Assad's Repression Alienates Longtime Allies

The Syrian government's brutal attacks on its own people have damaged its relations with longtime allies, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

For example, Qatar, which had often lined up with Syria and its ally Iran in past regional disputes, has emerged as a tough critic of Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown. When the Syria unrest began, Qatari media largely avoided taking a position. But as the regime stepped up the violence, it turned against Assad.

"The Syrian regime must know that oppressing peoples will not eradicate them," Al-Arab editorialized last month. "The one who is eradicated is always the oppressor of the people." Qatar-based Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi demanded to know why the Ba'ath Party still rules Syria. "Who the hell is the committee of the Arab Ba'ath Party?" Qaradawi said. Assad is "held prisoner" by his political allies who fail to understand that "We live in the era of Arab revolutions," he added.

Qaradawi called Syria's religious endowment minister "a stupid fool" for accusing the imam of interfering in Syria's internal affairs by criticizing Assad.

Walid al-Omari, al-Jazeera's Israel/Palestinian bureau chief, said Assad was acting like "an outmoded ruler" who "has missed the chance to save himself and his land through real reforms."

When the Syria unrest began several months ago, Abdelbari Atwan, editor of the London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi, expressed hope that Assad would implement reforms. More recently, however, he expressed doubt that he would be willing to do so and criticized Assad for branding legitimate criticism the work of Israeli agents. "Those who are demanding reforms in Syria are not American and Zionist agents, as the regime and its mouthpieces are claiming in a deliberate smear attempt," Atwan wrote.

In Lebanon, the board chairman of Al-Akhbar, a pro-Syrian newspaper, suggested Assad was leading his nation toward a "civil war that could tear apart Syria and its people."

Read the full report here.

Yemen: Diplomats Airlifted Out of Siege

Western and Arab diplomats were airlifted out of the United Arab Emirates' embassy in Yemen Sunday, after supporters of President Ali Saleh surrounded and besieged the embassy. The Gulf Cooperation Council also withdrew its U.S.-backed plan for the peaceful resignation of the Yemeni president, after he backed out of signing it for a third time.

The Christian Science Monitor called the siege "an exquisitely timed show by gunmen loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh," which "staved off" the signing of a transition plan. Saleh refused to sign over a protocol complaint, namely that opposition leaders refused to attend a ceremony for the transition at the presidential palace.

The siege has also raised strong questions about U.S. aid to his regime and the ever-increasing possibility of civil war. Several senior politicians and military units have defected and joined the opposition, pitting tribe against tribe. Tension on the streets of the capital Sanaa has been high since protests began in January, with increasing anger following a brutal government crackdown.

"The level of restiveness in the military is as high as it is in the street and there's no way of guaranteeing their loyalty," says Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, a political analyst based in Sanaa. "In Yemen we don't really have a military as an institution, we have tribal factions in uniform, many of whom can be bought over to the other side. If he [Saleh] chooses to have a military showdown it will definitely be the end of this regime but also a lot of bloodshed."

Ohio Couple Pleads Guilty in Hizballah Finance Plot

A Toledo couple pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to Hizballah.

Hor and Amera Akl admit a willingness to send money to the Lebanese terrorist group, hidden inside a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer they would ship overseas. In addition, Hor Akl pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, bankruptcy fraud and perjury

The case started in August 2009, when an FBI informant asked if they would be willing to send money to Hizballah for him. The Akls agreed, requesting a commission of up to 30 percent if they moved $1 million.

In a meeting two weeks later, Akl said he understood the money was going to "terrorists" and that they understood it could be used to target Israel.

Hor Akl even traveled to Lebanon in March 2010, where he claimed to have met with a Hizballah official. The official said he could place a message in a Hizballah-controlled magazine to confirm the money arrived.

In other discussions with the informant, the Akls claimed to have moved money to Lebanon before and have high-ranking contacts within Hizballah. Amera Akl said "that she dreamed of dressing like Hizballah, carrying a gun and dying as a martyr."

The couple was arrested June 3, after the informant delivered $200,000 to them to send to Hizballah. The Akls were seen wearing latex gloves, with the cash tied in a bundle as they prepared to stash it in the Trailblazer.

Prosecutors required both Akls to plead guilty as part of the deal. If one refused, the deal for the other would have been withdrawn.

"Money is the lifeblood of terrorist organizations, and stopping the flow is a key component to choking off these organizations," said Steven Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Sentencing guidelines indicate Hor Akl faces up to seven years in prison. Amera Akl faces about four years in prison.

Middle East Reactions to Obama's Speech

President Obama seems to have unified Muslims and Israelis with his speech about the new Middle East Thursday. Leading voices on all sides panned the address.

