Tag: ISIS

#Imlil: Terrorist act in Morocco

Blog, Conflict, Travel, World

Anna van Densky OPINION Club of Moroccan advocates called for a vigil (22.12.2018) for two decapitated Scandinavian tourists, expressing their profound sorrow and indignation about the abominable crime.

Undoubtedly, many Moroccans are shocked by the hideous act of the “soldiers of Caliphate“, serving Al-Baghdadi, but is the condemnation of the radical Islam sufficient to continue “business as usual” in Morocco, meaning uninterrupted flow of tourists from Europe? Fascinated by the exotic beauty, and the opulent historic heritage of the north African country , the European travelers bring 10% of PIP, with record 11,35 million of visitors in 2017, which means the hospitality industry constitutes a considerable wealth for the country, and some remote communities as the one in #Imlil, next to the highest peak of the Atlas mountains – Toubkal (4.167 m), – are entirely dependent on hikers like late Maren and Louisa. Will the tourists continue to follow the track, where two young women were tortured, raped and decapitated, to enjoy the belle vue?..

One can hardly blame the Moroccan authorities an immobility in fighting terrorism. Since 2015 Moroccan government launched an ongoing special operation ‘Hadar‘ (Vigilance), covering the major cities and touristic sites, in the frame of this operation the street patrols were reinforced with two military next to each policeman. The Central investigation office (General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance) reported 902 arrests, and 57 dismantled terrorists groups. But still in spite of all these efforts the barbaric act of beheading of Scandinavian tourists happened, and it would be too simplistic to blame the local community without placing the situation into the context of the dangerous transformations in Maghreb.

Since assassination of  Colonel Gaddafi (20/10/2011) and destruction of the Libyan state, there is hardly a terrorist group that is not represented in wast ‘no man land‘ of once a wealthy and stable country, protecting it borders, and fighting terrorism.  Subsequently the fragmented territory of  Libya represents a stronghold for export of radical Islam in the entire region. Between 2011 and 2014 a total of 1,105 acts of terrorism were recorded in the countries of Maghreb, and statistics shows that the phenomenon of radical Islam is at rise: in 2014 the number of terrorist incidents was almost 47 times greater than of recorded in 2011, and nine in 10 registered in Libya.

Libya as failed state creates an ideal grounds for exporting radical Islam to adjacent countries, and unless the international community, and namely the European Union, invest considerable efforts to unite the fragmented entities, and bring back stability, the warriors of Caliphate will make the maximum use of chaos.

23.12.2018 AMENDED:

Hundreds of mourners attended a vigil in Moroccan capital Rabat for a vigil next to Embassies of Denmark and Norway; flowers and candles were also laid in Marrakesh, and in the southern village of Imlil, near where the bodies of two young women were found.

Investigation released an opinion of experts from Norway, indicating they are no reasons to suspect the video of beheading is false. The post-mortem examinations will take place in retrospective countries.

Lavrov for union against IS

Conflict, International, Politics

lavrov-blue-bd

“Unprecedented terrorist aggression has been seen in Europe, the United States, and the countries that are our allies under the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in Asia – all this presents a serious threat to international security”, said Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov addressing MunichSecurity conference.

 

Russian minister expressed concern over the overall degradation of the situation in the Middle East and North Africa after ‘Arab Spring’, and migrant crisis in Europe, pointing at  the threat of terrorism to expand in Middle East, North Africa.

Lavrov claimed a  “certain success” in the fight against ISIS, al-Nusra Front, and the other terroristic groups, however he underlined that the international community has failed so far to create a “truly efficient anti-terrorist front”, blaming  “inability” to put aside nonentity matters, and curb geopolitical ambitions.

Lavrov called for a “true union” of the leading nations against international terrorism,  and also to prevent the collapse of Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Afghanistan, infiltrated by ISIS, using the lack of unified strategy to their advantage.

Sakharov Prize to IS slaves

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Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought 2016: Nadia MURAD BASEENadia Murad (pictured) and Lamiya Aji Bashar, public advocates for the Yazidi community in Iraq and survivors of sexual enslavement by the so-called Islamic State, will receive the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in a ceremony on Tuesday at noon.

‘On #HumanRightsDay, I call on you to #StandUp4HumanRights. If we all do our small part, in every corner of the world, I believe we can end genocide and mass atrocities against women and children. If we have the courage to stand up and fight for those we don’t know – who live thousands of miles away – we can make a difference. The world is one community and we need to act as such”, – says Nadia Murad post on her page in social media.

A joint press conference with Parliament’s President Martin Schulz will take place immediately after the award ceremony at 12.30.

Also shortlisted for the prize were Can Dündar, former editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, and Mustafa Dzhemilev, former chair of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars People from Tatar Parliament, a former Soviet dissident and a Ukrainian MP. They will both attend the ceremony.

 The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament to honour individuals or organizations who dedicate their lives to the defence of human rights and freedoms, particularly the right to free expression.

#Afghanistan: financial therapy?

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afghan-woman

Caring about freedom of Afghan women looks quite ironic amid an attempt to curb freedom of Polish pani to have a say over abortion. However the conference on Afghanistan (4-5 October) in Brussels paid special attention to the development of freedom and rights of Afghan women, and came up with ‘impressvie’ donor’s  amounts to be invested in security and economy.

The 70 countries in Brussels assembled efforts to reach €13.5bn a pledge considered as “remarkable” by Commissioner on development Neven Mimica.
In return Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed the intention to fight corruption and strengthen human rights, however he pointed at international support as a crucial element for the development of the country.
At present the situation doesn’t look as optimistic as desired: Taliban continues to ravage the country, causing population to fee in huge numbers. Europe is counting Afghans as the second community after Syrians to quie for asylum.
Supposedly this multi billion injection into Afghan security and economy would change the situation for better.
Meanwhile a couple kilometers from the European headquarters decorated by red carpet two Brussels policemen became victims to a terrorist attack of Hicham D (43), who served in Belgium army until 2009, and had ties with Islamic State fighters. Apparently he wasn’t poor, neither discriminated, nevertheless he preferred jihad to European lifestyle, and prosperity. Worth mentioning Belgium social security services have been never sparing money on Muslim community, paradoxically becoming the leader in #jihad fighters, aiming to Syria. Taking into consideration Belgium experience one can conclude impossibility to establish relation between living standards and jihad: the latter imposes poverty, but doesn’t descend from it.
Contra factum non est argumentum!