LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 17/14

Bible Quotation For Today/Life Worthy of the Gospel
Philippians01/19-30: "Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you."

Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 16-17/14
Turkey’s lifeline to Syrian refugees is politically astute/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed /Asharq Al Awsat/November 16/14
Teenage Saudi Girl Won't Have to Marry 90-Year-Old/Phyllis Chesler/Breitbart/November 16/14

Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 16-17/14
UAE brands Muslim Brotherhood terrorists
ISIS claims it beheaded US hostage, Peter Kassig, 18 Syrian soldiers
New US-led strikes on Syria's Kobani: monitor
Gulf Arab leaders to meet in Riyadh
Producer of fake 'Syrian hero boy' video apologizes
Israeli premier promotes Jewish nation-state bill
Bahrain arrests 13 demanding anti-regime vote
US seeking to confirm new ISIS beheading
Nigerian army recaptures abducted girls' hometown
Bahrain Arrests Activists Demanding 'Anti-Regime' Vote
Obama Rules Out Alliance with Syria's Assad against IS
Prince Salman at G20: No global economic growth, stability without solving regional problems
GCC preparatory meeting to take place in Riyadh
Putin walks out on a tense G20 summit

Below Jihad Watch Posts For Saturday
Islamic State and al-Qaeda agree “to end fighting and join against their opponents”
The flag of Palestine, 1939
UAE designates Hamas-linked CAIR a terrorist organization
UK: Jihadist skips bail, flees to Islamic State
US discussing training Free Syrian Army members with Turkey
Pakistan: Religious minorities 4% of population, 50% of blasphemy cases
UK: Muslim buys trendy hotel, abruptly bans pork and alcohol
Islamic State says it’ll mint its own coins
Smuggler says he sends Islamic State jihadis to Europe via Turkey

ISIS will not find reservoir of recruits in Lebanon: expert
Elise Knutsen/The Daily Star/Nov. 17, 2014
BEIRUT: Although a number of Lebanese have joined the ranks of ISIS, the terrorist group will not find a deep reservoir of recruits in Lebanon, according to leading security expert Ali Soufan. Soufan, a Lebanese-American who was previously a special agent with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations, says Lebanon does not provide a “nurturing environment” for those seeking to wage violent jihad with groups like ISIS or Al-Qaeda.
The majority of the foreign fighters in Syria hail from predominantly Sunni countries with relative religious homogeneity, Soufan explained. Lebanon, however, is more of a confessional patchwork where an appreciable percent of the population supports dialogue and peaceful coexistence. “You don’t have these issues like in some other countries where the ‘other’ doesn’t have the right to exist or even breathe,” Soufan said in an exclusive phone conversation with The Daily Star. “That takfiri concept is not mainstream” in Lebanon.
According to a report published recently published by Soufan’s eponymous consultancy firm the Soufan Group, more than 50 percent of the foreign fighters who have joined ISIS hail from five countries: Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan and Turkey.
“I don’t think that Lebanon will ever be in the top five countries” contributing foreign fighters to ISIS, said Soufan, a Beirut native.
Straight talking and well versed in the minutiae of Middle Eastern politics, Soufan is a seasoned expert in regional terrorism.
While he was born and raised in Beirut, Soufan emigrated with his family to the United States during the Civil War.
He applied to the FBI as part of a bet with his college fraternity brothers, but was ultimately accepted to the agency. Soufan quickly distinguished himself, and proved to be a crucial asset as the U.S. sought to track Al-Qaeda’s shadowy network across the globe both before and after the Sept. 11 attacks.
If G.I. Joe, all biceps and bravado, was once the epitome of American valor, Soufan came to represent a shrewder, more worldly approach to national security.
In his book, “Black Banners,” (which was reviewed by both the FBI and the CIA prior to publishing) Soufan recounts reciting hadiths to Al-Qaeda prisoners and debating theology with terrorists.
Soufan was dubbed “an American hero” by his colleagues after tirelessly questioning Al-Qaeda suspects in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a 2006 profile in The New Yorker magazine.
Vehemently against the use of torture, Soufan sought instead to outwit his interrogation subjects.
“People ask what is the most important weapon we have against Al-Qaeda,” Soufan writes in his book, “and I reply ‘Knowledge.’”
Since leaving the FBI in 2005, Soufan has sought to share his knowledge with high-profile clients and the public at large.
The Soufan Group, stacked with former intelligence analysts and counterterrorism officials, has emerged as a leading authority on ISIS, and was among the first to publically discuss the flow of foreign fighters to the group last June.
“At the beginning, nobody wanted to deal with this issue, to even look at it, until ISIS took over Mosul,” Soufan explained.
Since ISIS’ rapid advance this summer, however, Soufan has the world’s attention. When discussing ISIS, the U.S. government, the United Nations and leading news publications have cited data gathered by the Soufan Group.
“I think we contributed significantly to raise the awareness of this phenomenon,” Soufan said.
Through he does not believe that Lebanese will join ISIS en masse, Soufan cautions against underestimating the militant group’s abilities and regional reach. “This is the wild card here: between Iraq and Syria, ISIS controls an area about five times the size of Lebanon,” he said. “They are very strategic in what they are doing. They’re not people just jumping on trucks saying ‘Hey, let’s do it.”
It remains unclear what role Lebanon will play in ISIS’ regional strategy. A report published by the Soufan Group claims that “in due course it may try to move into Jordan and Lebanon, where it already has supporters.”
Soufan has high hopes, however, that Lebanon’s problems can be solved in the political arena, rather than the battlefield. Though the deep division in the country between the rival March 8 and March 14 camps “might take on the ground level a sectarian tone on both sides, after all is said and done it’s a political matter,” he said.

