Americans, Israelis Warned in Thailand Hizballah Plot

American and Israeli officials are warning their citizens to avoid popular tourist spots in Bangkok after officials there arrested a Lebanese man suspected of being part of a Hizballah terrorist plot.

The arrest followed a tip from Israeli intelligence officials last month. Last week, they expressed concern that an attack might be launched this weekend. Thailand's defense minister also said the United States alerted them Thursday "about two terrorists who had entered Thailand and plan terrorist activities."

Officials believe the attempt might be in retaliation for the 2008 death of Hizballah military chief Imad Mughniyeh.

"At first we were told the Palestinians were behind it but it turned out to be the Hizballah," said Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung.

Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau warned its citizens to avoid places known to attract Israeli tourists. The U.S. embassy in Bangkok warned Americans that "foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future" and advised that they "keep a low profile in public areas, particularly areas frequented by foreign tourists."

Other possible targets include synagogues and the Israeli embassy.

Thailand police have increased security at Bangkok tourist spots. It is not clear that whether man arrested broke any laws. He is being held under immigration laws.

U.S.-Funded Pakistani Group Supports Extremists

An influential Pakistani Muslim group that supported the assassination of a prominent liberal politician received money from the United States, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The Sunni Ittehad Council that describes itself as an alliance of religious and political groups against "extreme Islamist ideology," received $36,607 from the U.S. government in 2009. The finding was first reported on the Council of Foreign Relations website.

American funds were to be used by the group to organize protests and rallies against militants and suicide bombings, an embassy official told the AP.

The Sunni alliance that was formed in 2009 to fight rising extremism in Pakistan has termed the Taliban "a product of global anti-Islam conspiracies." The alliance includes Barelvi (Sufi) Muslims and has launched countrywide demonstrations, including the "Save Pakistan Movement," against growing Taliban influence there.

The group drew flak from liberal quarters after it spearheaded nationwide protests calling for the release of Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of Punjab governor Salman Taseer. Qadri disagreed with Taseer's opposition of blasphemy laws that called for capital punishment against individuals who insult Islam.

The Sunni group also threatened a "nationwide anarchy" if Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother sentenced to death for defaming the prophet Muhammad, is pardoned by the Pakistani president.

The council's head denied receiving U.S. funding, which was expected given the prevailing anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.

"The propaganda is being unleashed against us because we are strongly opposed to Western democracy and American policies in the region and in the world," the AP reports the council's head Sahibzada Fazal Karim saying.

"We are against extremism, but we support Qadri because he did the right thing," Karim added.

Tom Friedman in Egypt: The Joy of Wishful Thinking

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman spoke at the American University in Cairo the other day about the rise of the Islamism in the Egyptian political arena, and the future of that nation. His thesis would not surprise those familiar with his work; in short, the demands of running a state in the modern world will cause those coming to power – the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies – to soften their hardline positions and become moderate, responsible leaders….and, presumably, not seek the destruction of Israel, Jews in general, and the entire West.

And while that's a lovely thought, perhaps Mr. Friedman missed one more likely outcome. For while it is true that the state, whoever runs it, will most likely attempt to get the economy going, which will necessarily mean engaging the global marketplace on the market's terms – capitalism, without any Islamic interpretation or priorities. A fine example of just such engagement is the wildly successful international drug business being conducted by Hizballah, shipping and selling heroin, cocaine, and whatever else around the world, reaping literally billions of dollars for both the organization and its leaders in the process. The tenets Islam might frown on drugs, but hey, this is the 21^st century, and even terrorists play by the market rules.

And perhaps so it will be with Egypt. Perhaps the Islamists will jump right in and become good capitalists. However, that doesn't mean the new capitalists will necessarily become new democrats. This is hardly an original thought: the Chinese have done very well profiting on the world economy while the government maintains their often ruthless control over their people. The Gulf states are earning billions upon billions of dollars through a variety of economic enterprises, while keeping first their de facto foreign slave labor force and their own people well in line.

So what in the Islamist agenda, what by their words and deeds, would leave us to believe they will not act in similar fashion? The fundamentalist credo does not allow for compromise, and victory, in nation after nation from Africa to the Middle East, all the way to Turkey, does not inspire retreat. Rather, it is more likely that gaining power will only embolden the Islamists to seek more power, more triumphs, by using the levers of government, from economic to military to political, to maximum advantage.

