Category Archives: Jihadis

Arab Revolutions, Jihadis, Sectarian, Syria

Syrian Islamist Rebels: ‘Have 12 Hostage Nuns, Will Trade for Concubines or Prisoners……..

      

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“A Syrian Islamist rebel group wants to trade 12 kidnapped nuns for 1,000 women prisoners held by the government, a pan-Arab newspaper has reported. A spokesman for the “Free Qalamoun” group told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that the nuns were safe. He said they would not be freed until several demands were met. These include the release of 1,000 Syrian women held in regime prisons according to the spokesman. The reports have not yet been independently confirmed. An official at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus said the nuns were safe but would not comment on which group had taken them. Islamist fighters who captured the Christian village of Maaloula north of Damascus moved the nuns from the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Thecla.………….”

My initial thoughts were: If this is true, it will mean that the flow of foreign females for Jihad sex from Tunisia and other venues has dried up. The Salafis now have to resort to grabbing nuns (probably considered old and not very sensuous) and trading them for younger females. There have been reports of chicks from other places, Chechnya and Bosnia (and let’s not forget Ingushetia) going to Syria to entertain the cutthroats and indirectly help liberate Syria. As a result, they can also contribute to the future Islamic State of Syria by populating the place with many new little Wahhabis.
I still don’t understand why the Wahhabi folks on the Persian Gulf who supply money and weapons and some of the volunteers can’t also supply the women. They can always impose some of their Salafi values by insisting that there be no cross-tribal or even cross-national fraternization or conjugation (or that other kind of “ation”).
PS: Initially they responded by saying they had the nuns in ‘protective custody’. Now apparently the kidnappers-liberators have changed their minds: they are now asking to exchange the captive nuns with some of the female prisoners. Otherwise…….. what?

Cheers
mhg

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Al-Qaeda, Arabian Peninsula, Jihadis, Syria

Holy Road to Liberation: Syrian Rebels Enter Maaloula, Capture Nuns………

      

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“The Syrian terrorists abducted 12 nuns from Mar Takla monastery, which lies in the historic town of Maaloula in Damascus, and moved them to the nearby town of Yabroud. The Papal ambassador to Damascus Mario Zinara said that the 12 nuns were obliged by the terrorists to leave the monastery in order to follow them to the nearby town of Yabroud. “I think that the twelve nuns are in Yabroud.” There is a fierce battle in Maaloula, and it is hard to determine the exact information,” he added, “We are not familiar with the reasons that pushed the terrorists to force the nuns to leave the monastery.” SANA confirmed that the militants, who belong to al-Nusra Front, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, entered the Orthodox monastery of Mar Takla in the center of Maaloula……………”

Maaloula has been a point of contention between regime forces and Jihadist rebels for months now. The various groups and militias of Syria’s rebels are predictable, be they simple plain Salafis or die-hard Wahhabi Takfiris. Their second instinct after capturing a village or hamlet or neighborhood is to round up people of other faiths, those who are not Wahhabis, and take them captive as war hostages. Some might add to that last sentence “if they are lucky”, and that ‘luck’ is related to their ‘first’ instinct. Be they Alawis (Alawites), Shia’s, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, or Vegans. They would also no doubt love to grab some Jews, who are still the Wahhabis’ preferable hostages (more prized than the Shi’as as hostages, but more elusive). I know some who would dispute this last assertion.