Presidential vote on back burner until early next year
Antoine Ghattas Saab/The Daily Star/Nov. 17, 2014
Despite repeated calls by international powers on rival Lebanese factions to elect a new president soon, coupled with Speaker Nabih Berri’s internal moves to break the 5-month-old deadlock, political sources ruled out any breakthrough on a new president before early next year. Information cited by Western diplomatic sources, however, points to a breakthrough in the presidential crisis on the horizon.
A Western diplomat said the continued linkage of the Lebanese presidential issue to regional developments would definitely lead to losses by political parties that are obstructing the election of a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25.“If the Lebanese ship sinks, all its passengers will drown. Therefore, the Lebanese must search for all means and ways to rescue their country from sinking in the sea of rough regional events,” the diplomat said.
According to the diplomat, a long-awaited dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah would kick off sooner or later, but it would not be quick because its agenda has not yet been prepared.
Last week’s visit by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, the head of the parliamentary Future bloc, and Nader Hariri, chief of staff of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, to Berri signaled that the Future-Hezbollah dialogue would be launched soon.
Sources at Berri’s residence in Ain al-Tineh insisted that the speaker’s positive signals on the presidential deadlock were based on ongoing regional activity.
The U.S.-Iranian nuclear negotiations are making progress, albeit at a slow pace, and the continued talks, even without achieving results, confirm the positive atmosphere between the two sides, the sources said.
They added that there would be no backward movement considering U.S. President Barack Obama’s determination to achieve a victory, even a moral one, from the negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
For its part, Iran is hoping for the best from its talks with the Americans and Europeans, aspiring to reach an agreement that would eventually lift international economic sanctions on it, the sources said.
Also, at the regional level, the sources noted positive developments with regard to the nearly 4-year-old civil war in Syria.
The sources cited a proposal by U.N. peace envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura to freeze fighting in some Syrian areas and the entry of Russia and Egypt into the Syrian crisis in an attempt to bring the warring factions together at the negotiating table, a move that could be similar to Geneva-III peace conference.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said last week that he was ready to study se Mistura’s “action plan” that proposed to “freeze” fighting in local Syrian areas to allow for aid deliveries and to lay the groundwork for peace talks.
In addition to the Syrian crisis and the Iranian nuclear dispute, a breakthrough has begun to emerge in the situation in Yemen amid signs of a joint American-Saudi-Iranian will to restore political life to the war-ravaged country, the sources said.
However, despite all these positive signals, political sources said that behind Berri’s optimism about breaking the presidential deadlock was an attempt to cover up the recent extension of Parliament’s mandate for two years and seven months.
Moreover, the sources suggested that perhaps the speaker wanted to cover up the institutional disintegration that began with the vacancy in the presidency, and the government, which stands at the edge of the abyss after Prime Minister Tammam Salam declared that his Cabinet was working at half steam, in addition to paralysis in public departments.
According to the sources, nothing new has happened in the presidential issue, which will remain on the back burner at least until the beginning of next year, when the U.S.-led international coalition to fight ISIS has reviewed the outcome of its airstrikes against the militant group in Syria and Iraq.
This requires an agreement with Iran following statements by U.S. officials stressing the need to include Tehran in the war against terrorism provided that it improves its relations with regional states, the sources said.
Hopes are also pinned on the anticipated dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah to defuse sectarian tensions and speed up the election of a president.
Senior sources in the Future Movement told The Daily Star that any bilateral, tripartite or collective dialogue between the two sides should be held under the president’s sponsorship.
Given the conflicting attitudes between the Future Movement and Hezbollah following the latter’s military intervention in Syria and the continued dispute over the party’s arsenal, any dialogue must begin with an agreement among the various Lebanese parties on the presidential election because this matter alone can defuse political tensions in the street, the sources said.
The sources called for a productive dialogue with Hezbollah, recalling the “conflict management” that was reached with the party with the formation of Salam’s government.
“Our concerns are currently confined to hamburger, garbage collection and mobile phones, while the fate of the Taif agreement, the security of the border with Syria, the illegitimate arms and the presidential vacuum which threatens Lebanon’s National Pact are issues not being discussed because raising them would lead to the breakup of the government and the country,” the sources said.
They called for the swift election of a consensus president who would give priority to the implementation of U.N. resolutions on Lebanon and maintain the country’s relations with brotherly Arab and Western states.

Ground being laid for talks between Future, Hezbollah
Hussein Dakroub/Hasan Lakkis/The Daily Star/Nov. 17, 2014
BEIRUT: Preparations are underway to launch a dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah aimed at defusing sectarian tensions and setting the stage for the election of a new president, officials said Sunday.
However, Future MP Ammar Houri linked the launching of a dialogue with Hezbollah to the election of a president.
“Starting a dialogue with Hezbollah needs favorable circumstances, at the forefront of which is the election of a president as a step toward holding other constitutional [parliamentary] elections to restore dynamism to democratic life,” Houri told the Voice of Lebanon radio station. Speaker Nabih Berri disclosed that he and MP Walid Jumbatt were working to open channels of communication between Hezbollah and the Future Movement, whose strained ties have heightened sectarian tensions in the politically divided country.
Berri, according to visitors, maintained his optimism about ending the political deadlock that has left Lebanon with no president for nearly six months, citing “positive signals” both at home and abroad.
“There are positive internal and external signals concerning the presidential election,” Berri was quoted as saying by visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence.
Although he refused to give details of those signals, Berri was apparently referring to a possible resumption of a long-awaited dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah as well as an expected deal between Iran and Western powers over Tehran’s nuclear program. The speaker said he had met 10 days ago with former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, the head of the parliamentary Future bloc, and Nader Hariri, chief of staff of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, for this purpose.
“I am still working for this dialogue and I am not pessimistic,” Berri was quoted as saying. He added that the starting point to begin this dialogue had been secured with Hariri’s declared readiness for dialogue with the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s “positive response” to it.
“This dialogue will create a general positive atmosphere and will naturally push matters more on the path of the presidential election,” Berri said.
A thaw between the Future Movement and Hezbollah is deemed crucial for any solution to the deepening political crisis.
A Hezbollah delegation’s visit to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun last week was designed to reassure the party’s key Christian ally about the outcome of any dialogue with the Future Movement, especially after the FPM leader last week declared that his dialogue with Hariri had stopped.
The talks in Rabieh covered topics that could serve as the basis of a dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement with the aim of resolving outstanding internal issues, FPM parliamentary sources told The Daily Star.
According to the sources, the suspension of dialogue between Aoun and Hariri after the FPM leader’s declaration that Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal had vetoed his candidacy for the presidency would probably be replaced in the next few days by a dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah that could lead to an understanding over the presidential election.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said neither Aoun, the Hezbollah-backed candidate, nor Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, the March 14-supported nominee, would be elected president.
“The president who will be elected will be a consensus president acceptable to all the parties,” he said in a TV interview. “The presidential election is part of a regional consensus rather than a consensus among the Lebanese.”
Machnouk, a leading figure in the Future Movement, said the election of Aoun or Geagea as president would constitute “a political coup” by one side against another.
For his part, Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh said he did not share Berri’s optimism about the presidential election,
“I don’t see the atmosphere today is [conducive] to election of a president. There is nothing new in this [presidential] file,” Frangieh said in an interview with Al-Jadeed TV Sunday night.
He said he would prefer a vacuum to the election of a weak president. “A strong president is the one who possesses Christian legitimacy,” he added.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour praised both Nasrallah’s call for dialogue and Hariri’s pro-Army stance following last month’s clashes with Islamist militants in the northern city of Tripoli.
“We have started to witness some good signs in the positive and courageous statements that [former] Prime Minister Saad Hariri made ... in support of the Lebanese Army,” Abu Faour said in a meeting with teachers organized by the Progressive Socialist Party. “This made Hariri not only a guarantor of moderation, but also civil peace.” Abu Faour also commended Nasrallah for his speech earlier this month in which he called for talks with his political rivals. “There is positivity that we can build upon, not only concerning the presidential elections file ... but to also reach a national agreement or compromise,” he said.

