Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2016 Part 17-100c-The Deep Battle against the West

C de Waart; CdW Intelligence to Rent [email protected] In Confidence

Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2016 Part 17-100c-The Deep Battle against the West

If we don't have a complete analysis of the phenomenon, how can we adopt an effective strategy, conduct monitoring and coordinate a multi-agency response?” rapid radicalisation process asks for

early warning mechanisms”

The recent terrorist attacks in several countries by individuals inspired by the so-called Islamic State (IS) highlight the enduring ideological threat of IS. Serious consolidated efforts are needed to meet the threat with counter-ideology messages to target audiences

“We are aware of the reports on arms transfers from Europe to the Middle East, which allege illicit diversion of weapons to Islamist groups such as Da'esh, Ansar al-Sham or Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and are looking into this issue.”

Speaking to Polish television, a former member of Poland’s counter-terror police and an academic expert on information warfare and terrorism have articulated their concern about the intellectual and spiritual collapse of European civilisation, remarking it is “at the end of its existence”.

A Growing Split Between Islamic, Secular Identities In Kosovo. 8 Aug PRISTINA -- The rain beats down as the muezzin's call for Friday prayers rings out from the main mosque in Pristina. Hundreds of men and young boys stream into the 15th-century Sultan Mehmet Fatih mosque in the Kosovar capital's old quarter. Outside the packed mosque, scores of worshippers spread plastic sheets across the garden and kneel in the rain. Others spill out onto the surrounding pavements because of a lack of space. The scene at the Ottoman-era mosque, the biggest in the city, is becoming the norm in Kosovo -- a traditionally secular state with a liberal Muslim population, where conservative Islam is taking root. "More people, especially the young generation, are coming to pray," says Hakif Sikirocha, the caretaker of the Sultan Mehmet Fatih mosque. The weary-looking 70-year-old, who is sporting an Islamic cap, has worked at the mosque for the past 14 years. "More and more" Kosovars are turning to Islam, he says. Kosovo, where 96 percent of its 2 million inhabitants are Muslim, is still a Western and largely pro-American country where bars are located on the same streets as mosques. Many of Pristina's streets pay tribute to former U.S. presidents, owing to NATO's 1999 bombing campaign in the former Yugoslavia that ended the Kosovo War and also Washington's support for Kosovo's

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independence. But there are growing signs that conservative Islam is taking a foothold in society. There were about 200 mosques after the war in 1999. Today, there are more than 800. A new mosque is built every month. Religious Resurgence In the streets of Pristina, more and more women walk covered in black, fully covered Islamic dressing. It is more common to see men with untrimmed beards and calf-length trousers, a hallmark of Muslim conservatives.Dozens of shops in Pristina have sprung up to cater for the devout. One of them -- Al Jilbab -- has faceless mannequins erected at the front of the shop. Inside, the bearded owner says he sells Korans as well as CDs and DVDs that teach you how to pray. In the back of the brightly lit shop, there are black, blue, and grey hijabs, conservative Islamic dress for women. At the opposite end, there are Islamic beads, prayer mats, and long, baggy pants for men. "There is an element of society and certain parts of Kosovo that are becoming more religious," says Naim Rashiti, an analyst at the Balkan Policy Research Group, a Pristina-based think-tank. "[People are becoming] more religious than we have ever been at least for the last 60 or 70 years. This is a new experience for us." As an autonomous province in post-World War II communist Yugoslavia, Kosovo was traditionally secular. For decades, Yugoslav authorities stamped out religious identities and ethnic affiliations. It was after the collapse of the former Yugoslavia that Kosovo's religious resurgence gathered steam."[There's been an] expansion of practicing more robust religion, women covering their heads, and the youth going to the mosque," says Rashiti. One of the main reasons conservative religious ideas have spread, he says, is Kosovo's weak institutions. He adds that Islamic charities have tried to fill the vacuum in communities neglected by the government. Identity Crisis It is only eight years since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. It remains a fragile, postwar country, which is still in limbo with regard to its identity.Many Kosovar Albanians are not emotionally attached to the blue-and-yellow Kosovo flag -- which is remarkably similar to the European Union flag. In Pristina, even in government buildings, the Albanian red flag with a black, double-headed eagle is widely used.Many here see themselves as Albanians -- and wish to be reunited with their ethnic brethren -- but also feel separate from Albanians in Albania.For many Kosovars, Islam has filled that identity gap and offered a clear sense of belonging. One of them is Gentiana Sadiku, who studied at a madrasah, or religious school, and then joined the Faculty of Islamic Studies, an independent institution that has the only religious studies course in Kosovo. "Islam has given me purpose and motivation," says 21-year-old Sadiku, who is covered in a white hijab and has henna painted on her hands. "I have found inner peace through Islam."Sadiku, a third-year student in Islamic studies, says the government is "unfriendly" toward devout Muslims like her. "The university is the only place where I can freely express my beliefs," she says. "Women cannot get a job if they wear a hijab," she claims, adding that devout Muslim women are looked down upon as "narrow-minded" and "uneducated." Sitting on a bench in the empty courtyard of the faculty, she says she currently cannot exercise her "rights" as a Muslim woman. Radical Influence The Islamic Community of Kosovo, an independent institution that oversees Islamic affairs in the country through an appointed mufti, or religious leader, has tried to keep tight control over Islamic activities. But the institution has been accused by critics of being lax about the registration of official mosques, and allowing unregistered religious schools and informal mosques to flourish throughout the country.Of particular concern for the Kosovar authorities has been what they perceive as the radicalizing influence of foreign donors. In late 2014, Kosovar officials closed 14 Middle Eastern-funded charities, which were suspected of having ties to Islamic extremist groups. In addition to Saudi-funded


