A suicide bomb attack on a cafe in the Lebanese city of Tripoli killed at least seven people on Saturday, the latest violence to hit a region repeatedly buffeted by conflict linked to the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

The Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s official affiliate in the Syrian civil war, said it carried out the double suicide attack in the predominantly Alawite district of Jabal Mohsen “in revenge for the Sunnis in Syria and Lebanon”. The statement appeared on a Twitter feed operated by the group’s media arm.

Lebanon’s National News Agency gave the names of two suicide attackers it said were from Tripoli, an overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim city whose long-standing sectarian tensions have been exacerbated by the Syrian civil war.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the attack killed seven people. Other officials put the death toll at nine. Three dozen people were wounded.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said in a statement the attack was “a new attempt to spread the seeds of strife” in Tripoli and would not “weaken the determination of the state and its decision to confront terrorism and terrorists”.

The army said the attack was carried out by a lone suicide bomber, though its investigations were still under way. The National News Agency said the second bomber had blown himself up as people gathered in response to the first blast.

Lebanon’s security has been repeatedly jolted by the Syria crisis, which has also helped paralyse its government: the country has been without a head of state since May.

Tripoli, Lebanon’s second biggest city, has historically been a bastion for Sunni Islamist groups, making it a concern for Lebanese security agencies that have warned of plans by Islamic State and the Nusra Front to destabilise the country.

Militants linked to Islamic State and the Nusra Front mounted an attack on the Lebanese border town of Arsal last August. They are still holding around two dozen members of the security forces taken captive in that incursion.

CALLS FOR UNITY

The last major flare-up in Tripoli was in October, when at least 11 soldiers and 22 militants were killed in fighting between Sunni Islamists and the army.

The targeted cafe was on a street dividing Jabal Mohsen from the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh, which has often turned into a frontline for conflict between Sunni and Alawite communities over the years, particularly since Syria’s civil war erupted – pitting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, against an insurgency dominated by Sunni Islamists.

But its communal tensions were eased by a security plan brought into force last year.

Leaders from across Lebanon’s political divide called for unity. The powerful Shi’ite group Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside the government in Syria, responded to the attack by saying terrorist groups must be isolated.

It urged the people of Jabal Mohsen, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, not to “be dragged towards reactions that would achieve the criminals’ vile aims”.

Former prime minister Saad al-Hariri, an influential Lebanese Sunni politician backed by Saudi Arabia, said the attack aimed to fuel discord in Tripoli.

Source: Christian Today

The FBI and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing criminal charges against former CIA chief David Petraeus for improperly providing classified information to a female Army Reserve officer with whom he was having an affair, the New York Times reported on Friday. The newspaper cited officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Justice Department investigation focuses on whether Petraeus gave the woman, Paula Broadwell, access to his CIA email account and other highly classified information. The Times said officials have recommended felony charges.

The recommendations leave US Attorney General Eric Holder with a decision to make on whether to seek an indictment against Petraeus, who quit his CIA post in 2012 after the extramarital affair became publicly known. Petraeus also is one of the leading US military commanders in recent times, having served as commander of American forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Times reported that Petraeus has indicated to the Justice Department that he has no interest in a plea deal that would enable him to avoid a trial. Petraeus has said he did not provide classified information to Broadwell, who was writing his biography at the time of the affair.

A spokesman for Petraeus, Steve Boylan, said the retired general had no comment. A lawyer for Petraeus, Robert Barnett, declined comment.

US Senator John McCain of Arizona, a leading Republican voice on national security issues and an ally of Petraeus, in December sent a letter to Holder expressing concern about the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation.

“I cannot ignore the broader concerns raised by the fact that this investigation apparently remains unresolved nearly two years later and that the only information that has come to light is through leaks by unnamed sources within the US intelligence community with knowledge of the matter,” McCain said in the letter.

An FBI spokesman declined comment on the Times report. A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: Christian Today

The Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria is now offering 5-minute speed dating services to attract more disenfranchised Western women to the caliphate and to become jihadi brides.