Salam Says Cabinet Lacks Productivity due to Political Rift
Naharnet/16.11.14/Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed frustration on Sunday over his cabinet's lack of productivity, considering that the sharp political rift in the country has a direct impact on the government's work. “The cabinet is using half its capacities,” Salam told An Nahar newspaper, urging all sides to revitalize the government work so that it will once again be productive. Lebanon has been without a president, who is also the commander-in-chief, since May because of disagreements between the March 14 and 8 alliances. The cabinet assumes the executive tasks of the president as stated by the constitution until a new head of state is elected. Political arch-foes agreed on a mechanism regulating the government’s work during the ongoing presidential vacuum, which compels the premier to prepare the cabinet's agenda 72 hours ahead of its meeting, in which any controversial article would be canceled, and states that the inking of decrees should be done in harmony. Regarding his meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday, Salam described it as a routine visit, pointing out that Berri is exerting efforts to end the presidential deadlock. Salam also praised the security operation in the eastern Bekaa city of Baalbek, expressing hope that it would spare the country any potential dangers amid the developments in the region.
Clashes erupted at dawn on Saturday between the army and a number of gunmen in the Baalbek as the army cracked down on wanted suspects. The army and security forces had been carrying out in recent months raids in various regions throughout Lebanon in search of wanted fugitives and suspected terrorists.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Concerned over Technologies, Weapons Obtained by Hizbullah
Naharnet /16.11.14/U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced a technological innovation plan to ensure America's military superiority in the 21st century, expressing concern over technologies and arms obtained by Hizbullah. “Technologies and weapons that were once the exclusive province of advanced nations have become available to a broad range of militaries and non-state actors, from dangerously provocative North Korea to terrorist organizations like Hizbullah,” Hagel said at a national defense conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in Simi Valley, California. In a memo to Pentagon leaders in which be outlined the initiative, Hagel said the U.S. must not lose its commanding edge in military technology. "The plan will put resources behind innovations," Hagel noted. He did not indicate how much the Pentagon would spend on the initiative. The push will identify new approaches to warfare for the U.S. military that include miniaturization, big data, autonomous robotic systems and 3-D printing. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work was named to lead a group including other senior defense officials focused on the push. Hagel said he expects the working group to propose important changes to how the agency identifies and responds to military challenges.Agence France Presse

Obama Rules Out Alliance with Syria's Assad against IS
Naharnet /16.11.14/U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday rejected any alliance with Bashar Assad against the Islamic State group, arguing that the Syrian ruler was illegitimate and that any such pact would backfire. "Assad has ruthlessly murdered hundreds of thousands of his citizens. As a consequence, he has completely lost legitimacy with the majority of the country," Obama told reporters after a G20 summit in Brisbane. "For us to then make common cause with him against ISIL (Islamic State) would only turn more Sunnis in Syria in the direction of supporting ISIL and would weaken our coalition (against IS)," he said. U.S. reports this week said the president had ordered a wholesale review of his administration's Syria policy, with Assad still in power despite an armed uprising that is now in its fourth year.
The conflict has become many-sided as jihadists gain ground, notably the Islamic State group and the Al-Nusra Front, which is affiliated to al-Qaida. Obama has built an international coalition against IS as it rampages across both Syria and Iraq. The coalition in September launched its first air strikes against the militants, using Syrian air space, and Obama is deploying up to 1,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq. The president denied that he intended to recalibrate his Syria policy, insisting that it was reviewed all the time to see what was working and what was not. "Certainly no changes have taken place with respect to our attitude towards Assad," he said in Brisbane. "This is a fight against extremism of any stripe that are willing to behead innocent people or mow down political prisoners with a cruelty that we've very rarely seen in the modern age," he added. Obama said that communication with the Assad regime was limited to informing them that if the U.S. uses Syrian air space in anti-IS operations "they would be well advised not to take us on"."But beyond that, there's no expectation that we are going to in some ways enter an alliance with Assad," the president said. "He is not credible in that country."Agence France Presse

March 14 Says Any Dialogue Should be Preceded by Election of President
Naharnet/16.11.14/The March 14 alliance rejects to engage in any dialogue with Hizbullah ahead of the election of a new president, the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper reported on Sunday. Sources close to the coalition called on Hizbullah to take positive stances that would encourage all political sides to resume dialogue. The Baabda Palace has been vacant since the expiry of President Michel Suleiman's term in May. The rival MPs failed to elect a new head of state over their differences on a compromise candidate. The majority of the March 8 camp's lawmakers have boycotted the sessions over their claim that there should be consensus on a candidate first. But their boycott was a clear sign of their rejection of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea's candidacy. The newspaper also quoted sources close to Hizbullah as saying: "The party rejects to engage in any dialogue with al-Mustaqbal movement on the expense of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun." The sources noted that Hizbullah will continue to back Aoun as its only presidential candidate, unless the FPM leader decides to withdraw from the presidential race. The sources added that Hizbullah seeks to kick off dialogue with al-Mustaqbal movement due to the dangers threatening Lebanon and the region and to prevent any possible sedition locally. Earlier this month, Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the party is ready to engage in dialogue with al-Mustaqbal movement. “We might have very different viewpoints on the regional affairs and things might reach the extent of rivalry and animosity, but our morals oblige us to take the right and patriotic stance and to thank them and appreciate them despite our differences,” said Nasrallah, expressing willingness to engage in “dialogue” with al-Mustaqbal.