This is not an optimistic notion, and comes replete with potentially horrific consequences. Mr. Friedman evidently prefers to see matters different - maybe he's, as the saying goes, laughing past the grave, and hoping for the best. Unfortunately, Israelis, on the front lines, cannot afford the luxury of wishing for a happy outcome, regardless of the facts.

And guess what? Neither can we.

KindHearts Dissolves

An Islamic charity incorporated in Toledo, Ohio, still fighting a case a U.S. Treasury Department asset freeze, published a notice Thursday saying it has been dissolved.

It is not clear why the move was made.

Treasury froze the assets of KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development in 2006. KindHearts made contributions to Hamas-affiliated organizations and was supporting Hamas in Lebanon and the West Bank. The NGO was called "the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the façade of charitable," by then-Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Stuart Levy.

The Holy Land Foundation (HLF) was shut down by the U.S. government in 2001. HLF and five officials were convicted in 2008 of illegally funneling more than $12 million to Hamas.

In October 2008, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on behalf of KindHearts, seeking to lift the freeze. KindHearts won an injunction in 2008 preventing Treasury from labeling the organization a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) without providing it with "constitutionally adequate due process." In 2009 a federal judge temporarily restrained the Treasury Department from designating KindHearts as an SDGT, and ruled that the government violated the organization's constitutional rights by failing to obtain a warrant based on probable cause and failing to provide KindHearts with adequate notice before the freeze. In May 2010, the same judge ruled that the government needs to show probable cause for the freeze.

KindHearts was created in January 2002, just a month after Treasury shut down HLF and the Global Relief Foundation, which had connections to Osama Bin Laden and allegedly funneled money to al-Qaida. Former HLF Chairman Mohamed El-Mezain served as "the sole professional fundraiser that has been utilized by KindHearts," tax records filed by KindHearts in 2002 show. "Mr. El Mezain is contracted by KindHearts and is asked to appear at events and conduct fundraising activities…" El-Mezain was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to Hamas in the HLF trial and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

KindHearts is still negotiating a settlement with Treasury over its frozen assets.

Former Army Soldier Charged with Support to Somali Terror Group

A former American soldier was charged in Greenbelt, Md. with providing material support to the Somali jihadist organization, al-Shabaab, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday.

Al-Shabaab was officially designated a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the U.S. State Department in February 2008 and is closely affiliated with al-Qaida. A Homeland Security Department investigative report has called the terrorist group's successful recruitment and radicalization of Somali American Muslims within the U.S. "a direct threat to the U.S. homeland."

Craig Benedict Baxam of Laurel, Md., who converted to Islam shortly before he left the U.S. Army in July last year, was arrested by Kenyan police in December 2011 for attempting to travel to Somalia to join al-Shabaab militants in the country.

According to the court filings, Baxam joined the Army in 2007 where he underwent an eight-month advanced training in intelligence and cryptology. He got interested in Islam while surfing an Islamic religious website on the Internet. Baxam, who was then serving in Korea, converted to Islam but kept his conversion a secret. His roommate in the Army however discovered his secret after he saw Baxam's prayer rug and books.

The complaint alleges Baxam was wary about searching for al-Shabaab on his computer because he was "aware of the capabilities of the United States government." Before leaving for Somalia, Baxam destroyed his computer "because he did not want anything on his record and it would help him keep a low profile."

Upon his return to Maryland, Baxam spent considerable time praying and reading about Islam. He considered it his Islamic duty to migrate to Muslim lands governed by Sharia. According to Baxam, the only true Islamic lands that were governed by Sharia were the Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan, al-Shabaab-ruled areas of Somalia, and the southern islands of the Philippines.

"Killing is justified in Islam if the religion is under threat," the complaint quotes Baxam saying.

Baxam allegedly told federal agents during his interrogation that his loyalties lay with Islam and would fight the United States to defend Sharia law in Islam lands.

"Living an Islamic way of life in the United States is oppressive," Baxam said. He also believed that the U.S. and coalition forces were losing the war. "The weapons and technology are irrelevant because Allah is on their side. The World is at war with Islam and the World is losing."

