ISIS spreading outside its base: NYT

Washington- The Islamic State is expanding beyond its base in Syria and Iraq to establish militant affiliates in Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt and Libya, American intelligence officials assert, raising the prospect of a new global war on terror, the New York Times reported Sunday.

Intelligence officials estimate that the group’s fighters number 20,000 to 31,500 in Syria and Iraq. There are less formal pledges of support from “probably at least a couple hundred extremists” in countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Yemen, according to an American counterterrorism official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information about the group.

Lt. Gen. Vincent R. Stewart, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said in an assessment this month that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, was “beginning to assemble a growing international footprint.” Nicholas Rasmussen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, echoed General Stewart’s analysis in testimony before Congress last week.

The sudden proliferation of Islamic State affiliates and loyalist fighters motivated the White House’s push to give Mr. Obama and his successor new authority to pursue the group wherever its followers emerge — just as he and President George W. Bush hunted Qaeda franchises outside the group’s headquarters, first in Afghanistan and then in Pakistan, for the past decade.

“Factions which were at one time part of Al Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as groups loyal to it or in some ways working in tandem with it, have moved on to what they see as more of a winning group,” said Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute in Washington, which monitors Arabic-language news media and websites.

In Afghanistan last week, an American drone strike killed a former Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and had recently begun recruiting fighters. But that pledge seemed to indicate less a major expansion of the Islamic State than a deepening of internal divisions in the Taliban.

There is no indication that the Islamic State controls territory in Afghanistan, but it has signaled its interest in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has reportedly sent envoys there to recruit. Western officials, especially in southern Europe, fear that the three Libyan “provinces” could evolve into bases for Islamic State fighters traveling across the Mediterranean, into Egypt or elsewhere in North Africa. Eastern Libya has already become a training ground for jihadists going to Syria or Iraq and a haven for Egyptian fighters staging attacks in the neighboring desert.

Original post found here: http://nation.com.pk/international/15-Feb-2015/isis-spreading-outside-its-base-nyt

Obama seeks some limits on ground troops for Islamic State fight

Militant Islamist fighters hold the flag of Islamic State while taking part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province, June 30, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Stringer

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will propose to Congress on Wednesday a new three-year authorization for the use of force against Islamic State with limits on U.S. combat troops' involvement, lawmakers and congressional aides said.
Obama has defended his authority to lead an international coalition against Islamic State since Aug. 8 when U.S. fighter jets began attacking the jihadists in Iraq. But he has faced criticism for failing to seek the backing of Congress, where some accuse him of breaching his constitutional authority.
Facing pressure to let lawmakers weigh in on an issue as important as the deployment of troops and chastened by elections that handed power in Congress to Republicans, he said in November he would request formal authorization for the use of military force (AUMF).
An outline of that request, expected to be handed to Congress on Wednesday, could stir debate over how U.S. troops should be deployed and the extent of U.S. engagement in Iraq and Syria.
The proposal would allow the use of special forces and advisors for defensive purposes but bar "enduring offensive ground forces," lawmakers and aides said. It would not, however, set geographic limits for the campaign against the group.
Until now, Obama has justified U.S. air strikes in Iraq and Syria under a 2001 authorization passed after the Sept. 11 attacks and a 2002 authorization used by President George W. Bush in the Iraq war.
The new proposal would repeal the 2002 authorization but leave in place the 2001 AUMF, which has been invoked by the White House to carry out drone and missile strikes against suspected al Qaeda militants in Yemen and Somalia.


Fueled by outrage over the death of aid worker Kayla Mueller, the last-known U.S. hostage held by Islamic State militants, as well as the slayings of journalists and a Jordanian pilot, lawmakers said they planned quick hearings on the authorization, and a vote within weeks of Congress' return from a Feb. 16-20 recess.
Both Republicans and Democrats said there had been unusually close consultations between the administration and Capitol Hill on the authorization.
Many of Obama's fellow Democrats, war-weary after more than a dozen years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, say they will oppose any AUMF that includes "boots on the ground."
Obama's opposition to the Iraq War helped propel him to victory in the 2008 campaign and bringing troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan has been a focus of his presidency.
"I worry that this AUMF gives the ability for the next president to put ground troops back into the Middle East," said Senator Chris Murphy, adding that that would be a sticking point for himself and many other Democrats.
Some hawkish Republicans oppose restrictions on military commanders such as a ban on ground troops. Others are calling for a more extensive authorization allowing U.S. forces to challenge President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, where a four-year-long civil war has fueled the rise of the Islamic State group.
"If the authorization doesn't let us counter Assad's air power, I think it will fail," said Senator Lindsey Graham, a leading Republican foreign policy voice.
The White House has declined to discuss the specific time frame or details of its planned AUMF.
(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, David Lawder and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Jason Szep and Christian Plumb)

Original post found here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/11/us-mideast-crisis-congress-idUSKBN0LE2BD20150211

