Hamas Leaving Syria for Egypt, Qatar

Tension between the Syrian government and Hamas has reached the breaking point, with the group reportedly leaving Syria, according to Egyptian paper Al-Hayat Daily and the Muslim Brotherhood's news website. Egypt has also pushed for greater recognition of the terrorist organization, as Hamas prepares to join a unity government and a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.

Hamas recently denied rumors that it would be leaving Syria, but increasing pressure by the regime forced them to consider other options. "The Syrian government said to us, 'Whoever is not with us is against us,'" a unnamed senior Hamas official in Syria told UPI. "It wants us to express clearly our position over what is going on in Syria. It wants us to be against the Syrian demonstrations."

"We told them we are neutral. We said to them we are living in the country as visitors and we have no right to comment or interfere in the country's problems," the official said. However, the regime rejected the group's neutrality and has been applying strong pressure on it to support the regime.

According to al-Hayat Daily, Qatar accepted Hamas' political leadership but rejected hosting its military wing. Efforts by the terrorist group to secure a place in Egypt and Jordan failed, although Egypt has agreed to allow Hamas political officer Mousa Abu Marzook, a U.S. Specially Designated Terrorist, to open up an office in Cairo.

Corresponding to the growing support for Hamas in Egypt is a shift in Egyptian foreign policy. Although Hamas still refuses to recognize or negotiate with Israel, Egypt announced that it will support a unilateral declaration of statehood by the new Hamas-Fatah unity government. Foreign Minister Nabil Al-Araby also proposed that the United States follow suit in recognizing the Palestinian state, even though the call could upset members of Congress, who may in turn restrict aid to the post-Mubarak regime.

Clinton, Taliban Trade Barbs

The Taliban has pledged a new spring offensive against coalition troops in Afghanistan, starting on May 1^st and commemorating the 10^th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded in kind, saying that the U.S. would take the opportunity of bin Laden's death to "redouble our efforts."

"Today, our sacred Jihad against all foreign invaders in Afghanistan successfully steps up to the threshold of its tenth year, with the help of the Almighty Allah (SWT) and your prideful Jihad and selfless sacrifice," said a Taliban declaration featured on jihadi websites. "With the approach of the spring, the Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants to declare the launching of the spring military operations christened as 'Badar' to be waged against the invading Americans and their foreign Allies and internal supports."

Among the grievances cited is the desecration of "the holiest Divine Book of the Muslims, the Holy Quran." Reports of dozens of operations on May 1^st and 2^nd have been announced on jihadi websites, and one attack featured a 12-year-old suicide bomber.

The nine-point declaration reiterates previous targets, including foreign and domestic soldiers, the "Kabul puppet administration," the negotiating body called the Peace Council, international aid workers and employees of companies. It also called on Mujahideen groups pay "strict attention" to the "protection and safety of civilians," while telling innocents to stay away from "gathering, convoys and centers of the enemy." The naming of the new operations Badar corresponds to a classic battle of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, in which he wiped out key polytheist leaders.

In remarks Monday, Clinton stressed that bin Laden's death did not mean an end to the U.S. fight against al-Qaida and their Taliban allies. "Our message to the Taliban remains the same, but today it may have greater resonance: You cannot wait us out. You cannot defeat us. But you can make the choice to abandon al Qaida and participate in a peaceful political process," she stated at the State Department Monday morning. "The fight continues and we will never waver."

"History will record that bin Laden's death came at time of great movements towards freedom and democracy, at a time when the people across the Middle East and North Africa are rejecting the extremist narrative," she said. "There is no better rebuke to al Qaida and its heinous ideology."

Portland Rejoins JTTF in Time for Threat Briefings

Members of Portland's City Council unanimously approved a deal Thursday which will allow the city's police force to rejoin the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

And just in time. Portland police will be able to attend FBI briefings regarding threats in light of the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces Sunday, the Oregonian reports.

Portland is paying "close attention" to potential threats, said Dwight Holton, U.S. Attorney for Oregon. "I reached out to the (Portland police) chief right away because (Portland) is part of the team," he said. "It's helpful to have them back at it with us."

"This is the kind of time when having more local eyes and ears is especially important," said Holton.

In 2005, Portland became the first city to withdraw from the task force after the arrest of Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield as a suspect in the 2004 Madrid bombings. The FBI later released Mayfield and apologized for erroneously linking him to the attack.

The city reconsidered its decision last November, after the FBI arrested a Somali teenager who attempted to detonate a bomb during Portland's Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The bomb, provided by the FBI, was inert. Mohamed Osman Mohamud picked the ceremony as his target, according to a government indictment.