Baxam used about $3,600 dollars from his retirement savings to purchase a plane ticket to Kenya and then traveled to Somalia from there. He also planned to give over $600 to al-Shabaab as a gift when he got to Somalia.

"The arrest is highly illustrative of the progress the international law enforcement community has made in working together to rapidly share resources and information in order to stop terrorism," FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard McFeely said in a statement. "FBI Special Agents in Africa, working alongside our Kenyan police partners, worked together to stop an individual who is now alleged to have been on his way to join a major terrorist group. This spirit of cooperation in fighting terrorism continues to transcend borders around the world," McFeely added.

Baxam faces a maximum sentence of 15 years followed by three years of supervised release if found guilty.

Pakistani Religious Parties Consider New Union

The leader of Pakistani Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has proposed the formation of an alliance between the nation's religious parties, according to Pakistan's The News International. The new alliance could take the place of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA)—the previous religious coalition opposing the government and U.S. forces in the region—and capitalize on political chaos in the South Asian country.

Along with JI, the proposed alliance would bring together Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) and any other religious party that wanted to join, said JI leader Ameer Munawar Hasan.

According to the JI, an 'MMA-like' alliance "was the need of the hour and that its formation was imperative," to put additional pressure on Pakistan's weak national government. Like its predecessor, the new coalition plans to implement Sharia law in the country and end cooperation with the U.S. in the region.

The original MMA alliance was formed shortly after 9/11 and achieved huge gains in the 2002 elections. However, the group suffered a setback when Islamist party Jamiat Ahle Hadith left the alliance in August of that year. It then reached another stumbling block when the president of the alliance died in December 2003.

Conflict between the two main parties, JI and JUP, reached a high point in 2007 and resulted in a split in 2008, when JUP participated in polls boycotted by other parties.

U.S. Official on Propping Up Islamist Democracies

Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, stated in a recent editorial for Dar al Hayat, that American officials will work with Islamist parties to prop up emerging Arab democracies.

"We are less concerned what a political party or organization calls itself than what it does in practice, and we will reach out to those who act according to democratic principles, respect their fellow citizens' rights, and do not use force or violence to impose their views," Feltman explains in the  op-ed.

The Obama Administration's goal is "to reach out beyond the traditional government and business elites not only to articulate clearly our own goals but to listen to a wide spectrum of views. This includes reaching out to Islamist parties, who now play an important role in the political transformation of many countries in the region."

The United States intends to support the new democracies with both governmental aid and private economic investment. Feltman saluted the efforts of major American firms like Pfizer, Marriott, and Microsoft, who have already invested in Tunisia's new Islamist-led democracy. He also discussed the Administration's effort to convince Congress to facilitate job creation in Egypt, academic exchanges between the countries, and to "develop […] 'Enterprise Funds' to foster private-sector development."

The commitment of Islamist parties to democracy and human rights remains to be seen. While officials from Tunisia's Al-Nahda party and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood have said all the right things to Western news sources, they have continued to use traditional extremist rhetoric in addresses to their political base. Several Islamist groups also support a policy of gradualism, by incrementally introducing Islamism into local society and building their relationship with other Islamist regimes in the direction of a renewed Islamic empire [Caliphate].

Pakistani Citizen Gets Over Four Years in Terrorism Conspiracy

A Pakistani citizen was sentenced to 50 months in prison Thursday in connection with a conspiracy to provide material support to the Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban.

The TTP, a coalition of militant groups based out of Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, is a key ally of al-Qaida. It was designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in September 2010.

Irfan Ul Haq was arrested in Miami in March last year and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling along with two other Pakistani men, Qasim Ali and Zahid Yousaf. The three men pleaded guilty in September 2011 to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling. On December 21, Ali was sentenced to 40 months in prison, and Yousaf, to 36 months.

The men were part of an alien smuggling ring operating out of Quito, Ecuador. The men had agreed to smuggle a fictitious person tied to the TTP into the United States as part of a government sting operation carried out by the Homeland Security attaché office in Quito, with the FBI and the Ecuadorian National Police.