So, two years ago the putative liberators of Syria captured a bunch of Lebanese Shi’a pilgrims, anointed them Hezbollah and Quds Force fighters, and held them captive. Some months ago they got more ambitious, they captured and took hostage a couple of priests and an archbishop (presumably all Christians since neither Muslims nor Wahhabis have archbishops nor priests as far as I know, and I should know). Then last summer they captured an Italian priest (Father Paolo Dall’Oglio) who was trying to ‘talk to them’. Reports a month later claimed he was killed by the liberators, they probably Daniel Pearled him (most Western media ignored the story).
Now the Jihadis have  a bunch of nuns from an ancient held captive. Let us see how closer that brings them to the liberation and capture of Damascus promised by the unelected GCC potentates, the Arab League, and a gaggle of traveling U.S. senators.
Cheers
mhg

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Jihadis, Syria, Wahhabi

Post-Mortem: Jihadist gets Beheaded by Mistake, Will he Go to Hell or Heaven?………

      

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“Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists in Syria have admitted beheading a fellow rebel by mistake after believing him to be an Iraqi Shiite fighting alongside regime forces, a watchdog said on Friday. A video posted on the Internet on Wednesday showed two members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holding up a bearded man’s head before a crowd in Aleppo in northern Syria. They said he was an Iraqi Shiite who had been fighting among the ranks of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces……………….”

They did not chop his head off because they mistook him for a “Shi’a fighting with Bashar’s forces”. They chopped his head off because they just thought he was a “Shi’a”, period. Identity is enough for these Wahhabi terrorists to behead someone.
I need to ask a Salafi Wahhabi shaikh if this man will go to heaven for being a Salafi or will he go to hell for being killed as a suspected Shi’a. A mere technicality that only a Salafi cleric-lawyer can resolve. As for my special Salafi source, she tells me it is a toss-up now, the Jihadi shaikhs are debating his post-mortem fate.

Cheers
mhg

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Al-Qaeda, Jihadis, Kuwait, Salafi, US Foreign Policy

Lost in the Desert: My Possible New Salafi Honorific…….

      

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“Sheikh Mohammed Haif al-Mteiri, a former member of Parliament who is not related to the former Kuwaiti soldier and leads a committee that funds mainline rebel groups, said private funding would not exist if countries like the United States had intervened to protect Syrian civilians……………..”

Cute and almost funny. They fund “mainline” rebels, which to them means al-Qaeda type Jihadis. This sectarian admirer of Jihad is using the favorite Wahhabi argument. He claims he and his Salafi ilk support al-Qaeda in Syria because the USA would not intervene. Except that they would also fund the Jihadis to fight the Americans in Syria, should the U.S. intervene. But deep inside, all Salafis are al-Qaeda although they sometimes cover it up, a form of deceptive Salafi taqiyya! But he has chutzpah (he will have to look it up if he reads this, or maybe have it read to him). He is one pissed Jihad supporter because the USA did not intervene in Syria! So, they want the Americans out of Muslim lands, but not when it serves their purposes. Not until after the Americans liberate Syria and hand it over to them, preferably also after they smack the Iranians.

These writers have hit pay dirt. They have encountered these true Wahhabi Salafi gems back in my hometown. He must have promoted himself to “shaikh” recently, while I wasn’t looking. I am almost seriously considering adding “shaikh” to my numerous titles and honorifics. I have noticed that Salafis often disappear for a few of weeks and return with two titles: Shaikh and Herr Doctor. That is what they call “lightening education”. Or maybe they get lost (I like the part about getting lost) in the desert and after about 40 days something unusual happens, an Epiphany…………


Cheers
mhg

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Al-Qaeda, GCC, Jihadis, Kuwait, Syria

From the Gulf with Wahhabi Love: Money to Al-Qaeda……

      

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“The money flows in via bank transfer or is delivered in bags or pockets bulging with cash. Working from his sparely furnished sitting room here, Ghanim al-Mteiri gathers the funds and transports them to Syria for the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Mteiri — one of dozens of Kuwaitis who openly raise money to arm the opposition — has helped turn this tiny, oil-rich Persian Gulf state into a virtual Western Union outlet for Syria’s rebels, with the bulk of the funds he collects going to a Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda. One Kuwait-based effort raised money to equip 12,000 rebel fighters for $2,500 each. Another campaign, run by a Saudi sheikh based in Syria and close to Al Qaeda, is called “Wage Jihad With Your Money.”………………..”