The butcher/rapper of ISIS: German jihadist became terrorists' poster boy

In this screengrab from a video believed to have been shot in November, Cuspert holds the severed head of a victim of ISIS (Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently)

BERLIN –  A German rapper whom stardom eluded has achieved twisted infamy with ISIS, appearing on videos gleefully hoisting a severed head and exhorting other radical Muslims to leave the Fatherland and join him on the killing fields of Syria and Iraq. Deso Dogg, whose real name is Denis Cuspert, traded a middling career on the Berlin music scene to become the face of German-grown terror, first in Al Qaeda, and then in the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate. In recent years, Cuspert, 39, who the U.S. State Department on Monday designated a “global terrorist,” appeared in numerous propaganda videos aimed at recruiting German jihadists. But he was rumored to have been killed until he appeared in an especially grisly video that surfaced in November.
In the video, which was made public by a Raqqa-based activist group, Cuspert is seen with other fighters who are shown shooting one person and beheading another. Cuspert is not shown killing anyone, but  holds the severed head and announces that the dead were enemies of ISIS.

"Cuspert is the most well-known of Islamic State German fighters.”- German terror expert

“That's why they've received the death sentence,” Cuspert announces in German on the video.
Although the U.S. action came this week, Germany has long known of Cuspert’s bloody exploits in Syria.
"Denis Cuspert stands in the focus of security circles because of his essential role for Islamic State,” a German law enforcement official told FoxNews.com. “He is propagandist of IS."
Another Berlin-based source who has taken part in investigations of Cuspert, told FoxNews.com the onetime rapper, who now identifies himself as Abu Talha al-Almani, and Austrian cleric Mohammed Mahmoud are the leaders of Islamic State’s German-speaking contingent.
"Cuspert is the most well-known of Islamic State German fighters,” said a German terrorism expert who has tracked Cuspert. “If he is not killed, he will remain a long time [as a member of] the Islamic State. There are [numerous] reports of him present at executions involving decapitations.
The U.S. decision to designate a European citizen as a "global terrorist" is rare, and came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel was visiting Washington. The action bans Americans from doing business with Cuspert and freezes any of his U.S. assets. But it is more likely a formality, as Cuspert is unlikely harboring plans to leave the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate alive.

Even the dark lyrics Cuspert wrote as a rapper did not foreshadow the butchery he embraced as a member of ISIS.

Well before Cuspert became a killer for the cause of radical Islam, he was a petty criminal whose rap lyrics revealed a dark and twisted mind. The son of a Ghanian father who left Cuspert’s German mother, he recorded three albums for a Berlin-based gangsta rap label, toured with American rapper DMX and scored a minor hit with "Willkommen in meiner Welt" (Welcome to my World) in 2010.
“Welcome to my world full of hate and blood,” went part of the song. “Children’s souls weep softly when the black angels sing.”
But his career was interspersed with short jail stints and squabbles with promoters. According to a report in Vice.com, he converted to Islam in 2010 following a near-fatal car accident. It was then that his music began advocating violent jihad.
In 2011, Berlin prosecutors charged him with illegal possession of weapons after Cuspert appeared brandishing weapons as "Abou Maleeq" in a YouTube video. A police raid on his home yielded weapons and ammunition, and although it did not result in jail time, he was squarely on the radar of German counter-terrorism investigators.
In 2012, Cuspert left Germany for Egypt, before eventually making his way to Syria where he joined Al Qaeda. When Islamic State broke away from the terror group behind 9/11, Cuspert pledged his loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Cuspert recorded three albums and flirted with stardom before leaving Germany to join ISIS.

In September, 2014, Berlin’s domestic intelligence agency—Verfassungsschutz—published a 25-page analysis of Cuspert. Entitled “Denis Cuspert—a Jihadi career,” the report said he “embodied one of the first Salafist propagandists as a committed and determined Jihadist” to emerge in German society.
A study by King's College in London last year estimated that 3,000 foreigners from Western nations are actively involved in ISIS, with 320 Germans among them. Foreign fighters have taken part in some of the terrorist group’s most barbaric crimes, including the massacres of the Sh’aitat tribe in Syria and the Albu Nimr tribe in Iraq, as well as the almost daily public executions in Raqqa.

Benjamin Weinthal reports on human rights in the Middle East and is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter @BenWeinthal

Original post found here: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/11/butcherrapper-isis-german-jihadist-became-terrorists-bloody-poster-boy/

Assad says Syria is 'informed on anti-IS air campaign'

President Bashar al-Assad on anti-IS strikes: "We knew about the campaign before it started, but we didn't know about the details"

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad says his government is receiving messages from the US-led coalition battling the jihadist group, Islamic State.

