The three men, who include Nasser Muthana and Reyaad Khan both 20 and from Cardiff, as well as Ruhul Amin from Aberdeen, are all on the list of people facing sanctions from the British treasury.
The list, which was published yesterday, includes the names of 25 individuals and 26 organisations and is part of the government’s plan to prevent British citizens from travelling to Syria and becoming involved in jihadist militant groups.
It is also aimed at preventing terrorist organisations from receiving funding from accounts in Britain.
The decision by the UK government comes a few days after a man claiming to be Nasser Muthana posted a picture of 15 homemade bombs above the words "So the UK is afraid I come back with the skills I've gained".
The picture, posted on the unverified social media account, was put up alongside another image of a weapon that was said to have been seized from an enemy Shia Muslim in Syria.
Aseel Muthana, 17, the brother of Nasser is also thought to be in Syria, after an interview with a man claiming to be Muthana in Syria was broadcast on BBC Wales’ Week in Week Out programme on Wednesday.
In the interview, he said that “Jihad is obligatory” and that he was willing to die as a martyr in Syria.
Aseel is not on the list of people to have had their assets frozen.
Ahmed Muthana, 57, the father of both Muthana brothers has been vocal in urging his sons to come back to Britain, even if this would result in arrest.
In the statement, he said he believed his sons were trapped and that they were being told to post videos online by “those with guns” and “hose that fed them.” SOURCE
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The one-hour video clip follows the same format as the "Answers to questions" footage uploaded in May and removed almost immediately as a violation of YouTube's policy on violence. Kebekov, in battle dress as usual, is seen seated against the background of the black jihadist banner and answers questions posed by an interlocutor off-camera.
On this occasion, the first question -- which Kebekov calls a "very good" one -- focuses on the admissibility of suicide bombings in general, and specifically in light of the danger they may kill innocent civilians. Kebekov argues that such acts should be kept to a minimum, but he does so on tactical, rather than theological grounds.
He acknowledges that such self-sacrifice constitutes the "supreme manifestation of faith," and that however eloquently you argue, it is impossible to dissuade someone who is determined to carry out such an act because that person already has the scent of paradise in his nostrils. And there are some potential targets among the "unbelievers" whom it is impossible to get close enough to kill by any other means. At the same time, he continues, every fighter is an asset, and "if there is another way to rid ourselves of the unbelievers, there is no need for us to give our lives."
Therefore, Kebekov reasons, in each individual case we should weigh the benefit against the potential damage. In that context, he stresses that only men should be permitted to commit such acts of self-sacrifice. He "categorically forbids" women to do so, even though "there are some sisters who want to do this and keep pestering us" for permission, and asks his commanders not to use women for this purpose. He explains that if even a few women perpetrate such acts, the Russian authorities will retaliate by targeting for humiliation thousands of others who are practicing Muslims.
Kebekov's clear reluctance to condone suicide bombings is difficult to reconcile with his warning in the video footage filmed in May that the insurgency is preparing to inflict "crushing blows" on the enemy, although he mentions in passing the hypothetical possibility of blowing up a Russian military base.
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News Corp Australia has confirmed the federal Department of Education’s compliance team is investigating claims that “more than 50 families”, mostly in the Somali and Sudanese communities, are swapping children, or just timesheets between families, and falsely reporting their kids are in approved family day care to claim federal government subsidies.
The scam is understood to have originated among communities in Melbourne and the operations are being investigated in all Australian states and territories.
The allegations, initially made in a submission to the Productivity Commission’s childcare inquiry, have now been referred on to the Department of Education for investigation with a spokesperson for the department confirming they have already begun taking action.
Assistant Minister for Education Sussan Ley said the Federal Government was committed to bolstering compliance measures.
“This government has certainly increased active compliance checks to catch anyone doing the wrong thing and deter others from even thinking about it,” she said.
Melbourne lawyer Tania Mykyta, who specialises in advising childcare providors, said she was aware of a growth in fraud in the sector.
Providers charging high hourly rates and requiring families to say their children are being care for between 7am and 7pm six days a week to claim the maximum benefit. And strange paperwork has seen children based in Perth apparently cared for in Melbourne.
“I just don’t know how these crooks are getting away with it,” Ms Mykyta said.
Government crackdowns are yet to stop the illegal activities, with educators and families moving onto other service providers if they are caught out.
The Productivity Commission received allegations that some members of small ethnic communities including the Sudanese and Somali communities, would “exchange or swap their children” with each other, and use back channels to get childcare certificates so they could register as childcare educators.
“This system has become open season of this parents,” the submission reads. “I have witness who fraudulently exploit public money.”
“Childcare Certificate III is available to buy without study a single word or sentence for some caregiver who doesn’t read or write or speak English. Parents just bought this Childcare Certificate III and exchange or swap their children each other,” the submission says.
Insider tip offs suggest educators are receiving as much as $22,000 and may not even be swapping children — swapping timesheets is enough to receive payment.
Abdullahi Farah, chairman of the Australian Somali Community Association and family daycare operator, said the Somali community were big users of family daycare but he was unaware of members of the Somali community involved in fraudulent activities.
“I have not seen any illegal activity,” he said.