Following a White House meeting Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the president's call for a peace agreement with Palestinians based on 1967 borders with land swaps, saying it leaves Israel vulnerable to attack. And he rejected any notion of an agreement granting Palestinian refugees a right to return to Israel, demographically swamping the Jewish state.

"It's not going to happen. Everybody knows it's not going to happen," Netanyahu said. "And I think it's time to tell the Palestinians forthrightly that it's not going to happen."

Obama's speech was also rejected in large sections of the Muslim Middle East, from individuals to governments.

Robert Tait, writing for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, explained that the much-touted speech "went down like a lead balloon in Egypt's capital." Joe Hammond, another correspondent for RFE/RL in Cairo, "described the mood on the streets as a mixture of ignorance and apathy. In contrast to the 2009 address, which was closely followed, many Egyptians were not even aware Obama had made a speech. Others, mindful of U.S. indecision in the early stages of the anti-Mubarak protests dismissed it as a 'Johnny come lately' speech."

While the VOA's Meredith Buel called the speech "effective in aligning American policy with the sweeping changes in the region," Arab newspapers show mixed reviews.

"All this familiar talk we have heard on the lips of more than one U.S. official, but the question is about the practical steps to turn it into actions on the ground," noted Adel Bari Atwan, writing for the popular London-based paper Al-Quds Al-Arabi. "We heard stuff like this two years ago in [Obama's] first speech at Cairo University … what were the results? … Full retreat on all these promises, the adoption of all Israeli demands, and failure to convince his allies, the Israelis, to freeze settlement activity for only two months."

Leading Egyptian daily Al-Ahram published a cartoon showing President Obama trying to give a lesson about the importance of new Middle East, but his hand points to a fractured Middle East and globe.

America's Turkish allies also weren't pleased by Obama's remarks on Israel, calling for him to adopt a "more principled attitude" to Palestinian statehood. "They should not refrain from giving support to Palestinian reconciliation due to Israel's unnecessary reservations," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said in an interview Friday with the CNNTürk news channel.

The reactions of those condemned by President Obama were predictable.

"Palestinian leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection," Obama said. The group responded in kind on its new Arabic website, expressing its "disapproval and condemnation" of the president's comments, which were "grossly biased towards the Zionist occupation at the expense of Palestinian national rights." They also stated that America's approach was "devoid of any new approach concerning the Palestinian issue," which "demonstrates the credibility of the group's [Hamas'] position."

Defectors Claim Iranian Role in 9/11 Attacks

Defectors from Iran's intelligence service have testified that Iranian officials "had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks," according to a federal lawsuit filed in New York against Iran on behalf of families of 9/11 victims. The testimony is being submitted to a judge under seal, thus complicating efforts to conduct a comprehensive independent analysis of its contents.

Nevertheless, the suit is said to seek damages for Iran's "direct support for, and sponsorship of, the most deadly act of terrorism in American history," and alleges that Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hizballah, provided training and travel for the 9/11 hijackers as well as help for al-Qaida operatives in escaping after the attacks. In addition to naming Iran in the $100 billion civil suit, the victims' families also targeted al-Qaida, the Taliban, and "others."

According to defector testimony, top officials from al-Qaida, Hizballah and Iran met several times Iran in the months before the attacks. The unnamed defector also claims his allegations are "supported by government letters and memoranda, photographs and organizational charts."

Suggestions of Iranian complicity in the 9/11 attacks first surfaced in the national 9/11 Commission, though the topic has long been debated given the ideological divide between the Shiite regime in Tehran and the radical Sunni al-Qaida group. Despite their differences, intelligence officials have asserted for some time that the two entities have cooperated to a limited extent against their common enemy, the United States.

The current court filing includes 10 reports from former 9/11 commission staff members as well as ex-CIA officers. These officers reviewed the defectors' testimony and determined it to be credible, according to Janice Kephart, a former lawyer with the 9/11 Commission and expert witness in the suit.

Thomas E. Mellon Jr., a lawyer for the families, said "these experts make it clear that 9/11 depended upon Iranian assistance to al-Qaida in acquiring clean passports and visas to enter the United States." However, the reports fail to support the defectors' claim that Iran had prior knowledge of the attacks.

The defectors, whose identities and testimonies are not disclosed in the court filing for security reasons, worked in Iran's Ministry of Information and Security "in positions that gave them access to sensitive information regarding Iran's state sponsorship of terrorism."

State Department Says Flotilla Will Not Be Helpful

The United States has told Turkey that sending a new flotilla to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip will not be helpful, a State Department officials said during a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.