Portland police were only notified of the operation right before it occurred, when the FBI consulted them about the logistics of the sting operation. Mayor Sam Adams didn't know about the plot until after the arrest.

Police Chief Michael Reese acknowledged that, "the 2005 resolution, while well intentioned, wasn't meeting the needs of collaboration between local and federal law enforcement." "You're going to be an afterthought, like we were in that investigation," he said referring to the tree-lighting bomb plot.

Those opposed to Portland rejoining the task force say that JTTF operations, which allow federal officials to begin investigating without evidence of a crime, violate Oregon law which protects individuals' First Amendment rights.

As part of the new agreement, however, police officers must abide by Oregon law "in situations where the statutory or common law of Oregon is more restrictive of law enforcement than comparable federal law."

Officers may only be placed on cases which involve identified crimes and the city's chief of police, not the FBI, has the final say regarding which cases to which officers will be assigned.

"We've tried to strike a balance," said Adams. "We reject the false choice, that we can only protect civil liberties and civil rights or we can only prevent terrorism. We can do both."

BREAKING: Bin Laden Dead

Al-Qaida's leader and founder Osama Bin Laden has been killed and the United States has his body, President Obama confirmed tonight. The President addressed the nation on the key development at around 11:30 PM EDT, saying that "his demise should be welcomed by all of those who believe in peace and human dignity."

"The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al-Qaida," President Obama said in live remarks.

The President noted that the special operations mission had taken place in Abbottābad, Pakistan Sunday, with credible intelligence dating back to August 2010. It was decided over the past week that that intelligence was actionable.

In the speech, he urged the world's Muslims to not see this as an attack on Islam. "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims," he said. "Osama bin Laden had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing" its civilians and soldiers.

Bin Laden had been America's most wanted terrorist and was responsible for several massive terror attacks on American citizens. He also took credit for the deadliest terror attack in American history, the September 11, 2001 attacks. He had previously been characterized as the "most wanted man on the planet" and was added to FBI's Most Wanted List in June of 1999.

Jihadi websites like Ansar al-Mujahideen have noted the death of the legendary mega-terrorist, but al-Qaida and its affiliates have yet to issue a formal response.

After the Presidential address, former President George W. Bush commented on the announcement, calling the death of Bin Laden a "momentous achievement." "The fight against terror goes on," he said, "but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done."

Fatah/Hamas Deal Draws Bipartisan Fire on Capitol Hill

In the wake of this week's announcement that Fatah and Hamas will form a unity government, bipartisan congressional opposition is emerging to continued U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), reports Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin.

Obama Administration officials said Thursday that they would not support the new PA government unless it commits to peace conditions spelled out by the Quartet, a group that consists of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. Those conditions include recognition of prior Israeli-Palestinian agreements, renunciation of violence, and recognition of Israel's right to exist. But the administration has stopped short of supporting a halt to aid to the PA, which is slated to receive $550 million in American assistance this year.

Calls for an aid cutoff are mounting on Capitol Hill, however. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Tex., the chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee which oversees U.S. foreign assistance programs, and the subcommittee's ranking member, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., sent a letter to PA President Mahmoud Abbas threatening to cut off aid if he moves forward with the plan to join with Hamas.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said the merger means that U.S. aid to the PA must end.

"The reported agreement between Fatah and Hamas means that a Foreign Terrorist Organization which has called for the destruction of Israel will be part of the Palestinian Authority government. U.S. taxpayer funds should not and must not be used to support those who threaten U.S. security, our interests, and our vital ally, Israel," Ros-Lehtinen said Wednesday in a statement.

Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., the ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, called the Fatah/Hamas deal "a recipe for failure, mixed with violence, leading to disaster" and "a ghastly mistake that I fear will be paid for in the lives of innocent Israelis."

By making a deal with Hamas, Abbas appears to be "writing off partnership with the United States," Ackerman said. Under the circumstances, Washington "will be compelled by both law and decency" to withhold any assistance that could possibly come under the control of Hamas.

The administration, by contrast, is leaving the door open to U.S. assistance.

The United States "supports Palestinian reconciliation on terms which promote the cause of peace," said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor. "Hamas, however, is a terrorist organization which targets civilians. To play a constructive role in achieving peace, any Palestinian government must accept the Quartet principles and renounce violence, abide by past agreements, and recognize Israel's right to exist."

But the administration has refused to explain how it would react if that doesn't happen.

In her column, Rubin asked Vietor whether his statement meant Washington is prohibited from giving aid to the PA because of Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel and renounce terror. The NSC spokesman declined to say anything beyond the initial statement.