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organizations, Turkish and Iranian charities have also been closed in the past two years. The growing religious conservatism in Kosovo is particularly visible in rural towns like Kacanik and Gjilan, where Gulf-funded Islamic charities have radicalized poor communities The charities have penetrated communities that have been neglected by the government and where unemployment is around 50 percent, making young men easy targets for indoctrination.Under a new law, Kosovo can jail citizens for up to 15 years if they participate in foreign wars. More than 300 people from Kosovo have gone to fight for extremist groups in the Middle East, making it the biggest contributor per capita in Europe. Kosovo authorities say around 50 homegrown jihadists have been killed in fighting in Syria and Iraq, and around 120 have returned to Kosovo. More than 100 people in Kosovo have been arrested or are under investigation for recruiting or fighting abroad on behalf of the Islamic State extremist group.In 2009, Kosovo's government banned religious garb in primary and high schools, prompting protests by devout Muslims. The government defended the decision, saying that it was in line with the country's secular constitution. Some Kosovars agree, saying that women covering their heads in public is against the country's secular traditions. "There is some radical influence because you can see people on the street with long beards, long pants, and girls totally covered from their heads to their toes," says Nora Bezera, a 28-year-old translator in Pristina. "Kosovo always had a majority-Muslim population, but in the last few years radical Islam has been increasing. As a young, Western-oriented woman, I am concerned about this influence.'Imaginary Equality' There is concern among many Kosovars that outwards signs of Islam represent a radical influence. "Because of recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Istanbul and the fact that a considerable number of the youth from Kosovo joined the war in Syria, people began to worry about this new phenomenon," says Majlinda Aliu, a journalist at Radio Television of Kosovo. "Moreover, the number of people who are becoming conservative is constantly rising and many other traditional believers are afraid that these people can easily become radicalized."Down the street from the Sultan Mehmet Fatih mosque is Baristas Coffee, a bustling cafe teeming with suited government workers, young bearded men, and headscarf-clad women from the neighborhood Hisen Krasniqi, a grinning young man with a blonde ponytail, owns the cafe. In between barking orders at his staff, he says his cafe does not serve alcohol, a recent policy change."We don't want to take sides," says Krasniqi, referring to the growing religious-secular split he sees in society. "Out of respect we only serve coffee," he says. The huge Cathedral Of Blessed Mother Teresa makes a dent in Pristina's skyline. One of the tallest buildings in the city, the church was built in 2010 for the estimated 4 percent of Kosovar Albanians who are Catholics. Many Kosovar Muslims do not oppose the church, but some such as Faruk, who only wants to gives his first name, bemoan that while a huge cathedral has been built for the country's tiny Catholic population, Muslim worshippers are forced to spill out from the city's mosques onto the streets. "The church is a political move; it's done to please America and Europe," says Faruk, adding that Pristina allowed the Roman Catholic Church to build the cathedral to illustrate its "European values" in the hope of joining the European Union and NATO.But the 27-year-old says there is only "imaginary equality" in Kosovo. He says Kosovo faces an "important choice" over whether to permit religious expression or stick with its secular values. "That will define our identity," he says.