Nusra Front Rejects Lebanese Proposals on Swap Deal as More Families Meet Captive Servicemen
Naharnet /16.11.14/The emir of the al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front has refused to discuss the Lebanese cabinet's response regarding the demands of the group to release the abducted soldiers and policemen. According to the Kuwaiti al-Qabas newspaper the so-called emir informed the Qatari-appointed mediator, Syrian Ahmed al-Khatib, that the group rejects to tackle the Lebanese proposal. Al-Nusra and the IS groups have been holding several troops and policemen hostage since August 2, when they overran the northeastern border town of Arsal and engaged in bloody clashes with the army. The two groups have since executed three troops and threatened to murder more hostages if Lebanese authorities didn't fulfill their demands. The Nusra said that the three-month hostage crisis would end if 10 inmates held at Lebanese prisons would be freed for each hostage or seven Lebanese inmates and 30 female prisoners held in Syria would be released for each abducted soldier and policeman or if five Lebanese and 50 women inmates would be freed.
The group added that the swap with the prisoners held at Syrian prisons should take place in Turkey or Qatar, while the exchange with the Lebanese authorities should take place on the outskirts of Arsal. The cabinet had previously totally rejected any swap deal with the jihadists. Meanwhile, the families of the abducted servicemen continue to visit them as the family of captive soldiers Mohammed Youssef and Hussein Ammar had recently met with them separately in the outskirts of Arsal, a day after the family of soldier Khaled Hassan met with him. Media reports had said that the Islamist captors of the servicemen have agreed to allow their loved ones to visit them. According to the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Sunday, the Mother of Ammar, his brother and uncle and the wife of Youssef and his mother headed to Arsal on Saturday morning to meet with the two abducted soldiers. Gunmen reportedly transferred the two families to meet their beloved ones. Ammar informed his family during the 10-minute meeting that the jihadists are forcing them to dig tunnels, adding that the gunmen accused Hizbullah of impeding the negotiations. He added that strikes by Hizbullah, the Lebanese army and the Syrian army are forcing the jihadists to continuously change their whereabouts.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai travels the Vatican to meet Pope
The Daily Star/Nov. 16, 2014/BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai left to the Vatican Sunday, where he is set to meet with Pope Francis, according to sources at Beirut’s international airport. Rai’s 10-day visit to the Vatican will include meetings with the papal council. Rai will also visit Milan for the launch of two new Maronite churches. The patriarch is set to return to the Vatican afterwards, where he will attend a ceremony held in honor of Lebanon’s former president, Michel Sleiman, who will receive a papal medal.

Power returns to Lebanon after storm
The Daily Star/Nov. 16, 2014/BEIRUT: Electricite du Liban announced Sunday that power has returned to most areas of country after torrential rain and violent weather had knocked out power to Beirut and across other regions of Lebanon the day before. Hours of heavy rain Saturday evening flooded several vital roads, trapping motorists, leading to accidents, and causing significant material damage. The Lebanese Red Cross said Sunday at least five people were killed and 53 injured in 41 road accidents over the past 24 hours. Motorists travelling south from Beirut were faced by the closure of the vital airport road. The alternative road was from the area of Ouzai was also flooded a few hours later. Those who managed to cross the area into the main highway leading to the south were trapped inside the Khaldeh tunnel due to flooding. The hours of rain and lightning caused a blackout across the country, while phone and Internet services were severely disrupted. Electricite du Liban's spokesperson told The Daily Star that power returned to nearly all parts of the country by Sunday morning. The company later confirmed the news in a statement that said power was back at 3 a.m. EDL late-Saturday had said that many of its power plants were disconnected from the electricity network due to lightening strikes around 4:30 p.m. The state-run company blamed its nearly 2,000 striking contract workers of hindering efforts to repair the malfunctions. The rain also forced the closure of Cinema Abraj movie theater in Furn al-Shubbak after being turned into a massive swimming pool.
Heavy rains routinely wreak havoc on Lebanon's poor infrastructure, often paralyzing the electricity network and washing away roads. Flooding is a major problem as a result of the country's poorly maintained drainage systems.

March 14 wins Beirut Bar Association vote
The Daily Star/Nov. 16, 2014/BEIRUT: March 14 coalition candidates won three out of four vacant seats at the Beirut Bar Association's by-elections Sunday. Nada Talhouq, Charles Abi Saab and Jack Abu Abdullah from March 14, and Fadi Haddad from March 8 won seat as syndicate members. The board members enjoy three year terms. Information Minister Ramzi Joreige hailed the "democratic" process of the election, and praised the body for respecting legal deadlines and allowing the vote to take place without an extension

Misbah al-Ahdab announces anti-government protests over Tripoli treatment
Antoine Amrieh| The Daily Star/Nov. 16, 2014/BEIRUT: Former Lebanon lawmaker from Tripoli Misbah al-Ahdab announced Sunday he would be launching anti-government protests over politicians' "targeting" of the northern city. “We have decided, after referring to many of Tripoli’s leaders, to hold a series of mass movements against the government” over the "chaos" it has sowed, Ahdab said in a news conference held at his home. Ahdab’s announcement came after he slammed the government and ruling political parties, accusing them of intentionally sabotaging Tripoli and encouraging economic hardship. “During all your term in government you have only given Tripoli the rounds of violence, bloodshed, destruction and ruin,” he said addressing politicians without naming any specific person or party.
“You are following the Syrian regime’s path, arming the youth and using them according to your own calculations and interests.” Ahdab said the clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen were encouraged by politicians.
“You make your inciting speech, and you provoke sectarian tensions, and push your militants to fight each other in Tripoli,” he said. “Then you disown them and accuse them of being warlords and terrorists and you incarcerate them without trial.” Ahdab criticized the behavior of security forces and an “intelligence apparatus” that he said supports violence and protects criminals. The anti-government movements’ first demand will be to “change the security apparatus that has been using armed groups to bring tragedies to the city,” he added. Second will be the establishment of fair trials for all the men who were pushed into extremism by politicians, according to Ahdab. “They are not terrorists, they are victims.” Compensating for the losses that residents suffered during the clashes between the Army and jihadists last month was also on the list of the ex-Future MP, who stressed on the need to create jobs for the poor city’s youth as soon as possible. He called for “supporting the merchants of Tripoli by issuing a law that exempts them from the taxes accumulated during the years of violence” between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh. Ahdab said the movement will be called: “Army [troops] are our sons, but you are our problem,” to point fingers at those who ask the Army to use force against the people in order to hide their inaction on the socio-economic level.

