthis have been holding demonstrations since August 20 when they strengthened their positions in the Yemeni capital Sana’a in an effort to press the government to resign.

The Shia movement and its supporters are demanding the resignation of the government and the reversal of recent increases in fuel prices. In response, the government has only offered a cabinet reshuffle and minor reforms.

Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi had earlier called for a dialogue in an attempt to ease the tensions and invited the Houthi representatives to join a “unity government.”

Houthis accuse the government of corruption and marginalizing the Shia community.

Yemen’s Shia Houthi movement draws its name from the tribe of its founding leader Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi.

The Houthi movement played a key role in the popular revolution that forced former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

Saleh, who ruled Yemen for 33 years, stepped down in February 2012 under a US-backed power transfer deal in return for immunity, after a year of mass street demonstrations demanding his ouster.

/129

Iran Parliament Speaker meets with senior Shia cleric Ayatollah Makarem

/in /by

“One of the most important regional problems under the current conditions is the presence of Takfiri currents, specially the ISIL in Iraq and Syria, but the US airstrikes against the ISIL is rather a political gesture by Washington,” Larijani said in a meeting with Senior Cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi in the Central city of Qom on Sunday.

He noted that the western countries previously thought that they could use the Takfiri groups in a tactical manner, but now they have found out that they were mistaken.

The Iranian parliament speaker reiterated that the presence of around 2,500 European nationals in ISIL ranks has become a source of concern for the European officials.

Earlier this week, Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami said Washington has supported the ISIL terrorist group, but has now been forced to confront it due to the terrorist group’s security threats to the US.

“Now you see that a self-created phenomenon; namely the ISIL, has turned into a cancerous tumor for the Americans,” General Salami said.

He noted that ISIL is now threatening the US national security, adding, “One day, they (the Americans) supported the ISIL (in its war) against Syria, and now, they are forced to confront the ISIL due to their erroneous strategy.”

The general said the US government turned its focus on Iraq after failing to realize its objectives in Syria by arming Takfiri militants.

In a letter Tuesday to US Secretary of State John Kerry, Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) characterized ISIL as the “best funded terrorist group” which has the “resources, weaponry, and operational safe havens to continue to threaten the stability of the region and US national security interests,” The Hill reported.

“ISIL’s criminal activities — robbery, extortion, and trafficking — have helped the organization become the best funded terrorist group in history,” the senators wrote in the letter.

“ISIL was using black markets, smuggling routes and third party groups to sell oil to finance their terrorist activities. ISIL could be earning up to $2 million a day through the illicit sale of oil from reserves captured in Iraq and Syria,” the senators said.

“This wealth has helped expand their operational capacity and incentivized both local and foreign fighters to join them,” they added.

Rubio and Casey asked the State Department to designate ISIL as a “Transnational Criminal Organization,” saying that designation would serve as a warning to countries and third parties who are buying oil from the terrorist group on the black market.

“We urge you to make the halting of these private financial flows a greater priority and to make clear to countries in the region that continued financial support of ISIL could lead to imposition of financial penalties on their citizens and financial institutions by the US Government,” they wrote.

/129