No. 203/2016 dated 11 August 2016 IS Terrorism: How to Win the Ideological BattleBy Mohamed Bin Ali


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SynopsisThe recent terrorist attacks in several countries by individuals inspired by the so-called Islamic State (IS) highlight the enduring ideological threat of IS. Serious consolidated efforts are needed to meet the threat with counter-ideology messages to target audiences.CommentaryTHE SPATE of terrorist attacks across Asia claimed by the so-called Islamic State group during Ramadan have marred the spiritual victory enjoyed by Muslims during the holy fasting month. Spanning cities across the Muslim world like Istanbul, Baghdad, Dhaka, Jakarta and even Islam’s second holiest city, Medina in Saudi Arabia, the terror attacks appear coordinated. The deliberate attacks by terror groups like IS were probably motivated by their fallacious claim that Ramadan is a month of armed struggle for Muslims, which is another misuse of the notion of Jihad in the Islamic legal tradition. While efforts to step-up counter-IS ideology is necessary it is more critical to dispense accurate counter-extremist prescriptions that reach all of its target audiences.

IS Attacks in RamadanTerror attacks by Muslim extremist groups in the month of Ramadan are not new. Before IS, Al-Qaeda had a history of launching attacks in Iraq during Ramadan. However, the attacks in Ramadan 2016 are seen to be the worst to date in terms of their frequency, intensity and choice of location, especially those attacks that took place in three locations in Saudi Arabia where four suicide bombs exploded killing at least four people. One of the locations was in proximity to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.While Muslims devote the month of Ramadan to spiritual jihad, IS and other violent Islamist groups claim that Muslims must also perform the physical jihad or armed struggle in this holy month.

The attacks in Ramadan are based on their interpretation and emulation of the Battle of Badar, the first battle in Islam which occurred in the month of Ramadan. In that battle that took place in 624 CE, Muslims gained victory against their opponents, the then-pagan Quraish of Mecca.The attacks by IS in Medina, Dhaka and Baghdad occurred in the last ten days of Ramadan. According to Islamic traditions, the Night of Power or Lailatul Qadar will occur in the last ten nights of Ramadan when Muslims are encouraged to perform devotional acts such as extra night prayers and charity to seek blessing and forgiveness of God. IS believe that killing their enemies in the name of jihad - as understood by them - in the last ten days of Ramadan is one of the most preferred forms of devotional acts and a way to gain martyrdom.

IS IdeologyTo counter IS ideology and the misuse of religious concepts such as jihad and martyrdom it is important to understand their religious orientations. IS attempt to assert themselves as the representative of the authentic and original Islam as practised by the early Muslims. They advocate strict adherence to their understanding of Islamic practices as enjoined by Prophet Muhammad, the final prophet, and subsequently practised by the early pious Muslims known as the salaf al-salih.In their attempt to portray the authenticity of Islam in their propaganda, IS manipulate religious doctrines such as Jihad (struggle), Syahadah (martyrdom), Al-Wala’ wal Bara’ (Loyalty and Disavowal), Hijrah (migration) and many others to influence young Muslims to join their fold. They also inherited a legacy of takfiri (excommunication) from violent Islamists before them. As shown in the recent attacks, IS ideology is also based on a culture of hate and hostility towards both Muslims and non-Muslims. This means that while they preach hatred towards infidelity (kufr) and polytheism (syirik), they also harbour hostility towards Muslims who hold different opinions and disagree with them such as the Shias or those Muslims who promote innovations in religious matters (bid’ah).It is critical to appreciate that IS strength lies not only in their military capabilities but also their ideology and propaganda. This is paramount in any counter-terrorism efforts against them. IS rely heavily on jihadi literature that supports their stance to attack nominal Muslims. This propaganda and literature can be clearly seen in their online magazines such as Dabiq and more recently, their Malay language newspaper known as Al-Fatihin. Using this online magazine, IS reinforce their ideology and attempt to unite all jihadists from across the globe including Asia.

