Eye on Extremism October 18, 2016

Eye on Extremism October 18, 2016 Counter Extremism Project Financial Times: Social Media: Challenging The Jihadi Narrative "Western governments have criticised social media platforms incuding Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for being low to stop the spread of terrorist material. But few critics have as much technical expertise as Hany Farid, a professor of computer science at Dartmouth College in the US. Mr Farid developed an algorithm to detct child pornography, work that is being adapted to curb the proliferation of terrorist videos. "Consciously, the tech companies know what is happening on their networks. They are not dumb," he says. "They are choosing not to do something about it." Fox News: Cavuto: Coast To Coast “CEP Spokesperson Tara Maller is interviewed by host Neil Cavuto regarding the CIA's determination that Russia has been behind recent cyber attacks in the U.S. and what that determination means for future relations between the two countries.” CNN: Battle For Mosul Begins With Gunfire And Car Bombs “Two years ago, Iraqi soldiers in Mosul threw down their weapons and fled the city in terror as armed militants overran the streets under the banner of the emerging threat of ISIS. On Monday, invigorated Iraqi forces and their allies started back down the road to Mosul to try to reclaim the largest city under ISIS control and its last remaining stronghold in Iraq. The forces got a taste of what's to come. The 94,000-member Iraqi-led coalition greatly outnumbers its opponents and has the benefit of air support from roughly 90 coalition and Iraqi planes. Why the battle for Mosul matters in the fight against ISIS.” The New York Times: Why Mosul Is Critical In The Battle Against ISIS “Iraqi security forces and Kurdish pesh merga fighters have begun an assault to dislodge Islamic State militants from the city of Mosul. Here are some reasons the city is strategically and symbolically vital. Population: Mosul, once home to more than two million residents, was the biggest prize captured by the Islamic State. It gave the group its best claim to legitimacy as an Islamic caliphate, and it has been its most vital source of tax revenue and forced labor. Relief: If recaptured, the city could eventually welcome back hundreds of thousands of people who were displaced. It is also where hundreds of enslaved Yazidi women and children are thought to be held. Culture: Mosul is an ancient Assyrian city and a vital center of antiquities and historical sites threatened by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh.” Reuters: Afghan Troops Blunt Taliban Offensive Outside Helmand Capital, Officials Say “Afghan government troops say they have fought Taliban forces to a standstill outside the capital of southern Helmand province, but the city remains surrounded after the insurgents launched one of their most brazen offensives. A center of illicit opium production as well as a traditional Taliban stronghold, Helmand has been one of the areas that suffered the most violence in the insurgents' battle to topple the Western-backed government in Kabul. In recent weeks, Taliban fighters battled their way into the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, in an attack that was only blunted after hundreds of Afghan commandos were airlifted into the area.” BBC: Yemen Conflict: Truce To Start On Thursday, Says UN Envoy “A 72-hour truce in conflict-ravaged Yemen is set to begin on Thursday, the UN special envoy has announced. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said he had received assurances from all Yemeni parties for such a move. Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi's forces have been fighting Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa. Mr Ahmed's announcement follows international alarm over the deaths of 140 people in a Saudi airstrike which hit a funeral gathering in Sanaa. Saudi officials say the airstrike in the capital earlier this month should have hit Houthi rebel leaders, but erroneous intelligence meant that the wrong site was targeted. The US, Britain and the UN peace envoy to Yemen have all been urging warring parties in the country's civil war to declare an immediate ceasefire.” The Jerusalem Post: Report: Hamas Launches Long-Range Rocket Into Mediterranean Sea “The Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas on Monday test-fired at least one longrange missile into the Mediterranean Sea, according to a Channel 2 report. Residents situated in Israel’s southern communities reported hearing an explosion following the event, the report added. Hamas frequently launches rockets into the sea, honing its technological capabilities for a possible future confrontation with Israel. Palestinian terrorists often shoot rockets into Israeli territory as well, with a number landing in residential areas located primarily in the South. Earlier this month, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired two rockets at Sderot, setting off air raid sirens and narrowly missing homes. The rockets exploded in a road in the southern town, failing to cause physical injuries, but sending one local resident into shock.” Voice Of America: Rival Governments Vie For Control Of Libya “Tensions reached a boiling point in the Libyan capital Monday, as rival militia groups waged a low-level turf war in a political battle between the U.N.