USA Embassy Denies Reported American Objections on Tanks Deal between Lebanon, Russia
Naharnet/16.11.14/The United States Embassy in Lebanon denied on Sunday a report saying that Washington had filed an official complaint to the Lebanese government for attempting to strike a deal with Russia on supplying the army with used T-72 tanks. The embassy stressed in comments to Naharnet that “the report is false.” On Saturday, As Safir newspaper reported that the U.S. filed an official complaint to the Lebanese government, the army command in particular, for attempting to strike a deal with Russia on supplying the army with the tanks, questioning Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri's decision to “diversify” the number of countries from which to obtain weapons as part of the Saudi military grant to the army. In August, Hariri announced that Saudi Arabia has provided Lebanon's army with one billion dollars to strengthen security. The sources had told As Safir on Saturday that the U.S. presented the Lebanese powers with documented information that “Lebanese and Russian mediators are set to make commissions worth the sum of the entire deal,” noting that the U.S. is ready to provide the army with new tanks. The Saudi grant is worth a billion dollars, which will be directed to the army and other security agencies in Lebanon. Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, who is affiliated to Mustaqbal Movement, announced from Moscow on September 20 that the “Lebanese army will soon purchase new arms from Russia.”Earlier in November, Saudi Arabia and France inked in Riyadh a deal to provide the Lebanese army with $3 billion worth of French weapons.

Abu Faour praises 'positivity' of Hariri, Nasrallah
The Daily Star/Nov. 16, 2014 /BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s pro-Army stance in light of the northern clashes was courageous, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said Sunday, while praising Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah's call for dialogue. “We have started to witness some good signs in the positive and courageous statements that [former] Prime Minister Saad Hariri made ... in support of the Lebanese Army,” Abu Faour said in a meeting with teachers organized by the Progressive Socialist Party.
“This made Hariri not only a guarantor of moderation, but also civil peace.” Abu Faour also commended Nasrallah for his speech earlier this month in which he called for talks with his political rivals. “There is positivity that we can build upon, not only concerning the presidential elections file... but to also reach a national agreement or compromise,” the the health minister said. He said political parties in Lebanon need to admit that they cannot affect the region’s developments, and make a choice between importing the Syrian crisis to Lebanon, or protecting the borders. Abu Faour said the Lebanese political class should be given credit for preventing the country’s collapse and the eruption of another civil war. “We have been saved from many traps until this moment, and the biggest trap from which we were saved was the internal clash,” he said. “We would not have overcome these traps if not for the wisdom of political leaders.” He said no matter how fierce political divisions can be, all politicians are in agreement on the need to prevent strife.

Gulf Arab leaders to meet in Riyadh: Bahrain state media
William Maclean/Amena Bakr| Reuters/Nov. 16, 2014/RIYADH: Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will hold a summit in Saudi Arabia late on Sunday, Bahrain's state media reported, at a time when the six-member group of Arab monarchies is trying to end a damaging internal rift. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from fellow GCC member Qatar in March, accusing it of undermining their domestic security through its support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar each use their oil and gas revenues to influence events in other Middle Eastern countries and any resolution of their differences could sway the political environment in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The annual summit of the GCC was scheduled to be held next month in Qatar, which holds the revolving presidency of the group that also includes Kuwait and Oman. Qatar's Emir on Tuesday publicly invited his fellow GCC rulers to Doha for the summit, but diplomats have said some of them wanted to move it elsewhere in protest at what they see as his support for Islamists. "There will be a meeting this evening. I hope they will reach a compromise on this dispute, that will enable the annual meeting to go forward," a Gulf Arab official told Reuters.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have both listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation and regard political Islam as posing a challenge to their own systems of dynastic power. Kuwait has attempted to mediate between its fellow GCC members.
Qatar has given sanctuary to some Muslim Brotherhood members and extended citizenship to Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, a cleric with extensive ties to the group. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi also see the Doha-based Al Jazeera news channel as being a Muslim Brotherhood mouthpiece, which Qatar denies.

South Lebanon blast wounds shepherd, kills flock
Mohammed Zaatar/The Daily Star/Nov. 16, 2014 /SIDON, Lebanon: A hand grenade went off in the Arqoub area of south Lebanon Sunday, wounding a shepherd and killing several of his sheep, a security source told The Daily Star. Youssef Harbiyeh was wounded when a grenade went off near him in the town of Khreibeh in Arqoub as he tended to his flock. Harbiyeh was transferred to Tyre's Jabal Amel hospital as security forces beefed up security measures in and around the area. The investigators found two unexploded hang grenades near the blast site, the source added, saying security forces were searching for suspects. The blast was originally thought to be the result of a mine, cluster bomb or a spy device planted by Israel. Israel had recently exploded, through a surveillance drone, one of its spy devices in south Lebanon killing one Hezbollah member. In July 2012, Israel also detonated a spy device in the Arqoub area.

ISIS claims it beheaded US hostage, Peter Kassig, 18 Syrian soldiers
Agence France Presse/Nov. 16, 2014/BEIRUT: ISIS on Sunday claimed to have executed Peter Kassig, a U.S. aid worker kidnapped in Syria, as a warning to the United States. The same video showed the gruesome simultaneous beheadings of at least 18 men described as Syrian military personnel, the latest in a series of mass executions and other atrocities carried out by ISIS. "This is Peter Edward Kassig, a U.S. citizen of your country," said a black-militant wearing a balaclava, the same outfit worn by the man who beheaded two American journalists and two British aid workers in earlier videos. The man stood over a severed head bearing a resemblance to Kassig, a former American soldier. "Here, we are burying the first American crusader in Dabiq, eagerly waiting for the remainder of your armies to arrive," the militant said. Dabiq is the site of a major 16th century battle in what is now northern Syria that saw the Ottomans defeat the Mamluks and begin a major expansionist phase of an empire the ISIS group considers to have been the last caliphate.
In a highly choreographed sequence earlier in the video, jihadists marched at least 18 prisoners said to be Syrian officers and pilots by a wooden box of long military knives, each taking one as they passed, then forced them to kneel in a line and decapitated them.
ISIS spearheaded a militant offensive that overran much of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland since June after seizing major territory in neighbouring Syria, and carried out a series of atrocities in both countries. The group has killed hundreds of Iraqi and Syrian tribesmen who opposed it, attacked religious and ethnic minorities, sold women as slaves, executed scores of Iraqi security personnel and carried out beheadings on camera.