Three Target Groups in Counter-ideologyIS utilise Islam and Islamic concepts for both


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recruitment and justification purposes. This ideology and propaganda are seen as the most powerful tool for IS. Countering IS ideology has become a priority in the fight against IS. While this is important, it is more critical to ensure that counter-ideology messages effectively reach their targeted audiences.Generally, there are three target groups in counter-ideological efforts. The first comprises those IS-influenced individuals who have been apprehended by the authorities. These individuals need to be deradicalised and given religious counselling. The most important objective of the religious counselling is to correct any misinterpretations of Islamic concepts held by them. Consequently, this is hoped to bring about genuine feelings of remorse and repentance, hence removing the motivations for their involvement in extremist and terrorist-related activities.The second group is the community at large. The Muslim community needs to be informed on the dangers of IS ideology. In fact, the primary and more effective target of the ideological response is the Muslim majority by providing them with a correct understanding of Islam so that they will not be easily influenced by IS propaganda. One of the biggest challenges is to educate the masses and engage them in a battle of ideas against deviant religious ideologies. Of particular concern are the Muslim youths, who are more vulnerable victims to deviant understanding of Islam, as indicated by the recruitment of youths for IS suicide bombing squads.The third group is the IS members and supporters themselves. While the two former target audiences have received adequate attention, this third group has been largely neglected. However, they are the ones who may hold the key to swing the counter-terrorism tide. Several considerations come into play to engage this group. First, what can be done to develop a realisation among the terrorists and extremists who are still at large? What differing approaches could we adopt to make them agree their religious beliefs are warped and indeed unIslamic? What strategies could we offer to provide them with insight into the repercussions of their actions? What are the steps we could suggest for them to take towards true and lasting repentance from their ways? Targeting them in counter-ideological work is critical as they are the ones who will be able to influence their peers and subsequently bring change in their lives.The enduring threat of IS clearly highlights that the ideological battle is still far from won. Looking at the significant role that ideology plays in terrorist groups like IS, there is a need to move forward and search for a new and strategic approach to deal with their ideology and appeal.Mohamed Bin Ali is Assistant Professor with the Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. He is also a counsellor with the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG).

Revealed: the £1bn of weapons flowing from Europe to Middle East. From the mountains of the Balkans across huge, remote forest lands in eastern Europe, networks of gangs have access to millions of weapons that have been cached after years of conflict or are in general supply in areas bordering conflict zones such as Ukraine.

EU: We’re tracking Balkan arms flow to Syria Published: Friday, 05 August 2016 The European Union’s foreign policy unit is monitoring the flow of weapons to the Middle East and into the hands of Islamist groups in Syria, including the Islamic State of Iraq and


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Syria (ISIS), following an investigation by Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).

The M79-OSA anti-tank weapon, made in the former Yugoslavia, has found its way onto Syria's battlefields (Photo: Amon16, CC BY-SA 3.0)Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, told OCCRP partner BIRN that the External Action Service was “very active in this field”, adding: “We are looking at the report that you have published.” The service is already gathering data on illicit weapons found in Syria and Iraq, Kocijancic added.An investigation by OCCRP and BIRN published last week revealed that since 2012 exports of weapons and ammunition to the Middle East worth at least €1.2 billion (US$ 1.34 billion) have been approved by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia to four countries supporting Syria’s armed opposition. The bulk of the deals, totalling €829 million, were made with Saudi Arabia.The exporting countries granted the licences despite ample evidence that many weapons are being diverted to Syria, ending up with armed opposition as well as Islamist groups accused of widespread abuses. EU members and those looking to join the union are legally obliged to carry out eight different checks before agreeing to an arms export licence, including assessing the risk that a weapons could be diverted or end up in the hands of a terrorist.Kocijancic added: “We are aware of the reports on arms transfers from Europe to the Middle East, which allege illicit diversion of weapons to Islamist groups such as Da'esh, Ansar al-Sham or Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and are looking into this issue.” Da’esh is an Arabic acronym for ISIS that is considered pejorative by the group. She was unable to confirm whether prospective EU members from the Balkans were likely to be criticised for their Middle East exports in the yearly progress reports due out this autumn, but added: “The fight against organised crime – that includes drugs, arms and people smuggling, is looked at extremely carefully.” Arms trade and human rights experts said the diversion of these weapons and their use by groups suspected of committing war crimes meant the trade was likely illegal.The BIRN and OCCRP investigation, published alongside The Guardian, has made international headlines and sparked reactions from governments and senior officials.