The Daily Star reports that a British Islamic State militant named Abu Qa’qa al-Britani, who lives in the Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, has recently published, on the online social site Tumblr, a guide that is designed to help encourage radical women to travel to Syria by making the husband-finding process seem more simple.

The guide outlines that women who have a desire to travel to join the caliphate can contact militants who specialize in “marriage affairs” in order to be matched up with militant suitors. Meetings between the woman and her potential suitors can be arranged in the form of a speed dates.

“They have five minutes to speak to each other and are given the ability to see one another if they both desire to do so,” al-Britani’s post states. “Then they have the choice to marry or refuse one another and Allah knows best.”

If the paired couple refuse one another, the prospective-jihadi bride will continue looking for another jihadi to marry. Al-Britani’s post indicates that newlywed jihadi couples will be given a home to live in as well as cash.

A woman by the name of Umm Layth reminded prospective brides in her own post to bring makeup, things to read and clothes.

“For the married sisters or soon to be married, bring makeup and jewellery from the West because, trust me, there is absolutely nothing here,” Umm Layth wrote.

Umm Layth, who is originally from the north of Britain and is now living in Aleppo, according to Vocativ, is one of the number of foreign women now in the caliphate, who are tasked with using the Internet to recruit more women to join.

“We are created to be mothers and wives—as much as the western society has warped your views on this with a hidden feminist mentality,” Umm Layth wrote.

The women are also tasked with writing propaganda write-ups such as “10 Marriage Facts From the Islamic State,” which was written by an ISIS blogger named “Bird of Jannah,” which is the Islamic name for heaven.

Many male ISIS internet recruiters use online dating sites to attract disgruntled foreign women into meeting in Syria to get married and join the caliphate. The recruiters glorify ISIS’ goals and justify the violence and brutality by saying that they are just trying to implement the correct brand of Islam and that the violence is needed to do just that.

A 25-year-old former Islamic State patrol guard told CNN she was duped into joining the Islamic State by a recruiter who told her that the organization was trying to “properly implement Islam” and that there would be less violence when the war was over. She began to have doubts when she saw how fighters abused women and their own wives. She was also completely turned off by the beheadings and execution and knew she had to escape.

“I don’t want anyone else to be duped by [ISIS],” the woman speaking under the alias of “khadija” said. “Too many girls think they are the right Islam.”

Source: Christian Post

The radical London cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri was sentenced to life in a US prison on Friday for his conviction on terrorism-related charges, including his role in the 1998 kidnapping of Western tourists in Yemen that left four hostages dead.

US District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan imposed the sentence on the one-eyed, handless Abu Hamza, whom jurors found guilty last May of providing a satellite phone and advice to the kidnappers.

Abu Hamza was also convicted of sending two followers to Oregon to establish a militant training camp and of dispatching an associate to Afghanistan to aid al Qaeda and the Taliban.

“You have not expressed sympathy or remorse,” Forrest told Abu Hamza, adding that only a life sentence would ensure he could never again incite violence against innocent people.

Prior to being sentenced, Abu Hamza had told the judge: ‎”I still maintain my innocence.”

Abu Hamza, 56, had gained notoriety for his incendiary sermons at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, which US and UK authorities said helped inspire a generation of militants, including the would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Defence lawyers asked Forrest to order that Abu Hamza be housed in a medical facility, rather than a “supermax” prison where his disabilities might not be treated properly.

Forrest said she would let prison officials decide where Abu Hamza should be sent.

Abu Hamza, whose real name is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, testified in his defence at trial. He denied he sent anyone to Oregon or Afghanistan, and claimed he acted as an intermediary during the Yemen kidnapping in search of a peaceful resolution.

He also talked of how he had lost his hands during an accidental explosion in Pakistan while working as an engineer, contradicting reports that he had lost his limbs while fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

His fiery speeches were used against him at his trial, and also at his sentencing, where Forrest cited instances in which he justified killing non-Muslims and praised the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

“Abu Hamza’s blood-soaked journey from cleric to convict, from imam to inmate, is now complete,” Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

Before his 2012 extradition, Abu Hamza had spent eight years in prison in Britain for inciting violence.

Source: Christian Today