I posted on this last June. Here is an excerpt from that posting, The Economics of Jihad in Syria:
 
“Local Kuwait media report that the tribal Islamist opposition has called for a mobilization for war in Syria (they called it for Jihad in Syria). A bunch of former opposition tribal Islamist MP’s held a sort of tribal charity ball but stag, a large gathering of men to start a campaign to raise money to equip and arm 12 thousand ghazis (ghazi is Arabic for invader, raider, meaning here Jihadi) for Syria. They have called for every family (that listens to them) to equip and arm one Mujahid to go to Syria to fight. One of them suggested that 700 Dinars (about US $2400) would prepare and send a Jihadis to battle in Syria. (No idea if this amount covers one or multiple multiple wives). That of course does not cover the current cost of operations: food, bullets, shelter, bribes, booze, etc. All that minus current revenues: whatever can be looted as war booty or obtained as ransom for hostages the FSA and Jihadist militias like to take (they are avid hostage-takers and are still holding two Christian bishops and two other priests hostage, in addition to many Alawis and Shi’as)……..”
 
I must amend that last quote from my older posting. It is not “the opposition” that is supporting and collecting money for Al-Qaeda. It is the Islamist tribal branch of the opposition, what is effectively the Wahhabi branch, which in recent years has dominated the opposition, including a couple of the hairy worthies mentioned in the New York Times piece. There are outspoken “secularists” among the opposition who seek more freedom. But the Wahhabi branch of the opposition has been more outspoken and they rely on their tribal bases to get elected (cross-tribe voting is almost unheard of, it is even rarer than cross-sect voting). Liberals and secularists are divided and politically weaker since they are city folks and have no reliable tribal votes.
But then they are in retreat all across the Arab world, even in the few places where there are no tribes.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Jihadis

Wages of European Jihad in Syria, Literally…….

      

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“Armed men from the Balkan Peninsula earn $600 per month to join Al-Nusra Front in Syria and are fighting against the Syrian army.
According to a report by Al-Alam on Tuesday, dozens of terrorists from Balkan have been killed in Syria, away from home. Moaz Sabik, one of the terrorists was killed near Aleppo, but his family were told about his death in their house in a small village near Bosnian border.
All his family knows about his death is that he was a member of a group which fought the Syrian army.
The monthly payment of the gunmen in Syria, some paid with the financial supports of human rights agencies and organizations, equals 600 dollars.
Ilias Sabik, Moaz’s brother said in an interview with Bosnian media that his brother left Sarajevo for Istanbul last March and two young men from Zenica and Kakanj accompanied him. According to local reports, Moaz was one of the 52 people who were deployed to Syria.
Reports suggest that volunteers from Bosnia gathered in Antioch and illegally crossed Bab al-Hawa to enter Syria.
Over 300 people from Balkan Peninsula, with Bosnian, Serbian, Albanian and Macedonian nationalities, are estimated to be fighting in Syria.
These volunteers gather once gain this time in Sarmada town inside Syria so that they can be trained to join the militia, the Free Syrian Army; however most of them join the Taliban-linked terrorist group, Al-Nusra front.
Extremist Salafis in Bosnia support aid-providing organizations in the Arab world, particularly Saudi Arabia, where Wahabbis and Salafis hold strong ties………………”

This is a claim by an Iranian news agency, quoting another Iranian media. Still, not bad, $600 per month for giving it a try to die for the cause and go to Paradise. It is true that if he dies too soon, he will not enjoy spending the $600 on WTF Salafi Jihadis spend money on, perhaps a wife, or another wife. Still, if he is martyred by a bullet between the eyes or by a bomb exploding under the toilet, who cares. He still has the next option of what to do in Paradise, assuming he will end up there. Of course he’ll end up there, otherwise what is the point of fighting? Anyway, it is a nice thought, until you consider that he might end down there where no angle has gone before (except allegedly for one).
Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Jihadis, Syria

Jesuit Priest Paolo Dall’Oglio Murdered by Syrian Rebels?……….