Revealed: the £1bn of weapons flowing from Europe to Middle East. Eastern European countries have approved the discreet sale of more than €1bn of weapons in the past four years to Middle Eastern countries that are known to ship arms to Syria, an investigation has found. Thousands of assault rifles such as AK-47s, mortar shells, rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons and heavy machine guns are being routed through a new arms pipeline from the Balkans to the Arabian peninsula and countries bordering Syria.The suspicion is that much of the weaponry is being sent into Syria, fuelling the five-year civil war, according to a team of reporters from the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).Arms export data, UN reports, plane tracking, and weapons contracts examined during a year-long investigation reveal how the munitions were sent east from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Slovakia, Serbia and Romania.Since the escalation of the Syrian conflict in 2012, the eight countries have approved €1.2bn (£1bn) of weapons and ammunition exports to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey – key arms markets for Syria and Yemen.In the past, the region had virtually no track record of buying from central and eastern Europe. But purchases appear to be escalating, with some of the biggest deals approved in 2015.


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Arms export licences were granted despite fears from experts and within governments that the weapons could end up with the Syrian armed opposition, arguably in breach of national, EU and other international agreements.Eastern and central European weapons and ammunition, identified from videos and photos posted on social media, are now being used by western-backed Free Syrian Army units, but are also in the hands of fighters from Islamist groups such as Ansar al-Sham, the al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, Islamic State, factions fighting for the Syrian president, Bashar-al-Assad, and by Sunni forces in Yemen. Markings on some of the ammunition identifying the origin and date of manufacture reveal significant quantities have come off production lines as recently as 2015.Responding to the findings of the investigation, Patrick Wilcken, an arms control researcher at Amnesty International, and Bodil Valero, the European parliament’s rapporteur on arms, said at least some of the transfers probably breached EU, international and national laws on arms exports.“The evidence points towards systematic diversion of weapons to armed groups accused of committing serious Human Rights Violations,” said Wilcken. “If this is the case, the transfers are illegal under … international law and should cease immediately.”

Origins of the trade route The weapons pipeline opened in the winter of 2012, when dozens of cargo planes, loaded with Saudi-purchased Yugoslav-era weapons and ammunition, began leaving Zagreb bound for Jordan. Soon after, the first footage of Croatian weapons emerged from Syria.Croatia’s government has consistently denied any part in shipping weapons to Syria, but Robert Stephen Ford, the US ambassador to Syria between 2011 and 2014, said Zagreb had concluded a deal in 2012 that the Saudis bankrolled.This was just the beginning. Arms dealers in eastern Europe procured assets from their own countries and brokered the sale of ammunition from Ukraine and Belarus, even attempting to secure Soviet-made anti-tank systems bought from the UK. Since 2012, BIRN and OCCRP say, €806m worth of weapons and ammunition exports were approved by the eastern European countries to Saudi Arabia, citing national and EU arms export reports and government sources.Jordan secured €155m worth of export licences in this period, the investigators say, while the UAE