"The Turkish group that was behind the flotilla that led to the tragedy in May has talked about a flotilla sometime in June. So we're paying very close attention to that," said Philip Gordon, assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian affairs.

The Turkish based-group IHH was behind last year's deadly flotilla raid in the Mediterranean Sea. IHH plans to sail to the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip in conjunction with at least a dozen other boats from countries around the world, including Europe and the United States, during the third week of June.

Gordon's statement was in reply to a question posed by Senator Ben Cardin, D-Md., who said last year's flotilla "challenged" the relationship between the United States and Turkey and asked "Do we have any information as to how we can avoid another major international incident?"

Cardin called the upcoming flotilla a "provocation" because it is planned close to the one-year anniversary of last year's effort. Cardin noted that the Turkish government supported the flotilla "from a political point of view" and "they were clearly involved."

"Well they certainly didn't stop it," Gordon replied. "We've been very clear with them that a new flotilla will in no way be helpful. And in the year since the last flotilla episode Israel has changed the humanitarian regime for Gaza, [and] made very clear that there are alternative ways to get humanitarian assistance to Gaza. So any government or NGO that wants to send genuinely humanitarian goods to Gaza has a way of doing it that is uncontested. And we very much believe that and have been very clear with the Turkish government that that's the case. And we have asked them to make clear to any Turkish NGOs that might want to send a ship that they should really find this other path."

The Turkish government refuses to pressure IHH to stop the upcoming flotilla, according to an article that ran online Tuesday in the Turkey's Today's Zaman. "It is an orientalist belief that nongovernmental groups in Turkey move when they are told by the state to move and stop when they are told to do so," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was quoted as saying.

But two reports – by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center issued in the past year found Turkish government involvement in the flotilla, including the office of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

German-American Intelligence Breakdown

Germany's government has limited the type of information that its intelligence services will pass to their American counterparts, a dangerous game for the West's mutually dependant intelligence agencies, according to Der Spiegel. The action was a response to mounting pressure on Germany's ruling CDU party after American drone strikes killed German Islamists abroad, following the transfer of German intelligence information.

The breakdown could be problematic for both intelligence agencies. German intelligence relies heavily on American information, such as in the case of a Düsseldorf terror cell headed by Moroccan national Abdeladim el-K. American services rely on German information and cooperation, in addition to Germany's key role as an ally in the war on terror.

"There are many indications that the German government is contributing to these attacks," said Green Party MP Hans-Christian Ströbele. "This would make it partially responsible for such killings." Local Amnesty International leaders are also demanding the government make clear the role German federal police and the BFV intelligence agency.

Launching drone attacks is controversial in Germany, which is concerned about violating the sovereignty of other nations and killing civilians as collateral damage. "At the same time, the [German] public has been alarmed over the treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo detention camp, the use of torture-like methods during interrogations and the spiriting away of suspected terrorists to covert prisons," Der Spiegel reports.

Some German politicians even think of the attacks as extralegal strikes, such as Left Party parliamentarian Wolfgang Neškovi's comment that the strikes are "Washington's fire and brimstone against America's enemies."

The situation could get nastier. An investigation in Germany over the death of an Islamist killed by American drone strikes could result in charges against unnamed Americans. German intelligence insists that language it used in transferring information indicated that they did not want American forces to target their citizens.

Documentary Targets Islamist Radicalization in Nashville

An online documentary traces the path to radicalism and murder followed by Carlos Bledsoe, a bright, talented freshman from Memphis, who dropped out of school after converting to Islam and his name to Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad.

He was arrested in June 2009 and charged with killing Army Pvt. William Long and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, outside a military recruiting center in Little Rock, Ark.

"I don't think it was murder," Muhammad said in an interview excerpted in the documentary "Losing Our Community."

"Because murder is when a person kills another person without justified reason. And what I did was Islamic justified and also justified by common sense, you know. U.S. soldiers are killing innocent Muslim men and women…we believe we have to strike back."

The documentary, produced by Americans for Peace and Tolerance, showcases radical statements by a Memphis-area imam who is among the leaders of the Olive Tree Education foundation, a Muslim outreach group operated by the Islamic Center of Nashville (ICN).

Awadh Binhazim co-founded the Olive Tree Foundation and is vice president of the ICN. According to the film, Binhazim and Mohamed taught classes at Tennessee State during and after Carlos' time in Nashville. He also serves as chaplain of the Muslim Students Association at Vanderbilt University.

In one clip shown in the documentary, Binhazim says that Islamic law calls for the execution of homosexuals.