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A security source told Al-Akhbar that a hand grenade was tossed at a cafe located in the Ibn Sina street of Tripoli’s Qibbeh neighborhood Thursday morning after the dawn prayer where some people were having breakfast.
Earlier, assailants also tossed a hand grenade near a popular bakery in the neighborhood of Tal, behind the popular ABC shopping center, the source added.
No injuries were reported in either attack, but there was some material damage.
The Internal Security Forces (ISF) had been tipped off about other cafes that the assailants were planning to target and hurried to warn the owners of potential attacks, the source said.
The attacks come one day after four people were injured in a similar grenade attack on an outdoor cafe in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood.
Tripoli is home to a large salafi community that has been issuing threats against cafes and restaurants that serve food during Ramadan fasting hours.
Tripoli’s mayor Nader al-Ghazzal distributed a memo asking “all cafes and restaurants to respect this holy month… by not publicly displaying food.” SOURCE
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Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered a senior regional party official to resign after pictures apparently showed him drinking alcohol, media reported Friday.
Mustafa Celebi, the head of the AKP in a district of the southwestern Mugla province, can be seen in photos posted on social media drinking alcohol with two colleagues, according to the website of the Hurriyet daily.
Drinking alcohol is legal in Turkey and beers, wines and spirits are easily available especially in Istanbul, Ankara and the coastal resorts.
However, the Islamic-rooted AKP takes a dim view of drinking.
Erdogan, who last week declared his candidacy for the presidential election on August 10, neither drinks nor smokes. All party officials are expected to do the same, as practicing Muslims.
Hurriyet said the AKP sent an official from the neighboring Izmir province, to investigate the claims, and the recommendation was made to AKP deputy leader Suleyman Soylu.
Soylu agreed that Celebi should resign and he is expected to quit early next week, it added.
The majority of Turks do not drink but a significant minority do and vehemently protect their right to drink alcohol.
Recent measures by the ruling party to increase taxes on alcohol and ban advertising for drinks caused uproar among secularists who fear an Islamic takeover of the country. SOURCE
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May 16 could have been another day of ‘routine’ beating but it changed tenor quickly as her husband Sahibzada tied her up to a chair and started pummelling her. “He then cut at my nose, chopped it off. It didn’t stop there; his mother joined him and kept beating me for two days,” Shahida told The Express Tribune inside the office of Khwando Jirga, Saidu Sharif. She was then kept a prisoner in her own home for weeks, beaten up as she had been for 11 years, shared Shahida.
11 years, 19 days
After cutting off her nose, Sahibzada handed her a gun, claimed the disfigured teenager. “He told me to kill my father and then pin the blame of my facial disfigurement on him,” said Shahida.
However, on her 19th day in captivity, Shahida managed to escape, but without her one-and-a-half-year-old son. She snuck out around midnight and ran to her parents’ house, which she reached early morning. After hearing her ordeal, her parents rushed her to Saidu Sharif Hospital from where she was referred to Hayatabad Medical Complex.
Shahida has undergone two surgeries at HMC in the short span of one and a half month. Her third surgery has been scheduled to take place after Ramazan.
No end in sight
“I had to borrow Rs150,000 – which I will be paying back to different people with interest – to pay for her treatment,” said Shahida’s father, Zaid. The amount has already been spent and Zaid has no money left for further medical expenses.
Shahida and her parents allege when they filed an FIR against the accused, the police started taking Sahibzada’s side instead of punishing him.
According to Shahida’s mother Bakth-e-Raja, the family has asked the chief justice of Pakistan and both federal and provincial governments for justice, for the accused to be punished for his brutal crime. They have also appealed to the government to give Shahida custody of her son as he is still at his father’s house.
When contacted, Kabal DSP Bakht Raaj said they have arrested the culprit and he will soon be presented in court for the crime he has committed.
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The Islamic community is growing in Wilmington and now looking for more space. They found an empty office building on Rankin Street, but rezoning is not the only obstacle they have run into.
"We're growing just like the larger community," said Musa Agil, chariman of the Islamic Center of Myrtle Grove. "They are growing, and they need to build new churches and synagogues everywhere, and we are, too."
Agil says that is why they want to turn a vacant office building at 16th and Rankin streets into a mosque. The building is nestled right in the middle of the historic district.
"We hear everything," a concerned neighbor said. "Just the thought of 4:30 in the morning hearing doors slamming."
The homeowner, who did not want to be identified, says early-morning prayers at the mosque are not the only thing she is worried about. In order to use this space the islamic learning center has to get a conditional district rezoning petition approved. This will change the use of the building from an "office" to a "religious institution."
"We are all just too worried about the loss of property value, and the amount of people it's going to bring into the neighborhood," the woman said. "This neighborhood isn't built for an extra thousand people."
Agil does not think the location of any kind of religious organization should be an issue.
"The American people are very understanding people, and they're very educated, intelligent people. They practice their religious right every day," he said. "I don't think they would want to stop somebody from practicing his or her right."
The planning commission will meet July 9 at 6 p.m. in the City Council chambers to consider rezoning the property. They want to hear from anyone who has any objections or concerns. SOURCE
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