      

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“A Jesuit missionary who was abducted in northeastern Syria in July has been killed, according to one of the country’s most prominent rebel activists. Lama al-Atassi, secretary general for the Syrian National Front, wrote on her Facebook page that Italian priest Paolo Dall’Oglio, 59, has been executed. “It’s with deep sorrow that I inform you that I was told by a reliable source that father Paolo has been executed. May God have mercy of his soul,” she wrote. The Italian foreign ministry said it has no intelligence to confirm the claim………..”

This is just one source, but she is apparently considered a “reliable” pro-rebel source. Apparently there are still “reliable” Syrian sources on Syria, on both sides.
Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Economics, Finance, Jihadis, Kuwait, Syria

The Economics of Jihad in Syria: Kuwaiti Opposition Estimates……..

      

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There is a theory, a plausible one that the Syrian uprising of 2011 started as a non-sectarian non-violent call for reform. Until the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf got hold of it and inundated Syria with money, the ideology of hate, and Salafi Jihadis. I wrote two days ago of Kuwaiti politics and the dominance of tribal Islamists of the political opposition movement.
Local Kuwait media report that the tribal Islamist opposition has called for a mobilization for war in Syria (they called it for Jihad in Syria). A bunch of former opposition tribal Islamist MP’s held a sort of tribal charity ball but stag, a large gathering of men to start a campaign to raise money to equip and arm 12 thousand ghazis (ghazi is Arabic for invader, raider, meaning here Jihadi) for Syria. They have called for every family (that listens to them) to equip and arm one Mujahid to go to Syria to fight. One of them suggested that 700 Dinars (about US $2400) would prepare and send a Jihadis to battle in Syria. (No idea if this amount covers one or multiple multiple wives). That of course does not cover the current cost of operations: food, bullets, shelter, bribes, booze, etc. All that minus current revenues: whatever can be looted as war booty or obtained as ransom for hostages the FSA and Jihadist militias like to take (they are avid hostage-takers and are still holding two Christian bishops and two other priests hostage, in addition to many Alawis and Shi’as).

Some of the well-heeled tribal Islamists at the gathering contributed new non-Islamist cars. One gave a new heathen-made Chevrolet Suburban, another donated a new infidel-made Mercedes-Benz. One former member of parliament got a family to pay for the arming and equipping 28 ghazis (raiders or Jihadis) for Syria. Another former member deposited funds to cover three Jihadis.
None of these worthies volunteered either themselves or their sons or any members of their families or tribes for the “struggle”. They can get other Wahhabi youth to do the bloody deed, and if that fails, they figure they can get the infidel heathen Westerners to do it. There is always senators McCain and Graham (Joe Lieberman has hung up his Syrian Jihadist helmet).

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Jihadis, Syria

Jihadists Flooding Syria: Go to Al Sham, Young Salafi…………

      

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“Foreign Islamist extremists are streaming into Syria, apparently in response to the Shiite militant group Hezbollah’s more visible backing of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a development that analysts say is likely to lead to a major power struggle between foreign jihadists and Syrian rebels should the Assad regime collapse. Researchers who monitor the conflict said this week that they’ve detected the influx of foreigners in firsthand observations on the battlefield, spotting them in rebel videos posted on the Internet, observing a recent spike in reported deaths of foreign fighters and studying their postings on social media sites. And while many foreign fighters have been absorbed into established Syrian rebel groups, there are signs now that an increasing number are remaining in free-standing units that operate independently and are willing to clash with other rebels and Syrian communities to implement their own rigid vision of Islamist governance……….. Elizabeth O’Bagy, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War who just returned from a two-week research trip to study rebels inside Syria, said that “without a doubt” she saw far more foreign fighters than on her previous trip two months ago, including foreigner-only fighting groups……………….”

