Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:29

Iraqi Army Downs 2 UK Planes Carrying Weapons for ISIL

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13931204001534

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq's army has shot down two British planes as they were carrying weapons for the ISIL terrorists in Al-Anbar province, a senior lawmaker disclosed on Monday.

"The Iraqi Parliament's National Security and Defense Committee has access to the photos of both planes that are British and have crashed while they were carrying weapons for the ISIL," Head of the committee Hakem al-Zameli said, according to a Monday report of the Arabic-language information center of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.

He said the Iraqi parliament has asked London for explanations in this regard.

The senior Iraqi legislator further unveiled that the government in Baghdad is receiving daily reports from people and security forces in al-Anbar province on numerous flights by the US-led coalition planes that airdrop weapons and supplies for ISIL in terrorist-held areas.

The Iraqi lawmaker further noted the cause of such western aids to the terrorist group, and explained that the US prefers a chaotic situation in Anbar Province which is near the cities of Karbala and Baghdad as it does not want the ISIL crisis to come to an end.

Earlier today, a senior Iraqi provincial official lashed out at the western countries and their regional allies for supporting Takfiri terrorists in Iraq, revealing that US and Israeli-made weapons have been discovered from the areas purged of ISIL terrorists.

"We have discovered weapons made in the US, European countries and Israel from the areas liberated from ISIL's control in Al-Baqdadi region," the Al-Ahad news website quoted Head of Al-Anbar Provincial Council Khalaf Tarmouz as saying.

He noted that the weapons made by the European countries and Israel were discovered from the terrorists in the Eastern parts of the city of Ramadi.

Al-Zameli had also disclosed in January that the anti-ISIL coalition's planes have dropped weapons and foodstuff for the ISIL in Salahuddin, Al-Anbar and Diyala provinces.

Al-Zameli underlined that the coalition is the main cause of ISIL's survival in Iraq.

"There are proofs and evidence for the US-led coalition's military aid to ISIL terrorists through air(dropped cargoes)," he told FNA in January.

He noted that the members of his committee have already proved that the US planes have dropped advanced weaponry, including anti-aircraft weapons, for the ISIL, and that it has set up an investigation committee to probe into the matter.

"The US drops weapons for the ISIL on the excuse of not knowing about the whereabouts of the ISIL positions and it is trying to distort the reality with its allegations.

He noted that the committee had collected the data and the evidence provided by eyewitnesses, including Iraqi army officers and the popular forces, and said, "These documents are given to the investigation committee ... and the necessary measures will be taken to protect the Iraqi airspace."

Also in January, another senior Iraqi legislator reiterated that the US-led coalition is the main cause of ISIL's survival in Iraq.

"The international coalition is only an excuse for protecting the ISIL and helping the terrorist group with equipment and weapons," Jome Divan, who is member of the al-Sadr bloc in the Iraqi parliament, said.

He said the coalition's support for the ISIL is now evident to everyone, and continued, "The coalition has not targeted ISIL's main positions in Iraq."

In late December, Iraqi Parliamentary Security and Defense Commission MP disclosed that a US plane supplied the ISIL terrorist organization with arms and ammunition in Salahuddin province.

MP Majid al-Gharawi stated that the available information pointed out that US planes are supplying ISIL organization, not only in Salahuddin province, but also other provinces, Iraq TradeLink reported.

He added that the US and the international coalition are "not serious in fighting against the ISIL organization, because they have the technological power to determine the presence of ISIL gunmen and destroy them in one month".

Gharawi added that "the US is trying to expand the time of the war against the ISIL to get guarantees from the Iraqi government to have its bases in Mosul and Anbar provinces."

Salahuddin security commission also disclosed that "unknown planes threw arms and ammunition to the ISIL gunmen Southeast of Tikrit city".

Also in Late December, a senior Iraqi lawmaker raised doubts about the seriousness of the anti-ISIL coalition led by the US, and said that the terrorist group still received aids dropped by unidentified aircraft.

"The international coalition is not serious about air strikes on ISIL terrorists and is even seeking to take out the popular (voluntary) forces from the battlefield against the Takfiris so that the problem with ISIL remains unsolved in the near future," Nahlah al-Hababi told FNA.

"The ISIL terrorists are still receiving aids from unidentified fighter jets in Iraq and Syria," she added.

Hababi said that the coalition's precise airstrikes are launched only in those areas where the Kurdish Pishmarga forces are present, while military strikes in other regions are not so much precise.

In late December, the US-led coalition dropped aids to the Takfiri militants in an area North of Baghdad.

Field sources in Iraq told al-Manar that the international coalition airplanes dropped aids to the terrorist militants in Balad, an area which lies in Salahuddin province North of Baghdad.

In October, a high-ranking Iranian commander also slammed the US for providing aid supplies to ISIL, adding that the US claims that the weapons were mistakenly airdropped to ISIL were untrue.

“The US and the so-called anti-ISIL coalition claim that they have launched a campaign against this terrorist and criminal group - while supplying them with weapons, food and medicine in Jalawla region (a town in Diyala Governorate, Iraq). This explicitly displays the falsity of the coalition's and the US' claims,” Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said.