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acquired €135m and Turkey €87m, bringing the total for those four years to just under €1.2bn.In a confidential document obtained by BIRN and OCCRP from November 2013, a senior official at Serbia’s defence ministry revealed concerns that deliveries to Saudi Arabia would be diverted to Syria.Jeremy Binnie, the Middle East arms expert for the publication Jane’s Defence Weekly, said: “The militaries of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the UAE and Turkey use western infantry weapons and ammunition, rather than Soviet-designed counterparts. It consequently seems likely that large shipments of such materiel being acquired by – or sent to – those countries are destined for their allies in Syria, Yemen and Libya.”The weapons are delivered by air and by sea. By tracking the movement of aircraft and ships, BIRN and OCCRP were able to follow the flow of arms in real time.Detailed analysis of airport timetables, cargo carrier history, flight tracking data and air traffic control sources helped pinpoint almost 70 flights that very likely carried weapons to Middle Eastern conflicts in the past year.Cargo flights identified as likely carrying arms from the Balkans to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE Belgrade, Sofia and Bratislava emerged as the main hubs for the airlift. Serbia’s aviation authority confirmed that 49 of the flights were transporting weapons in a response to a freedom of information request.EU flight statistics provide further evidence of the scale of the operation. They reveal that planes from Bulgaria and Slovakia have delivered thousands of tonnes of unidentified cargo since the summer of 2014 to the same military bases in Saudi Arabia and the UAE pinpointed by BIRN and OCCRP. Arms bought by the Saudis, Turks, Jordanians and the UAE for Syria are routed through two secret command hubs – called military operation centres (MOCs) – in Jordan and Turkey, according to Ford.The weapons are then transported by road to the Syrian border or airdropped by military planes. The Saudis are also known to have airdropped materiel, including what appeared to be Serbia-made assault rifles, to their allies in Yemen. “Each of the countries involved in helping the armed opposition retained final decision-making authority about which groups in Syria received assistance,” Ford said.The Saudis and Turks are also known to have provided weapons directly to Islamist groups not supported by the US and who, in some cases, are fighting MOC-backed factions.Washington has also bought and delivered large quantities of military materiel from central and eastern Europe for the Syrian opposition in an attempt to counter the spread of Isis.Since December 2015, three cargo ships commissioned by the US military’s Special Operations Command (Socom), in charge of the covert supply of weapons to Syria, have left Black Sea ports in the Balkans for the Middle East, according to American procurement documents and ship tracking data.Some 4,700 tonnes of Warsaw Pact weaponry – including heavy machine guns, rocket launchers and anti-tank weapons, as well as bullets, mortars, grenades, rockets and other explosives – have been delivered from Bulgaria and Romania to military facilities in Jordan and Turkey, according to procurement documents and ship tracking data. The latest US-chartered ship left Bulgaria on 21 June carrying about 1,700 tonnes of the same materiel to an unidentified Red Sea port. SOCOM said in a statement the “munitions are to support Special Operations and its missions worldwide.“We will not confirm types of equipment which may be used for training and equipping partnered foreign forces in support of Special Operations missions.” Two weeks after a March 2016 delivery, Kurdish groups published on Twitter and Facebook a photo of a warehouse piled with ammunition boxes in northern Syria, claiming to have received a supply of US-brokered weapons.

Reading the fine print End-user certificates – official documents drawn up when receiving an export licence – issued by the Saudi defence ministry to a Serbian arms dealer, as well as a cache of


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contracts obtained by BIRN and OCCRP, revealed the scope of the buy-up for Syrian beneficiaries.It ranged from hundreds of ageing T-55 and T-72 tanks to millions of rounds of ammunition, multi-launch missile systems and rocket launchers, although it is not clear what was delivered. Weapons and ammunition listed include materiel from the former Yugoslavia, Belarus, Ukraine and Czech Republic, much of which is present in large quantities in Syria.An export licence issued to a Slovakian company in January 2015 granted it the right to transport thousands of rocket-propelled grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and almost a million bullets worth €32m. The materiel was, again, produced across eastern Europe.The Serbian prime minister, Aleksandar Vučić, said at a press conference in June that his country could increase production fivefold and still not meet the demand for arms. “Unfortunately in some parts of the world they are at war more than ever and everything you produce, on any side of the world you can sell it,” he said.Secrecy surrounding arms deals and a dearth of publicly available data means that the exact items being delivered to the Middle East are often unknown, but evidence collected, including UN and national arms export reports and weapons contracts, reveals that much of it is Cold War-era weaponry not in use by the militaries of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE or Turkey.BIRN and OCCRP’s analysis of social media shows Czechoslovak, Yugoslav, Serbian, Croatian and Bulgarian weapons being used in training and on the battlefields of Syria, Yemen and Libya.A Free Syrian Army commander from Aleppo, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his safety, told BIRN and OCCRP that weapons from central and eastern Europe were distributed from centrally controlled headquarters. “We don’t care about the country of the origin we just know it is from eastern Europe,” he said.He said groups fighting pro-Assad forces rather than Isis were struggling to access arms. “If you say that you are fighting Isis you will get whatever you want but if you say that you are fighting against the regime no one cares about you.”Arms trade experts have told BIRN and OCCRP that sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia and other countries supplying Syrian rebels are likely to be in breach of national and EU law, as well as the international Arms Trade Treaty. But no clear sanctions mechanism exists to punish countries that do not meet these legally binding agreements.Valero told BIRN and OCCRP that countries exporting weapons to Saudi Arabia from eastern Europe should feel ashamed.British-made cluster bombs are turning up in Yemen. Will Cameron tell us why?She said EU member states – such as Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia – are bound by the union’s common position on arms exports, while candidate countries also must align with the rules. This requires governments to carry out risk assessments on the likelihood of weapons being diverted to conflict zones and non-state actors.“Countries selling arms to Saudi Arabia or the Middle East region are not carrying out good risk assessments and as a result are in breach of EU and national law,” she said. “I think these countries could be taken to the European Court of Justice.” Darko Kihalic, the head of the Croatia’s arms licensing department at the Ministry of Economy, told BIRN and OCCRP that Zagreb follows the legally binding EU Common Position on arms exports and other international treaties.Kihalic dismissed media reports that showed Croatian weapons were ending up in war zones saying it did not constitute proof. But asked whether he was aware that Croatian weapons bought by Saudi Arabia were turning up in Syria, he said: “There is nothing more for us to check as the document says that their ministry of defence or police forces will use it [the weapon] and that they won’t resell it or export it.”Saudi Arabia is not a “blacklisted” country, he said. “Are there misuses? There probably are.”