-backed ‘national unity’ government of Fayez al-Sarraj and the unrecognized, Islamist-supported government of Khalifa Ghweil. The ‘unity’ government continued to hold one of the seats of power at the Rixos Hotel, which the country's former legislative body, the General National Council, also considers to be its headquarters. Militia forces loyal to Ghweil, who call themselves the Presidential Guard, seized other government buildings over the weekend. Libyan TV broadcast a statement by members of the guard, saying they support Ghweil and the GNC and asserting the unity government is an attempt to place Libya under a new military dictatorship.” Reuters: Refugee From Iraq Pleads Guilty In U.S. To Attempting To Join Islamic State “An Iraqi-born man who entered the United States as a refugee pleaded guilty on Monday in Texas to attempting to volunteer to fight with Islamic State, federal prosecutors said. Omar Faraj Saeed Al-Hardan, 24, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Houston to one count of attempting to provide material support, specifically himself, to the militant group, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the southern district of Texas said in a statement. Al-Hardan, who most recently lived in Houston, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 17, prosecutors said. The case comes during a U.S. presidential race in which the question of admitting refugees from the Middle East, especially Syria, has become a point of contention between the two leading candidates.” New York Daily News: Two Wisconsin Men Arrested For Trying To Join ISIS, Travel To Syria “Two blood-thirsty Wisconsin men "tired of living under the infidel's system" have been busted for trying to join ISIS by traveling through Mexico to Syria, authorities said. Jason Ludke, 35, and Yosvany Padilla-Conde, 30, both of Milwaukee, outlined their plan to join the brutal Islamic State group in Facebook conversations and emails sent to an undercover FBI agent, a criminal complaint obtained by the Daily News shows.” NPR: Europe Wakes Up To Prospect Of Female Terrorists “The terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels over the last two years have been carried out by male citizens of France and Belgium who had been radicalized by ISIS. But Europe is now waking up to the prospect of female terrorists. In the most recent attempted attack, in September, four women tried to blow up a car filled with gas canisters in central Paris. Two of them were teenagers. ‘Most of the women who radicalize have had some sort of trauma in their lives,’ says Fouad Saanadi, the imam at a French government-supported de-radicalization center in the city of Bordeaux. Here, at an unpublished address behind heavy, locked doors, psychologists and counselors try to get through to youths being seduced by ISIS propaganda. Saanadi says half of the 33 people they are currently counseling are women. ‘They've nearly all been a victim of violence or have been raped or have been marginalized in some way. This makes them more vulnerable to ISIS' messages of a utopian society and revenge against the West,’ he says.” United States Fox News: US Airstrikes Against ISIS In Libya Doubled In Less Than A Month “The U.S. military has ramped up airstrikes against the Islamic State in Libya--doubling the number of strikes there in less than a month--according to the latest statistics provided by the U.S. military's Africa Command, which leads the operation. As of Monday, there have been 324 airstrikes in Libya, a majority from drones and others from U.S. Marine Corps jets and attack helicopters stationed aboard a US Navy warship off the Libyan coast. There were 161 US airstrikes against ISIS in Libya on September 21, according to the U.S. Africa Command. The U.S. military has been carrying out airstrikes in Libya since August 1, in support of the UN-backed Government of National Accord, or GNA based in Tripoli.” Syria Reuters: Coalition Warplanes Kill 20 Islamic State Militants In Syria: Turkish Army “United States-led coalition warplanes killed 20 Islamic State militants in Syria over the last 24 hours, the Turkish military said on Tuesday, nearly two months into a Turkey-backed rebel operation to drive the jihadists away from the border. Turkey pushed on with the Syrian operation as Iraqi forces launched a U.S.