US seeking to confirm authenticity of new ISIS video
Julie Pace/Associated Press/Nov. 16, 2014/BRISBANE: The White House says the U.S. intelligence community is working to determine the authenticity of a video that purports to show that ISIS militants have beheaded American aid worker Peter Kassig.
National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says that if the video is authentic, the White House would be "appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American." She says the White House expresses its deepest condolences to Kassig's family and friends.
The video emerged just minutes after President Barack Obama departed Australia for the U.S. The president was in Australia for the Group of 20 economic summit. Kassig, 26, was captured last year while helping provide medical aid to Syrians. His friends say he converted to Islam in captivity and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman.

Israeli premier promotes Jewish nation-state bill
Associated Press/Nov. 16, 2014/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel's prime minister says he's pushing forward a bill that enshrines in law that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. At his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is a Jewish and democratic state. Since its democratic nature has been legislated, he says, so should its Jewish nature. He says "the balance between these two facets is necessary" when Palestinians and others refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The bill has yet to be formally drafted and Netanyahu says it faces "many changes and discussions." Still, it comes at a time of high tensions between Jews and Palestinians, who make up 20 percent of the population and could feel further marginalized by the new legislation. Opposition lawmakers say the bill will provoke anger

New US-led strikes on Syria's Kobani: monitor
Agence France Presse/Nov. 16, 2014/BEIRUT: The U.S.-led coalition against the ISIS carried out a series of airstrikes overnight in the embattled Syrian town of Kobani, a monitor and activists said Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported intensifying clashes between Kurdish fighters defending Kobani and ISIS jihadists in the south of the town, which lies on the Turkish border. Kurdish activist and Kobani resident Mustefa Ebdi reported at least seven international airstrikes overnight.
He said the explosions could be heard 20 kilometers from Kobani, and shook the cars of people with him on the border between Turkey and Syria. In southern Kobani, meanwhile, the Britain-based Observatory said fierce clashes underway for the past three days were continuing with reports of injuries on both sides. The group said Kurdish YPG forces and Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters were also shelling ISIS positions during the clashes. Ebdi also reported the clashes, saying the situation in Kobani "has progressed from defence to attack because of the air raids and the support the peshmerga and the (Arab rebel) Free Syrian Army are giving the YPG fighters." "The Kurdish fighters are advancing slowly because of the mines laid by ISIS. They are trying to retake territory," he said.
ISIS began advancing on Kobani two months ago, hoping to seize the small Kurdish town and cement their grip over a large stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border. But U.S.-led airstrikes, along with fierce fighting by YPG troops backed by around 150 Iraqi peshmerga, have so far prevented ISIS from overrunning the town completely. The Observatory said Sunday that the toll since fighting began had risen to 1,153, including 27 civilians, 398 Kurdish YPG fighters, 16 non-Kurdish rebels backing the YPG and 712 ISIS fighters

UAE brands Muslim Brotherhood terrorists
Dubai, AP—The United Arab Emirates designated the Muslim Brotherhood and dozens of other Islamist groups as terrorist organizations on Saturday, ratcheting up the pressure on the group by lumping it together with extremists such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group and the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. The federation’s Cabinet adopted the designations against the 83 groups, the official state news agency WAM said. They include Al-Islah, an Emirati group suspected of ties to the Brotherhood, whose members have faced prosecution in the seven-state federation, which includes the cosmopolitan business hub of Dubai and the capital of Abu Dhabi. The move follows a decision by Saudi Arabia in March to designate the Brotherhood a terrorist group along with Al-Qaeda and others. The UAE voiced support for the decision at the time, and accuses Islamist groups of trying to topple its Western-backed ruling system. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have taken a firm stance against the Brotherhood since its ascendance in Egypt in the wake of the Arab Spring, and the oil-rich Gulf neighbors are strong supporters of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. He was elected earlier this year after leading the military overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Egypt labeled the 86-year-old Brotherhood a terrorist organization in December. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and the kingdom of Bahrain earlier this year recalled their ambassadors from fellow Gulf state Qatar to protest what they see as its failure to stop meddling in other nation’s affairs and for backing groups that threaten regional stability. Analysts widely saw that as a swipe at Qatar’s perceived support for the Brotherhood and other Islamist groups. The UAE list includes ISIS, which it is helping to bomb as part of US-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. Among the other groups targeted are the Pakistani Taliban and the Yemeni Shi’ite Houthi movement. Also on the list are a number of Western Islamic organizations, including the Council on American–Islamic Relations, the United States’ largest Muslim civil liberties group.