It is a distortion to claim that foreign extremists are streaming into Syria as a response to Hezbollah’s new role. Actually foreign Jihadists have been streaming into Syria long before Hezbollah sent a single fighter into the country. Just before the legitimate Syrian uprising was twisted into a military confrontation by foreign Wahhabi extremists and by foreign money from the Persian Gulf Salafis and potentates. The Syrian regime’s inflexible violent initial response to the protests made matters worse. When I first saw who was the most eager to support the Syrian “opposition”, I suspected that it was a lost cause. I would read calls on social media by Salafi extremists from the Gulf to “go to Syria”, to donate for “Syria”.  The sectarian nature of the opposition militias (Free Syrian Salafi Army FSA, al-Nusra, and all the other Als) was clear from the spring of 2011, easily pointed out by the kidnappings, gruesome AlQaeda- style executions, hostage-taking, defacing religious shrines, and evictions of people of other faiths (Alawis, Shi’as, Christians, etc).
Iraq has hundreds (possibly more) of these Wahhabi terrorists in prison, many of them Saudis and other Gulfies, but some from other Arab states. The Saudis have a whole committee following up the cases and the fate of their citizens on trial in Iraq, where they went to blow up civilians. The Syrians possibly have even more of these in prison, although many of them were likely executed for entering the country with the intent to commit terrorism during war. Sort of like the punishment that the British and Germans meted to each others’ spies and terrorists during the Second World War.
Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, GCC, Hezbollah, Jihadis, Syria

Controlling Syria: is the Regime as Strong as Never? Sharing a Jihadist Paradise with Bashar Al-Assad………

         

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“Head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council Sheikh Hashem Safieddine stressed that the Syrian government is as strong as ever, and said those waiting for the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad and its possible impact on Lebanon’s next parliamentary elections are mistaken. Sheikh Safieddine’s remarks came while certain foreign countries, including the US, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are trying hard to “overthrow the Syrian government” in order to influence Lebanon’s next parliamentary elections. He noted that Lebanon’s next parliamentary elections and formation of the new government in the country “will take place while Syria’s incumbent government will still be in power”, Al-Ahd news agency reported. Sheikh Safieddine said those thinking about the collapse of the Syrian government should know that pressures cannot force it to fall, alluding that President Assad’s government will survive beyond Lebanon’s upcoming parliamentary elections……………”


He said that “the Syrian government is as strong as ever”. An odd Iranian and Hezbollah assessment. This, or a position close to it, has also been repeated by some Iranian officials over the past months. Do these Hezbollah and Iranian officials know something the rest of the world doesn’t know? Something even CNN and Wolf Blitzer and the democratic shaikhs of Qatar don’t know? Or are they being delusional? Possibly putting the best face on a bad situation? So how can it be as strong as ever if it does not control a large swath of the country and if everyone outside Damascus agrees that there will be regime change ‘at some point’ in the future?
No doubt regime change is coming but the squabble may be over the “how and when and who” of it. That “how and when and who” determines the relative winners and losers in this game that goes beyond the borders of Syria. It is probably the details they are fighting over and it is true that “the devil is in the details”.

Who will control Syria: the toothless political exiles of the Syrian National Council, or is it a Coalition, (SNC) or the heavily-armed Jihadists and Al-Qaeda affiliates? Poor, poor Syrian people: their choices are all lousy. The SNC is basically a new-old bureaucracy waiting for the West and the GCC to hand it the keys to Damascus (like the Western Allies to for the Hashemites in 1918). It is the Jihadists who are doing most of the fighting inside the country, and they know the West does not want them anywhere near the seat of power (even as some Arabs do). But they don’t have to be in Damascus to exert control. Besides, many of them are foreign Arabs and not Syrians. No doubt the Jihadists are more motivated: if they live they win, if they die they expect rivers of wine and pretty Houris as reward.
Of course, my educated, well logical, guess is that they will most likely end up consoling each other in Jehannam (hell), possibly right next door to Bashar Al-Assad. Possibly sharing a hot suite with a few of the Arab potentates who support and finance them.
Cheers
mhg

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