But, speaking on background, a State Department official made clear the administration isn't drawing any red lines:

"If a new Palestinian government is formed, we will assess it based on its policies at that time and will determine the implications for assistance based on U.S. law."

Al-Qaida Arrests in Germany

German police apprehended three armed al-Qaida suspects on Friday in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The detentions were because of "a concrete and imminent" threat and have fulfilled expectations of a "Mumbai-style" attack planned in Western Europe.

The three Moroccan suspects, whose age and nationality have not been released, were apprehended with a "large amount of explosives," according to German news site www.bild.de. The site identified the trio as Abdeladim K. from Dusseldorf, Jamil S. from Essen, and Ahmed Sh. from Bochum.

The three suspects came to the attention of police through surveillance of their mobile phones and computer communications, an effort that began only on April 15^th. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, state police and foreign authorities were all involved in the investigation, according to Deutsche Welle.

The prosecutor's office in the southern city of Karlsruhe claimed that the three had been arrested on Friday and would appear before court on Saturday. A news conference at that time would provide additional information.

The scale of the planned attack has been compared to the 2007 arrest of the Sauerland terrorist group, Germany's most dangerous Islamist plot to date.

The Tehran-Damascus Axis and Assad's Bloody Crackdown

"Israelis are more merciful than you," screamed a Syrian woman in Deraa who opened her door Wednesday to find a member of the Syrian secret police staring menacingly at her. Those would be her final words. Seconds later, the policeman shot dead the woman, a 42-year-old mother of six known as Um Omar.

The slaying was mentioned in a chilling account of Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown published Thursday by Reuters. Three days earlier, Syrian Army tanks rolled into Deraa, a city near the Jordanian border where nationwide protests against the Assad dictatorship began last month. Residents said at least 50 bodies have been picked up while dozens more corpses lay rotting in the city streets. Um Omar was buried in her own backyard because Muslim tradition barred keeping her body with the corpses of 22 men lying in a refrigerator truck while awaiting burial.

While the government massacres its own people, Syrian officials are threatening Israel. They warn that if war breaks out with the Jewish State, Damascus and Hizballah will compete with one another to see who will fire the first missile at Tel Aviv. Syrian officials say the deteriorating security situation there could influence events in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Hundreds of Syrians have already fled to Lebanon and Jordan.

In Deraa, the epicenter of the Syrian government's crackdown, angry residents said at least 40 tanks from the Army's 4^th Mechanised Brigade, commanded by Assad's brother Maher, have deployed in the city. Water, electricity and telephone services have been cut off, and critical supplies of milk for babies and blood for transfusions are running low.

"There are still a lot of bodies in the streets," said one resident. "Anyone who gets out will find a sniper to shoot him. They are not sparing anyone, men, women or children."

There are also reports that Syrian Army units have clashed with one another over the crackdown, and that possibly 20 soldiers have been executed for failing to kill civilians. An estimated 450 people have been killed in the month-long wave of Syrian unrest and hundreds of members of Syria's ruling Baath Party have reportedly quit in protest of the regime's actions.

There are also reports from Syrian opposition sources that the Islamist regime in Tehran has sent snipers to help Assad kill his political opponents. Amir Taheri, a longtime observer of events in the Mideast, says these reports are credible given the longstanding strategic and military between Tehran and Damascus. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regards the United States as being in historic retreat, and the fall of the Baathist regime would destroy many of his political aspirations. That gives Tehran considerable motivation to employ or facilitate violence in an effort to help Assad hold on to power, according to Taheri.

Read more about developments in Syria here.

Site Ranks Scariest Airplane Hijackings

The Criminal Justice Degrees Guide has released a list of the top 10 scariest airplane hijackings prior to 9/11.

Among them is a 1970 attempt to commandeer four airplanes by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Two were successfully diverted to Dawson's Field in the Jordanian Desert. The hijackers won the release of two comrades, but still blew up the airplanes after the hostages were released. (See a first-hand account here) The event helped trigger Jordan's attempt to push out the PLO, known as Black September.

Also listed is the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight by two members of the PFLP and two members of the German Revolutionary Cells. They took the Paris-bound flight with its 259 hostages at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. The crisis ended with a daring rescue operation launched by Israel known as Operation Entebbe. Three passengers, an Israeli commando, and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed in the operation. It still is considered one of the most successful hostage rescues in history.

To see the complete list, click here.