Turkey’s lifeline to Syrian refugees is politically astute
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed /Asharq Al Awsat/Sunday, 16 Nov, 2014
The announcement made by Turkish Labor Minister Faruk Çelik to grant Syrian refugees in Turkey something more than just tents and blankets was a positive one. These refugees will now be registered as temporary residents and the government will help them obtain jobs in sectors that suffer from labor shortages. Not only is it a humane gesture for the 1.7 million Syrian refugees in the country, but also a progressive political stance that will help them remain opposed to the Syrian regime while at the same time benefiting the Turkish economy.
The Syrian regime’s policy is to force its citizens to flee. When President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces target populated areas, they are in fact bombing these areas to punish ordinary residents in the cities that have joined the rebellion. The Assad government also seeks to punish neighboring countries through their having to bear the burden of millions of refugees from Syria displaced by the regime. The Assad regime, its thugs and other terrorist groups, have destroyed cities and villages, terrifying people and forcing them to leave their own country. These hapless civilians have left their homes both out of fear and in search of food and treatment after their cities were systematically besieged and international aid was blocked.
In the largest humanitarian calamity in recent history—now well into its third year—over 3 million Syrians have crossed borders to seek refuge in neighboring countries including Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The Assad regime is hoping these countries, as well as a majority of resentful refugees, will be forced to reconcile with the regime and come back under its terms. This explains the regime’s strategy of rendering millions of people who lived in opposition areas homeless.
However, after three difficult years, this policy no longer remains viable. The regime has displaced more than one-third of its population, and it is unable to control semi-autonomous areas or provide the basic necessities needed for living a normal life in such a weak state. This shows that the regime will not be able to entice the refugees back even if they recognize its authority.
After punishing those living in the areas that revolted against it, the regime is now forcing the youth in more stable areas to join its Iranian-led militias and defend the territory left under the government’s authority.
The compulsory enlistment may harm the regime and cause internal divisions within the army itself. This is because most of those who are refusing to be conscripted are from among the regime’s supporters, which further reveals the dire state of Assad’s government.
A recent Washington Post report reinforces the notion that Assad’s camp has much to fear. The report documented a decrease in support for Assad among Alawites, who are seen as his last pillar of support.
Further evidence of the regime’s possible collapse is one US official’s claim that President Barack Obama—who can no longer be trusted on the Syrian issue—changed his mind and asked his aides to look for alternatives to Assad, believing that if he were to remain in power, fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria would be impossible. Whether or not Obama is being sincere or just wants to appease Arab governments, the fact remains that it will be impossible to defeat terrorism as long as Syria is not stable—or under Assad’s rule.
While we wait for a political or military solution, granting refugees the opportunity to live with temporary identities and providing them with jobs to make a living is a beautifully humane move that will give these oppressed people a glimpse of hope after years of suffering and torment.

Teenage Saudi Girl Won't Have to Marry 90-Year-Old
By Phyllis Chesler/Breitbart
November 14, 2014
http://www.meforum.org/4889/17-year-old-saudi-girl-wins-case-against-father
Originally published under the title "17-Year-Old Saudi Girl Wins Case Against Father After Being Tricked into Marriage with 90-Year-Old."
A Saudi teenager, told she would marry a handsome young man whom she had been allowed to meet, was shocked when she discovered that her father had tricked her and that her groom was a man in his nineties. She is 17-years old.
Amazingly, the girl bolted and called the police. Headlines, and a social media campaign, condemned her father, accusing him of "selling his daughter to an old man." A court just ruled the marriage "null and void."
This news is both depressing and inspiring. Depressing because fathers are still arranging inappropriate matches for their daughters and sentencing them to a lifetime of misery. Depressing because, according to Sharia law, in the case of a divorce, custody belongs to fathers, not mothers. This girl was living with her father whose authority is traditionally considered supreme. She was, or so it seems, a child of divorce.
But the news is very inspiring because the girl actually fled her father's choice (which is unheard of), other Saudis supported her on the internet, and a court upheld her right not to be duped in this way.
This case follows another similar case in which a fifteen-year old Saudi girl "locked herself in her bedroom on her wedding night after being forced to marry a 90-year-old Saudi man." Social media condemned this arranged marriage, calling it "child trafficking and prostitution." The elderly man said he paid 10,767 pounds for her—and later insisted that both the bride and her parents had set out to "swindle him."
One must understand that the "selling" of girls into marriage is not seen as barbaric. To the contrary, it is viewed as taking care of one's daughter, protecting her reputation, ensuring that an (under-valued, useless, potentially dangerous) daughter is fed, clothed, and housed and not at her father's expense. In poverty-stricken, illiterate countries and cultures, marriage is a woman's only dignified and viable alternative other than prostitution.
Further, if a family has land or other economic resources, they will want to keep it "in the family;" for that reason they marry daughters to first cousins. And, if a family is wealthy, they must marry their daughters into similarly wealthy families or lose all honor.
It is nothing short of a miracle that, in 2014, two Saudi teenaged girls fled the marriage arranged for them ... [and] neither girl has been killed by her father for having dishonored the family.
It must be noted that Mohammed himself married a six-year-old girl when he was in his fifties and consummated the marriage with Aisha when she was 9 years old. The Prophet's life is considered a role model for Muslims. According to the Center for the Study of Political Islam, the Koran specifically notes "91 times that the Prophet's words and actions are considered to be the divine pattern for humanity." Thus, a 44-year difference between a husband and wife is not necessarily considered as abnormal but might be viewed as "divine."
Although Mohammed viewed "dolls" or "images" as forbidden, he allowed Aisha to bring her dolls with her into the harem. This implies that he was so fond of her that he made this exception.
Mohammed himself had eleven wives and two sex slaves. In Islam today, men are allowed four wives—and any number of dalliances with prostituted women and sex slaves.
Muslim women are (dishonorably) killed if they are suspected of having sex with someone who is not their husband or not the man chosen for them by their fathers. No one is exempt. In 1977, a Saudi princess, Misha'al bint Fahd al-Saud, was executed because she chose her own husband and tried to flee the Kingdom with him. Her love match husband was also executed.
Given this kind of tribal and Sharia-based culture, it is nothing short of a miracle that, in 2014, two Saudi teenaged girls fled the marriage arranged for them by their fathers; were supported by others in the Kingdom; in one case, her decision was upheld by a Saudi Court. Apparently, neither girl has been killed by her father for having dishonored the family.
It is a time of small miracles. Recently, King Abdullah's Advisory Council proposed a bill that would allow women to drive cars--but only during the day and only if they refrain from wearing any makeup. Let's see if this bill passes.
*Phyllis Chesler, an emerita professor of psychology and women's studies and the author of fifteen books, is a Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum.