According to court documents, the defendants were fully aware that the TTP was a terrorist organization and allegedly told government confidential sources that it was "not their concern" what the men "want to do in the United States—hard labor, sweep floor, wash dishes in hotel, or blow up. That will be up to them."  The defendants also accepted monetary compensation from the confidential sources for the smuggling operation and acquired a fake Pakistani passport for the fictitious TTP operative, court documents said.

"Today's sentence successfully brings to a close our prosecution of three criminals who aimed to use their human smuggling network to help a person who they believed to be a terrorist infiltrate our homeland," U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr. for the District of Columbia said in Department of Justice statement announcing the sentence.

"By convicting three Pakistani nationals who were operating out of Ecuador, we have demonstrated our ability to dismantle human smuggling operations throughout the world when they threaten our national security," he added.

New Jihadi Media Groups

The past month saw the launch of several new Arabic jihadi media groups, including an organization focused exclusively on Tunisia. The growth in Arabic jihadi media contrasts with a decline in English-language propaganda, following last year's drone strike on English-language al-Qaida propagandists Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan.

Among the newly formed and newly announced groups are the Ibn Taymiyya Center for Media, the al-Ibada Foundation for Media Production, and the al-Qayrawan Media Foundation. While the first two are relatively new and will focus more generally on jihadi issues relevant across terrorist organizations, al-Qayrawan is actually eight months old focuses on local affairs relevant to Tunisian jihadists.

Al-Qayrawan's announcement on a popular al-Qaida forum, according to terrorism expert Aaron Zelin of jihadology.net, is not simply a late news posting but symbolizes how the group has moved into al-Qaida's orbit. In less than 12 months since Tunisians deposed their dictator and carried out democratic elections, the terrorist group Ansar al-Shariah in Tunisia [AST] has gained enough local support to form its own media organization.

Media organizations play a key role in recruitment and propaganda efforts. A recent announcement by one of the most important al-Qaida web forums, Shumukh al-Islam, showed "thanks and praise" on media groups as "the finest examples in persistence and sacrifice." The post emphasized how the groups act as a counter balance to Western media, providing inspiration and information to supporters and troops in the field.

Islamists Spring to Power in Libya

A new report being prepared for policymakers on Capitol Hill suggests that the Arab Spring in Libya has paved the way for an extreme Islamist takeover. An advanced copy of "A View to Extremist Currents in Libya," was obtained by Fox News and indicates that the secular-driven Libyan revolution is losing ground to extremists and a figure with ties to al Qaida is rising to power.

"Despite early indications that the Libyan revolution might be a largely secular undertaking ... the very extremist currents that shaped the philosophies of Libya Salafists and jihadis like [Abd al-Hakim] Belhadj appear to be coalescing to define the future of Libya," wrote Michael S. Smith II, a principal and counterterrorism adviser for Kronos LLC, the strategic advisory firm that wrote the report.

Belhadj, head of the Tripoli Military Council, is touted as one of the most dominant militia commanders in Libya. He also is a former emir (spiritual leader) of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). The LIFG was established in 1995 to create an Islamic emirate inside Libya, where it waged jihad against the government of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

According to the State Department, which designated the LIFG as a terrorist organization, the group officially joined the al-Qaida network in 2007.

Libyan nationals like Belhadj have long played central roles in al-Qaida. "Libyan LIFG member Abu Yahya al-Libi is regarded as core al Qaeda's top Sharia official and many analysts anticipated he would be appointed bin Laden's successor," the report points out. "His brother is Abd al-Wahad al-Qayid, a founding member of the LIFG who was one of the six LIFG leaders who authored the group's corrective studies while imprisoned in Libya."

Libya's proximity to Egypt makes it of strategic importance to al-Qaida. As such, the report not only includes detailed translations from LIFG for policymakers to examine, but also questions for their consideration. Among them is whether the number of al-Qaida linked operatives in Libya has grown since Gaddafi's death and whether the transitional government in Libya has been open to cooperating on U.S. counterterrorism operations.

When asked about Belhadj and any future role for him in the Libyan transitional government, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "They're going to have to make their own decisions as all of these countries who have been in transition recently have had to make -- whether past action, past affiliation meets the smell test within the principles that they've laid out."

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