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Valero and Wilcken, from Amnesty International, strongly opposed this view.“All these states do have clear, legally binding responsibilities to stop the transfer of arms where there is a risk that they will be used for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and to take mitigating measures to prevent diversion to unauthorised end users,” said Wilcken.In March, the Netherlands became the first EU country to stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia, citing mass execution and civilian deaths in Yemen.

Regards Cees***

Speaking to Polish television, a former member of Poland’s counter-terror police and an academic expert on information warfare and terrorism have articulated their concern about the intellectual and spiritual collapse of European civilisation, remarking it is “at the end of its existence”.Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBS) officer Jacek Wrona and military history academic Dr. Rafał Brzeski were guests on the Polish TVP Info programme discussing the Munich shooting in which nine were killed, and were forced to conclude it was a symptom of the end of European Civilisation. Information warfare expert Dr. Brzeski rejected the suggestion in German media that the Munich killer — an 18 year old Muslim — was mad, pointing out the killing had “an element of planning”, reports wPolityce.As for the treatment of the attack in the mainstream media, the academic said it was a case of the “ministry of propaganda at work… it is self-censorship. There is nothing worse than self-censorship in journalism”. Rejecting the reluctance of mainstream media to recognise the killings as a terrorism, he said: “this is definitely an act of terror… the execution of an act of terrorism. He was setting out to scare people, and that is an act of terror”.Pre-empting the emergency press conference held by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in which she said her government stood by its policies and decisions which helped create the migrant crisis, and recognising the frustration of the German people with this approach, the academic remarked: “The Germans have had enough of this, which does not mean the government has had enough. These are two different approaches”.Former specialist counter-terror police officer Mr. Wrona expressed his deep concerns for the future of Europe on the back of a summer of terror attacks across France and Germany. Noting the phenomenon of free movement of people across Europe which has effectively meant free movement of illegal ex-Soviet weapons from Eastern to Western Europe, the security expert said: “The whole Balkans are flooded with weapons, and from the Balkans have come two million people.“Together with them came arms dealers, gangsters, drug dealers. Buying a Kalashnikov [Soviet automatic rifle] in Bosnia and Herzegovina is as it was with us after the war. You can buy one for peanuts”.But the free flow of guns and grenades West is not the main problem Europe faces said the officer. Pointing to the existential crisis of a lack of faith and confidence, Mr. Wrona said: “The worst problem for [the police service] is political correctness… Europe is at the end of its existence. Western Europe is practically dead. These people live in a void, without ideas. And then come along the young, who [only want] to make money, as once did the barbarians”.Polish politicians and public figures have consistently been at the forefront of robust responses to the Europe migrant crisis. Breitbart London reported the remarks of Poland’s interior minister Mariusz Blaszczak after the Islamist Nice attacks that saw 84 killed this month when he said multiculturalism, immigration, and political correctness were responsible for the killing. Earlier this year popular Polish magazine wSIECI splashed on the “Islamic rape of Europe” with a graphic front cover which was shared around the world as mainstream media reacted in horror to the frank discussion of the “clash of two civilisations in the countries of old Europe”.


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Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2016 Part 17-100c-The Deep Battle against the West

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