The US claimed that it had airdropped weapons and medical aid to Kurdish fighters confronting the ISIL in Kobani, near the Turkish border in Northern Syria.

The US Defense Department said that it had airdropped 28 bundles of weapons and supplies, but one of them did not make it into the hands of the Kurdish fighters.

Video footage later showed that some of the weapons that the US airdropped were taken by ISIL militants.

The Iranian commander insisted that the US had the necessary intelligence about ISIL's deployment in the region and that their claims to have mistakenly airdropped weapons to them are as unlikely as they are untrue.

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‘Beautiful man’? ISIS killer Jihadi John ‘radicalized by UK govt,’ claims charity
Published time: February 26, 2015 15:04
Edited time: February 26, 2015 17:13

http://rt.com/uk/235811-jihadi-john-radicalised-government/

Following the identification of the British extremist formerly known as Jihadi John, thought responsible for the execution of a number of ISIS held hostages, a charity has blamed the UK government for his radicalization.

Jihadi John was revealed on Thursday by the Washington Post to be Mohammad Emwazi, a young British man from West London who was known to British security services.

The Home Office refused to confirm his identity due to operational risk, claiming lives were at stake if his identity was publicly known.

Emwazi is thought to have killed American journalist James Foley in a video released last August.

He is further believed to have featured in the videos of the beheadings of US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning and US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter.

At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, research director Asim Qureshi documented the communications between himself and Emwazi.

He said the suspected terrorist was in contact with independent advocacy group CAGE for two years after UK security forces interfered with his plans to travel to Kuwait and attempted to recruit him as a spy.

CAGE says he was also detained and interrogated in 2009 on what was supposed to be a safari holiday in Tanzania.

“I have been trying to find out the reason for my refused visa issue from my home country Kuwait, and a way to solve the issue. So through my friends in Kuwait, it has been said to me that Kuwait has no problem with me entering, and the reason for my refusal is simply because the UK agents have told them to not let me in!” CAGE reported him as saying.

Qureshi called the government’s policies “suffocating.”

READ MORE: 'Jihadi John' identified: ISIS killer named as Mohammed Emwazi from West London

“Like Michael Adebolajo, suffocating domestic policies aimed at turning a person into an informant but which prevent a person from fulfilling their basic life needs would have left a lasting impression on Emwazi. He desperately wanted to use the system to change his situation, but the system ultimately rejected him.”

He further said the government has created a “narrative of injustice” where Muslims are persecuted and inevitably “felt like outsiders.” He called for a radical overhaul of the system.

But Qureshi, who at one stage during the press conference became tearful and called Emwazi a softly-spoken “beautiful man,” is believed to have links to other Islamist campaign groups.

The director was filmed at demonstrations at the US Embassy in 2006, calling for Muslims to “support the jihad of our brothers and sisters” in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Chechnya.

“We know that it is incumbent upon all of us, to support the jihad of our brothers and sisters in these countries when they are facing the oppression of the West. Allahu Akhbar! Allahu Akhbar!” he said.

The comments from CAGE, however, have been criticized for presenting a skewed view of Emwazi's experience, with critics noting that it is normal for security services to try to recruit suspects, provided it is within the law.

The campaign group was also labeled “pro-Jihadi” in 2010 after an Amnesty International official stepped down over the charity's links with CAGE.

A one-sided, misleading, and totally de-contextualised article by @UK_CAGE. Includes plain falsehoods. http://t.co/AU6ZazwFy1 #JihadiJohn

— Shashank Joshi (@shashj) February 26, 2015

Emwazi is reported to have links to a former UK control order suspect, who fled to Somalia in 2006 and has alleged links to the funding of militant group Al Shabab, who recently threatened to carry out terror attacks on London’s Oxford Street.

Emwazi is a computer programming graduate of the University of Westminster, who lived in Queen’s Park, West London. The University has previously come under fire for giving radical speakers a platform.

He last had contact with CAGE in January 2012, Qureshi said, is believed to have traveled to Syria that year, where he later joined the Islamic State.

One of his friends told the Washington Post that he had “no doubt” that “Mohammed is Jihadi John,” but his family have yet to confirm the rumors, with Qureshi saying that they were in shock at the revelations.

“He was like a brother to me… I am sure it is him. There was an extremely strong resemblance. This is making me feel fairly certain that this is the same person” the friend added.

These fresh revelations contradict previous speculation of Jihadi John’s identity as Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, a rapper from London.

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at Kings College London released a statement on Thursday afternoon, saying Emwazi fitted the profile of other British jihadis who had joined ISIS.

“‘Jihadi John’ is not special in the sense that all the foreign fighters have tried to hide their identity by using pseudonyms or literally by masking themselves,” they said.

Emwazi was a middle-class university graduate, something the Centre said was important to note.

“This demonstrates what we have long said about radicalization, that it is not something driven by poverty or social deprivation. Ideology clearly plays a big role in motivating some men to participate in jihadist causes.”

“British fighters have clearly demonstrated that they are not in this conflict to take a back seat. They are full participants in this war, operating as suicide bombers, hostage takers and executioners.”

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Enyone had have enough of city of london?

IZAKOVIC