In Nashville, Binhazim professes to be a proponent of "interfaith dialogue" with Jews and Christians. The film shows him emphasizing to "progressive" local Jewish and Christian leaders that Muslims believe in both the Gospel and the Torah. But they show him speaking to Muslims behind closed doors asserting that Torah and the Gospel have been twisted by "the corrupt rabbis and priests of the time" who "distorted the word of God."

The program also is critical of news media for not ferreting out the radical views of those accepted as voices of peace and moderation.

Watch the film here.

Shock Factor = 0: Iran Conference Casts U.S., Israel as Primary Perpetrators of Global Terrorism

The United States has spread terrorism throughout the world under the guise of working toward world peace, senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Kamal Helbawy told attendees at last weekend's International Conference on Global Alliance against Terrorism for a Just Peace in Tehran.

As such, the nation that "destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki…created terror in Korea and Vietnam…attacked Iraq and Afghanistan, and at the same time is blindly supporting Israel," should be viewed as the world's biggest terrorist, Helbawy said in written remarks posted on the conference's website.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad echoed the sentiment in his remarks. In typical fashion, he also assigned blame to Iran's go-to scapegoat, Israel, and called for its destruction.

"The reason for our insistence that the Zionist regime should be wiped out and vanished is that the Zionist regime is the main base for imposing oppression and harbors the main terrorists of the world," Ahmadinejad said.

No mention was made of Iran's support for designated terrorists Hizballah and Hamas, or other noted militants.

Attempts by the United States to show its genuineness in the fight against terrorism are nothing but a ruse, Ahmadinejad said at the conference. He dismissed "US allegations about the hunt down of the Al-Qaeda Leader, Osama bin Laden, as an act staged on the world scene" for domestic political reasons, and supported earlier comments by Helbawy that the United States had hindered real efforts by Iran to fight terrorism.

Helbawy, the former Muslim Brotherhood representative in the West who recently returned to Egypt after a self-imposed exile, has long been a vocal supporter of the Iranian regime and frequently appears in the Iranian press. On numerous occasions, he has promoted the Islamic Republic as the model for which all Muslims should strive.

The Iranian president noted that last weekend's inaugural "Just Peace" conference was launched to counter ongoing efforts by the United States to attempt to define terrorism according to its own national interests. In light of American maneuvering, "Iran deemed it necessary to initiate a 'sound' movement for the global campaign against terrorism," Ahmadinejad said.

On a similarly bewildering note, on Monday, Iran's PressTV reported that the Islamic Republic planned to launch a new English-language news agency to report on human rights abuses in the United States and Britain. No disclaimer was included in the announcement regarding Iran's own troubling record with regard to human rights including the brutal suppression of anti-government protests.

IHH Calls Killing of bin Laden a Terrorist Attack

The Turkish-based organization IHH, which was behind last year's deadly flotilla confrontation in the Mediterranean Sea and has ties to Hamas, denounced the American killing of Osama bin Laden, according to a report released Wednesday by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

Earlier this month, IHH, along with other Turkish Islamist organizations, held a press conference in Istanbul and issued a joint statement denouncing the "American terrorist attack" on bin Laden. At the conference, IHH representative Osama Atalay gave a speech attacking the United States for killing thousands of Iraqi and Pakistani civilians. "American terrorism" had to be condemned, he said, and the killing of bin Laden was illegal.

Other groups which condemned the American raid in Abottabad, Pakistan include the Muslim Brotherhood and the terrorist group Hamas, which controls Gaza.

Atalay is an IHH trustee and board member. He was a passenger on the Mavi Marmara ship that tried to break through the Israeli naval blockade on the Hamas government in Gaza. Of the six ships in the flotilla, the Mavi Marmara was the only one to ignore Israeli navy warnings that they would be stopped if they did not turn away. Israeli commandos were attacked with clubs, knives, axes and other weapons when they tried to board the ship. A group of approximately 40 IHH activists were prepared in advance by IHH head Bulent Yildirim to carry out a violent confrontation with Israel. Nine passengers were killed in the ensuing violence.

IHH had ties to al-Qaida, according to U.S. court documents. French intelligence expert Jean Louis-Bruguiere stated during the April 2001trial of "millennium bomber" Ahmed Ressam that IHH played an "important role" in the al-Qaida planned Millennium bomb plot. Bruguiere also said in an interview with the Associated Press last June, "They [IHH] were basically helping al-Qaida when (Osama) bin Laden started to want to target U.S. soil."

IHH is preparing for a new flotilla, which plans to sail to Gaza during the third week of June.

A week ago, Yildirim gave a telephone interview with Turkey's Channel 5 TV about the preparations. He said "we are not afraid" and "even if we sacrifice shaheeds [martyrs] for this cause, we will have justice on our side."

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