UAE designates Hamas-linked CAIR a terrorist organization
Robert Spencer/Jihadi Watch
Nov 15, 2014
ibrahim-hooper-mahdi-bray-nihad-awad-2009-12-10-10-10-18UPDATE: ABC News confirms this, noting in the very last paragraph of its story that the UAE has designated Hamas-linked CAIR a terrorist group. Probably they buried it out of embarrassment over the fact that the mainstream media has been going to Hamas-linked CAIR for years as if they were really what they claim to be, a civil rights organization. The fact that a government, any government, has branded it terrorist must be as embarrassing to the mainstream media as it is to Hamas-linked CAIR — that is, if either of them were capable of embarrassment.
This probably stems from Hamas-linked CAIR’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan doesn’t want to find himself overthrown by Islamic hardliners, and replaced by a Sharia government. In any case, it is very strange — so strange that I wonder if the Emirates News Agency’s website was hacked by a mischievous hacker who added Hamas-linked CAIR to this list (which would also explain why it is the only place on the list where the line spacing is broken).
If this is authentic, no doubt Hamas-linked CAIR’s Nihad Awad and Ibrahim “Honest Ibe” Hooper are furiously working the phones today, calling on all their contacts in the U.S. government and elsewhere to get this reversed. What fun it would be to be a fly on the wall in Honest Ibe’s sumptuously appointed office today.
Will the Obama administration’s Justice Department now denounce the UAE for “Islamophobia”?
“UAE Cabinet approves list of designated terrorist organisations, groups,” Emirates News Agency, November 15, 2014:
ABU DHABI, 15th November 2014 (WAM) — The UAE Cabinet has approved a list of designated terrorist organisations and groups in implementation of Federal Law No. 7 for 2014 on combating terrorist crimes, issued by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the Cabinet’s own resolution on the designation of terrorist organisations that provided for the publication of the lists in the media for the purposes of transparency and to raise awareness in society about these organisations.
The following is the list of organisations designated as terrorist that has been approved by the Cabinet: :: The UAE Muslim Brotherhood.
:: Al-Islah (or Da’wat Al-Islah).
:: Fatah al-Islam (Lebanon).
:: Associazione Musulmani Italiani (Association of Italian Muslims).
:: Khalaya Al-Jihad Al-Emirati (Emirati Jihadist Cells).
:: Osbat al-Ansar (the League of the Followers) in Lebanon.
:: The Finnish Islamic Association (Suomen Islam-seurakunta).
:: Alkarama organisation.
:: Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM or Tanzim al-Qa‘idah fi Bilad al-Maghrib al-Islami).
:: The Muslim Association of Sweden (Sveriges muslimska forbund, SMF) :: Hizb al-Ummah (The Ommah Party or Nation’s Party) in the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula :: Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL, Partisans of Islamic Law).
:: The Islamic Council Norway (Islamsk Rad Norge, IRN).
:: Al-Qaeda.
:: Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia (AST, Partisans of Sharia) in Tunisia.
:: Islamic Relief UK.
:: Dae’sh (ISIL).
:: Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (HSM) in Somalia ( Mujahideen Youth Movement) :: The Cordoba Foundation (TCF) in Britian.
:: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
:: Boko Haraam ( Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad) in Nigeria.
:: Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) of the Global Muslim Brotherhood.
:: Jama’at Ansar al-Shari’a (Partisans of Sharia) in Yemen.
:: Al-Mourabitoun (The Sentinels) group in Mali.
:: Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (Taliban Movement of Pakistan).
:: The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) organisation and groups.
:: Ansar al-Dine (Defenders of the faith) movement in Mali.
:: Abu Dhar al-Ghifari Battalion in Syria.
:: Jama’a Islamia in Egypt (AKA al-Gama’at al-Islamiyya, The Islamic Group, IG).
:: The Haqqani Network in Pakistan.
:: Al-Tawheed Brigade (Brigade of Unity, or Monotheism) in Syria.
:: Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (ABM, Supporters of the Holy House or Jerusalem) and now rebraneded as Wilayat Sinai (Province or state in the Sinai).
:: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Soldiers, or Army of the Pure, or of the Righteous).
:: Al-Tawhid wal-Eman battalion (Battaltion of Unity, or Monotheism, and Faith) in Syria.
:: Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) group.
:: The East Turkistan Islamic Movement in Pakistan (ETIM), AKA the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM).
:: Katibat al-Khadra in Syria (the Green Battaltion).
:: Majlis Shura al-Mujahedeen Fi Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis (the Mujahedeen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, or MSC).
:: Jaish-e-Mohammed (The Army of Muhammad).
:: Abu Bakr Al Siddiq Brigade in Syria.
:: The Houthi Movement in Yemen.
:: Jaish-e-Mohammed (The Army of Muhammad) in Pakistan and India.
:: Talha Ibn ‘Ubaid-Allah Compnay in Syria.
:: Hezbollah al-Hijaz in Saudi Arabia.
:: Al Mujahideen Al Honoud in Kashmor/ India (The Indian Mujahideen, IM).
:: Al Sarim Al Battar Brigade in Syria.
:: Hezbollah in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
:: Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus (Caucasus Emirate or Kavkaz and Chechen jidadists).
:: The Abdullah bin Mubarak Brigade in Syria.
:: Al-Qaeda in Iran.
:: The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).
:: Qawafil al-shuhada (Caravans of martyrs).
:: The Badr Organisation in Iraq.
:: Abu Sayyaf Organisation in the Philippines.
:: Abu Omar Brigade in Syria.
:: Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq in Iraq (The Leagues of the Righteous).
:: Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) :: Ahrar Shoummar Brigade in Syria (Brigade of the free men of the Shoummar Tribe).
:: Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq.
:: CANVAS organisation in Belgrade, Serbia.
:: The Sarya al-Jabal Brigade in Syria.
:: Liwa Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas ( rigade of Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas) in Syria.
:: The Muslim American Society (MAS).
:: Al Shahba’ Brigade in Syria.
:: Liwa al-Youm al-Maw’oud in Iraq (Brigade of Judgement Day).
:: International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) :: Al Ka’kaa’ Bigade in Syria.
:: Liwa Ammar bin Yasser (Ammar bin Yasser Brigade).
:: Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe.
:: Sufyan Al Thawri Brigade.
:: Ansar al-Islam Group in Iraq (Partisans of Islam).
:: Union of Islamic Organisations of France (L’Union des Organisations Islamiques de France, UOIF).
:: Ebad ar-Rahman Brigade (Brigade of Soldiers of Allah) in Syria.
:: Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) in Syria.
:: Muslim Association of Britain (MAB).
:: Omar Ibn al-Khattab Battalion in Syria.
:: Harakat Ahrar ash-Sham Al Islami (Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant).
:: Islamic Society of Germany (Islamische Gemeinschaft Deutschland).
:: Al-Shayma’ Battaltion in Syria.
:: Jaysh al-Islam in Palestine (The Army of Islam in Palestine) :: The Islamic Society in Denmark (Det Islamiske Trossamfund, DIT).
:: Katibat al-Haqq (Brigade of the Righteous).
: The Abdullah Azzam Brigades.
:: The League of Muslims in Belgium (La Ligue des Musulmans de Belgique, LMB)