-backed offensive to expel Islamic State (IS) from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The 11 coalition air strikes in Syria targeted the areas of Kar Kalbayn, Ghuz, Hassajik and Tiltanah and destroyed two IS defensive positions and three vehicles, the army statement. Separately, Turkish warplanes also carried out air strikes and destroyed several IS targets, it said. Since the Turkey-backed operation, dubbed 'Euphrates Shield', was launched on Aug. 24, the rebel forces have seized control of some 1,240 square kilometers (479 square miles) territory from the jihadists, according to the statement.” Reuters: Russia, Syria Stopped Airstrikes On Aleppo At 0700 GMT - Russian Defence Minister “Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Russian and Syrian air forces had stopped airstrikes on Aleppo from 1000 local time (0700 GMT), ahead of the announced ‘humanitarian pause’ scheduled for Oct. 20. Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday that a pause in strikes on Syria's largest city would be in force on Thursday, from 0800 (0500 GMT) until 1600, to allow civilians and rebels to leave the city. Military experts will meet in Geneva on Wednesday to begin work on separating ‘terrorists’ from Syria's opposition, Russia's state Rossiya 24 channel showed Shoigu saying.” BBC: Syria War: Russia Announces Aleppo Humanitarian Pause “Russia has announced a ‘humanitarian pause’ in its bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Moscow said it would halt operations in Aleppo on Thursday for an eight-hour span between 08:00 (05:00 GMT) and 16:00. The Russian defence ministry said the pause was agreed so that civilians and rebels could leave the city. But UN agencies say at least 12 hours will be needed for that to happen. ‘We would welcome any pause in the fighting, but there is a need for a longer pause in order to get the aid in,’ said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Russia's announcement came on the day 14 members of one family were reportedly killed in a strike in Aleppo.” The Washington Post: Russian Air Defense Raises Stakes Of U.S. Confrontation In Syria “Russia’s completion this month of an integrated air defense system in Syria has made an Obama administration decision to strike Syrian government installations from the air even less likely than it has been for years, and has created a substantial obstacle to the Syrian safe zones both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have advocated. Deployment of mobile and interchangeable S-400 and S-300 missile batteries, along with other short-range systems, now gives Russia the ability to shoot down planes and cruise missiles over at least 250 miles in all directions from western Syria, covering virtually all of that country as well as significant portions of Turkey, Israel, Jordan and the eastern Mediterranean.” Iraq The Wall Street Journal: Iraqi Forces Advance To Edges Of ISIS-Held Mosul “Kurdish and Iraqi forces captured 17 villages around Mosul on Monday, Iraq’s military said, but Islamic State slowed their advance with heavy mortar fire that signaled a potentially fierce battle for the militant group’s last major stronghold in Iraq. The first day of the high-stakes fight for Iraq’s second-largest city—located near the Syrian and Turkish borders—began at dawn with an announcement from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. The military campaign could take weeks. Columns of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters moved from bases east of Mosul in tanks and armored vehicles, followed by engineers in bulldozers who built berms to defend the captured villages.” Reuters: Iraq Launches Mosul Offensive To Drive Out Islamic State “Iraqi government forces launched a U.S.-backed offensive on Monday to drive Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul, a high-stakes battle to retake the militants' last major stronghold in the country. Two years after the jihadists seized the city of 1.5 million people and declared a caliphate from there encompassing tracts of Iraq and Syria, a force of some 30,000 Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Sunni tribal fighters began to advance. Helicopters released flares and explosions could be heard on the city's eastern front, where Reuters watched Kurdish fighters move forward to take outlying villages. A U.S.-led air campaign has helped push Islamic State from much of the territory it held but 4,000 to 8,000 fighters are thought to remain in Mosul. The Pentagon said that Iraqi forces were meeting objectives and were ahead of schedule on the first day of the offensive.” Turkey Reuters: Turkish Military Says Syrian Border Security Largely Achieved With Dabiq Seizure “Turkey-backed Syrian rebels seized control of nine areas, including the village of Dabiq, from Islamic State on Sunday, largely achieving border security between the Turkish towns of Kilis and Karkamis, the country's military said on Monday. Taking control of Dabiq had eliminated the threat to Turkey from rockets fired by the jihadists, the Turkish Armed Forces said in a written statement. It said that in the last 24 hours of clashes, nine Turkey-backed rebels were killed and 24 were wounded while ‘many’ Islamic State fighters were killed. The operation, dubbed ‘Euphrates Shield’ was launched in late August. The Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish tanks and warplanes, said they had taken Dabiq after clashes on Sunday morning, forcing Islamic State from a stronghold where it had promised to fight a final, apocalyptic battle with the West.” Reuters: Turkish Capital Bans Public Meetings Due To Militant Attack Fears “Authorities in the Turkish capital Ankara have banned public meetings and marches until the end of November after receiving intelligence that militants were planning attacks in the city, which has been targeted with bombings over the past year. The ruling, announced by the Ankara governor's office, came as Turkey pursued a near two-month-old military operation in Syria in support of rebels to drive Islamic State militants away from its southern border. Islamic State and Kurdish militants have carried out attacks in the capital. This month two suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members believed to be planning a car bomb attack blew themselves up in a standoff with police in Ankara. ‘Based on intelligence received by our governorship, it has been determined that illegal terror groups are aiming to carry out attacks in our province and have made some preparations,’ the governor's office said in a statement on its website.” Reuters: Turkey Says Ready For 'Hundreds Of Thousands' Who May Flee Mosul “Turkey is ready for hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Iraqi city of Mosul if a U.S.-backed operation to drive out Islamic State fuels sectarian violence, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday. Iraqi government forces, with air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition, launched the long-anticipated offensive early on Monday to push the jihadist group out of Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq. Turkey has repeatedly said that letting Shi'ite militias, which the Iraqi army has relied on in the past, take part in the assault on the mainly Sunni Arab city could spark sectarian violence. ‘If the Mosul operation is handled correctly, there won't be a refugee wave into Turkey,’ Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told a news conference in Ankara.” Afghanistan The Guardian: Taliban And Afghanistan Restart Secret Talks In Qatar “The Taliban and representatives of the Afghan government have restarted secret talks in the Gulf state of Qatar, senior sources within the insurgency and the Kabul government have told the Guardian. Among those present at the meetings held in September and October was Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, brother of Mullah Omar, the former Taliban chief who led the movement from its earliest days until his death in 2013. The two rounds of talks are the first known negotiations to have taken place since a Pakistan-brokered process entirely broke down following the death in a US drone strike of Omar’s successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.” Yemen CNN: Yemen Ceasefire Set To Last For 72 Hours A 72-hour ceasefire between opposing forces in Yemen is set to begin this week. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, announced that a break from fighting between a pro-Yemeni coalition led by Saudi forces and Houthi rebels would begin just before midnight Wednesday -- at 23:59 local time. According to Ahmed, the ceasefire terms call for humanitarian workers to have ‘free and unhindered access’ so they can bring supplies to all parts of Yemen. ‘[It] will spare the Yemeni people further bloodshed,’ Ahmed said. Saudi Arabia Reuters: Saudi Arabia Says Prepared For Ceasefire In Yemen If Houthis Agree “Saudi Arabia is prepared to agree to a ceasefire in Yemen if the Iran-allied Houthis agree, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday, adding that he was skeptical about efforts for peace after previous ceasefire attempts had failed. The Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen has faced heavy criticism since an air strike this month on a funeral gathering in the Yemeni capital Sanaa that killed 140 people according to a United Nations' estimate and 82 according to the Houthis. The United States and Britain, which have both supported the Saudi-led campaign, called on Sunday for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between Houthis and the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government.” Egypt The Guardian: 'No End In Sight': Detention Wears On For American Who Ran Egypt Children's Clinic “For two years after she was arrested, Aya Hijazi refused to give up hope that Egypt’s courts would let her, an American who ran a child welfare clinic, go free to reunite with her family. Nine hundred days after her arrest, she has started to lose that hope. ‘In the first year and a half, she had taken it with a lot of grace,’ said her sister, Alaa. ‘After she hit the two-year mark, five-month mark, she’s been despondent. She’s feeling no certainty or end in sight.’ The whole family has felt the toll. Their mother recently became bedridden, Alaa said, adding: ‘I wake with nightmares sometimes, in a panic. You never think that something like this could happen.’” Middle East The Times Of Israel: Israeli Bus Driver Lightly Injured In West Bank Rock-Throwing “An Israeli bus driver was lightly injured Monday night when rocks were hurled at his vehicle near the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, west of Bethlehem. The man, around 35 years old, was hit in the face by broken glass shards, and received bruises to his back as well. Magen David Adom paramedics who arrived at the scene took the man to a Jerusalem hospital to receive further treatment. The rock-thrower has not been caught. Recent days have seen several attacks and violent incidents in the West Bank and Jerusalem.” Libya Reuters: Tensions High In Libya's Capital As Faction Challenges U.N.-Backed Government “Libyan armed brigades allied with rival political leaders in Tripoli have exchanged sporadic gunfire and set up checkpoints in areas they control, challenging the authority of the United Nations-backed government. Opponents of the U.N.-supported Government of National Unity (GNA) defied it on Friday by taking over a parliamentary building and demanding a new government, triggering a standoff among rival brigades operating in the city. Since a 2011 uprising toppled autocrat Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has fallen into factional fighting among battalions of former rebels who have turned against one another, backing competing political leaders in a struggle for control.” Nigeria USA Today: Girls Freed From Boko Haram Reunited With Families “The 21 girls who were rescued last week after being kidnapped by the militant group Boko Haram more than two years ago have been reunited with their families. They were among more than 200 students taken from their school in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok by the extremists in April 2014, sparking the global ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ social media campaign. Speaking at a ceremony in the capital Abuja on Sunday, one of the girls said they were starved, the BBC reported. Many were forced to convert from Christianity to Islam. The negotiations for the girls’ release were brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government.” Germany Deutsche Welle: At Least Two Dead, Two Missing And Several Injured After Explosion At BASF Facility In Ludwigshafen, Germany “At least two people are dead, two others are missing and several severely injured following the explosion and fire on Monday at the world's largest chemicals company, BASF, in western Germany. Police called on residents in Ludwigshafen, where the BASF complex is located, and the nearby city of Mannheim to stay indoors and suggested they close all windows and doors and shut down air-conditioning. They said they didn't know which chemicals exactly could be airborne within the plume of smoke rising from the accident site. The city of Ludwigshafen reported on Twitter that residents located near the plant were complaining of ‘respiratory irritation.’ The company said it is still seeking to determine the exact cause of the blast. However, officials have said they ruled out terrorism.” Europe The Wall Street Journal: Mosul Offensive Highlights Risk Of Fighters Fleeing To Europe “European counterterrorism officials have been warning for weeks about the risk of an influx of foreign fighters following the campaign to recapture Mosul, but Turkish officials said their military advance into Syria has cut off the easiest route to Europe. Counterterrorism officials said Monday they remain watchful and it is too soon to tell exactly what the impact of Iraq’s Mosul offensive will be. But U.S. and European officials said they have not changed their assessment that as Islamic State loses territory, young men who traveled from Europe to fight with the group will seek to return. ‘The Mosul attack may inspire radical people to act or eventually return more fighters to Europe,’ said a U.S. official.” International Business Times: Where Is ISIS In Europe 2016: Vienna Muslim Teens Have 'High' Risk Of Being Radicalized For Terrorism In Austria “Is Vienna the next European capital at risk for domestic terrorism? A ‘high proportion’ of Muslim teenagers there are at risk of being radicalized, according to a study released Monday by the Austrian capital city. A total of 401 local teens surveyed were sorted into three groups: ‘vulnerable’, ‘ambivalent’ and ‘moderates.’ More than 200 of them were Muslims aged between 14 and 24-years-old, according to Ken Güngör, the author of the study. Twenty seven percent of the Muslim teenagers showed strong sympathy for jihadism as well as violent and anti-Western thinking. Güngör looked at factors that could increase the risk of radicalization including religion, friends, migrant experience and sex. ‘Radicalization is a male problem,’ Güngör concluded. A ‘small and dangerous group’ of youths are already radicalized and it’s too late to try and reach them via youth and social workers, he added.” ISIS Alsumaria News: ISIS Money Moved Out Of Mosul “According to a local source in Nineveh province on Monday, medium-sized trucks have transferred vast sums of money from Mosul-based banks and ISIS headquarters to an unknown destination amid extremely tight security. The source added that "the refrigerated trucks were under strict protection after finance houses and banks were emptied. The money was being transferred to an unknown destination, amid unconfirmed reports that the vehicles used shortcuts on the outskirts of Mosul to drive towards the Syrian city of Raqqa.” Combating the Financing of Terrorism Al Quds Al-Arabi: Egypt: President El-Sisi's Brother To Lead Efforts To Combat The Financing Of Terrorism “Sherif Ismail, Egyptian Prime Minister, issued a decree to form the Board of Trustees of the Unit for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. It will be headed by Judge Ahmed Saeed Hussain Khalil al-Sisi, Vice-President of the Court of Cassation, and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's brother. The Unit for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (The Egyptian Financial Investigation Unit), which is affiliated with the Council of Ministers, was established under the Anti-Money Laundering Act No. 80 of 2002. The aim of the Unit is to improve the fight against money laundering and terror financing by all financial institutions operating in Egypt. The Unit receives notifications from financial institutions, and then examines and investigates them in coordination with the competent authorities.” Muslim Brotherhood Shorouk News: Lawsuit To Cancel Writing-Off Of Muslim Brotherhood NGO Postponed To January 2017 “Egypt's Administrative Court, headed by Judge Sami Abdel Hamid, Deputy Chairman of the State Council Club, ruled to postpone the lawsuit filed by Osman Anani, legal counsel of the Muslim Brotherhood Society. The lawsuit calls to halt the implementation of an earlier decision issued by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Solidarity to dissolve and write off the Muslim Brotherhood NGO. Decision No. 644 of 2013 was published by the Ministry of Solidarity. The next session {of the Administrative Court} will be held on January 1st, 2017.” Albawabh News: Egypt Demands Freeze On Funds And Extradition Of Brotherhood Leaders Who Fled Abroad “Adel Fahmy, Egypt's Assistant Minister of Justice for International Cooperation Affairs, disclosed that Cairo had contacted several countries and international organizations demanding the extradition of 130 terrorists who fled to Qatar and Turkey. He stressed that all of them belong to the Muslim Brotherhood. They were convicted on charges mainly related to inciting demonstrations and gatherings aimed at wreaking havoc and disrupting public order. A judicial source added that over the past few months the International Cooperation {department} has renewed its request, via diplomatic channels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to hand over 53 fugitive Brotherhood leaders currently residing in several countries. Egypt claims these leaders have contributed substantially to the financing of the recent terrorist operations that took place in Egypt. Cairo also demanded a freeze on their money in foreign banks and a ban on the sale of their property, in an effort to dry up the sources of terrorism.” The Seventh Day: Egypt: MP Submits Draft Legislation To Confiscate Muslim Brotherhood Money And Property “Egyptian MP Amin Massoud pledged he would propose a draft law to confiscate money and property owned by the Muslim Brotherhood. Massoud emphasized that this "rogue group uses its funds for carrying out its despicable terrorist acts against our children, our armed forces and our brave national police.” Elbalad: Egypt: Appeal Against Extended Detention Of Brotherhood Businessman Hassan Malek Turned Down “Cairo Criminal Court, headed by Judge Hassan Farid, rejected an appeal by Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated businessman Hassan Malek regarding the decision to renew his confinement for 45 days. He is accused of harming homeland security and the national economy. The Prosecution hurled several charges at Malek, including crimes of endangering the nation's security and undermining its economic foundations. He is also accused of meeting with fugitive leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood to discuss a scheme to preserve the sources of funding of the group, as part of a plot to harm Egypt's economy.” Hamas Raya: Hamas Received $ 25 Million From Iran “Director of the Centre for Arab & Iranian Studies in London, Dr. Ali Reza Nourizadeh, claimed that last May Hamas received $ 25 million from Iran. Nourizadeh added that Iran's support for Hamas, despite a major erosion in their relations, goes on from time to time through leaders of the {Palestinian} movement who still maintain strong ties with Tehran. However, Nourizadeh stressed that {continuation of} this support is on the condition that Hamas will not prosecute some 160 individuals professing Shiism in Gaza.”