Where Islamists Clash, Cooperate

Within Islamist philosophy, groups aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood have traditionally clashed with their more conservative counterparts, the Salafists. However, a new article in The Economist identifies a growing cooperation and ideological "crosspollination" between the two factions, despite conflict in battlegrounds like Gaza.

"But the lines separating the two schools are increasingly blurred. Across the region many share similar experiences. When Egypt suppressed the Brothers in the 1950s, many found refuge in Saudi Arabia, where the movements cross-fertilised," The Economist reports. "Under Salafist influence, the Brothers have adopted more classical jargon; and the recent Arab uprisings have helped the Brothers sway fellow Salafis into pondering whether civil opposition might not be better at changing regimes than setting off bombs."

"Most Salafist jihadists still want to have their felafel and eat it. A few of their brethren—for instance, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and Egypt's Gama'a Islamiya—seem for the moment to have disavowed violence, as other more moderate Islamists, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, now do," the article notes. "But most Salafists still want to bomb and fight."

Cooperation has been pragmatic, but also hesitant and inconsistent. Salafists in Egypt recently called participation in upcoming elections, a "raid via ballot boxes," showing a departure from the MB's ideology. However, it's not an altering of the traditionally militant Salafist rhetoric. The groups also routinely attack the methods of one another, despite a similar desire for the rule of Islamic law.

The Muslim Brotherhood has criticized Egyptian Salafists for their aggressive and violent methods. "It appears sadly that some Salafists, after years of opposing politics, want to step in to undermine the revolution by abusing democracy and taking advantage of the freedom Egyptians have fought and sacrificed their lives for, in order to impose their ideology," Khaled Hamza writes for the English-language Brotherhood site, ikhwanweb.com. "Although Islam promotes democracy, which means freedom, it does not justify the wanton destruction of property public or private regardless of motives."

In Gaza, Salafists recently murdered Italian Vittorio Arrigoni, a strike at international activists helping the Hamas regime. The message of the Salafists is making headway there, according to The Economist article, because Hamas rule has not ended corruption and has not fully implemented Islamic law.

Dutch Target IHH

IHH Netherlands was designated by the Dutch Foreign Ministry Wednesday as a terrorist organization. All assets of the organization have been frozen and transactions with IHH Netherlands are prohibited.

IHH is a Turkish-based organization that has extensive ties to Hamas, and was behind the flotilla that triggered last year's deadly confrontation with Israeli commandos in the Mediterranean Sea. Germany banned the Frankfurt-based IHH group last July for funneling money to Hamas. The Turkish IHH organization denied having any ties with the Frankfurt organization; however, German media reports suggested cooperation between the two groups.

IHH Netherlands was founded in 1993 in Amsterdam during the Bosnian war. Its connections to the Turkish IHH remain unclear; IHH in Turkey denies having any links with organizations in Europe that utilize its same name and logo.

IHH Netherlands is not planning to take part in the upcoming flotilla to Gaza, or Freedom Flotilla II, of which the Turkish IHH is one of the leading organizers.

The United States is considering a designation of the Turkish IHH (Insan Haklari Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi). "I believe we're looking at the IHH, but it's a long process to designate something – an organization a Foreign Terrorist Organization and there's nothing to announce on that," State Department spokesman Marc C. Toner said last July. In a letter to members of Congress the next month, State's Office of Legislative Affairs said "U.S. government agencies are taking a close look at IHH" for designation by the Treasury Department because "serious questions of support to terrorist organizations have been raised."

Israel banned the Turkish IHH in 2008 because it is a member of the Union of Good, and added it to its terror watch list last June. The Union of the Good was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2008 for its financial support to Hamas. "In addition to providing cover for Hamas financial transfers, some of the funds transferred by the Union of Good have compensated Hamas terrorists by providing payments to the families of suicide bombers," according to the Treasury press release.

Freedom Flotilla II, led by IHH and several other pro-Palestinian organizations, plans to sail to Gaza following the Turkish elections in June with 15 to 20 ships. Some news reports suggest that plans for this year's flotilla are meeting with difficulty, stating that some people cancelled after signing up for the flotilla after learning they could be arrested in Israel. Furthermore, ship owners may refuse to donate or loan ships for the operation because they can be confiscated by Israel as well. Nonetheless, IHH has remained defiant in its mission to sail to Gaza.

IHH head Bulent Yildirim told an audience in Turkey earlier this month, "The Mediterranean does not belong to Israel... Just because we have had shahids [martyrs], we are not fearful... We will not step back... Let all know this: Until the blockade on Gaza is lifted... and until our march to al-Aqsa is completed, this sea intifada and land intifada will continue!"

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