Mr Assad told the BBC that there had been no direct co-operation since air strikes began in Syria in September.
But third parties - among them Iraq - were conveying "information".
He also denied that Syrian government forces had been dropping barrel bombs indiscriminately on rebel-held areas, killing thousands of civilians.
Mr Assad dismissed the allegation as a "childish story", in a wide-ranging interview with BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen in Damascus.
"We have bombs, missiles and bullets... There is [are] no barrel bombs, we don't have barrels."
Our correspondent says that his denial is highly controversial as the deaths of civilians in barrel bomb attacks are well-documented.

Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East Editor Mr Assad's many enemies will dismiss his view of the war.
For them, he has been in charge of a killing machine that has been chewing Syrians up and spitting them out.
As the war enters its fifth year, the barrel bomb has become the most notorious weapon in the regime's arsenal.
Two or three years ago, I saw the results of what must have been one in Douma, a suburb of Damascus that has been held by rebels since close to the beginning of the war.
Mr Assad insisted that the Syrian army would never use them in a place where people lived.
"I know about the army. They use bullets, missiles and bombs. I haven't heard of the army using barrels, or maybe, cooking pots."
It was a flippant response; the mention of cooking pots was either callousness, an awkward attempt at humour, or a sign that Mr Assad has become so disconnected from what is happening that he feels overwhelmed.

Aleppo has continually been hit by barrel bombs, activists say

 

'No dialogue' Many US-led coalition states have denied co-operating with Mr Assad, whom they have urged to step down since an uprising against his rule erupted in 2011.
But the Islamic State's (IS) seizure of large parts of Syria and Iraq in the past year and its creation of a "caliphate" has prompted officials to consider working with the Syrian leader to combat the group.
Despite this, Mr Assad ruled out joining the international coalition that is seeking to "degrade and destroy" IS.

 

 The Jordanian air force has stepped up strikes on IS positions in Syria since the killing of one of its pilots

"No, definitely we cannot and we don't have the will and we don't want, for one simple reason - because we cannot be in an alliance with countries which support terrorism," he said.
He did not give details, but the Syrian government routinely portrays both jihadist militants and members of the political opposition as "terrorists".
Mr Assad stressed that he was not against co-operating over IS with other countries. But he would refuse to talk with American officials, he said, "because they don't talk to anyone, unless he's a puppet", an apparent reference to Western- and Gulf Arab-backed opposition leaders.
"And they easily trample over international law, which is about our sovereignty now, so they don't talk to us, we don't talk to them."

President Assad dismissed efforts by the US to train and equip a "moderate" rebel force to fight IS militants

The president did concede, however, that his government had been receiving information indirectly via third parties about sorties by US and Arab warplanes over Syria.
"Sometimes, they convey a message, a general message, but there's nothing tactical," he said, adding: "There is no dialogue. There's, let's say, information, but not dialogue."
Mr Assad dismissed efforts by the US to train and equip a "moderate" rebel force to fight IS militants on the ground in Syria, saying it was a "pipe-dream". He argued that there were no moderates, only extremists from IS and al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front.
'No indiscriminate weapons' Elaborating on his denial of the use of barrel bombs, Mr Assad said: "I know about the army. They use bullets, missiles and bombs. I haven't heard of the army using barrels, or maybe, cooking pots."
He added: "There are no indiscriminate weapons. When you shoot you aim, and when you shoot, when you aim, you aim at terrorists in order to protect civilians... You cannot have war without casualties."

 

Mr Assad said Syrian government forces would not indiscriminately bomb civilian areas

Barrel bombs are large cylindrical metal containers filled with explosive and shrapnel.
Human rights activists say they are typically dropped from helicopters - which only government forces are believed to operate - at high altitudes to avoid anti-aircraft fire. At that distance, it is impossible to target with precision, they add.
Mr Assad similarly denied that government forces had used chlorine as a weapon, despite investigators from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons supporting claims that at least 13 people had been killed in a series of attacks by helicopters on three villages last year.
The president also defended the besieging of rebel-held areas across Syria, which activists say has had the effect of starving civilian residents.
"In most of the areas where the rebels take over, the civilians fled and come to our areas," he said. "So in most of the areas that we encircle and attack, are only filled with militants."

Original news found here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31312414

Jihadi cleric blasts IS over pilot

Jordanians show their support for the government campaign against terror during a rally in Amman. (AP)

A prominent jihadi preacher has lashed out against Islamic State militants for burning to death a Jordanian pilot, saying this it was "not acceptable in any religion".

Abu Mohammed al-Maqdesi, considered a spiritual mentor for many al Qaida militants, spoke a day after being released from more than three months in detention in Jordan.
His release and harsh criticism of IS come at a time when the Jordanian government is trying to win broad popular backing for intensified air strikes against the militants in response to the killing of the pilot.
Earlier this week, IS militants released a video showing the pilot, Lieutenant Moaz al Kasasbeh, being burned to death in a cage.
In an interview with Jordanian TV station Roya, al-Maqdesi said that such an act "is not acceptable by any religion and by anyone".
The cleric indicated he had been involved in back-channel talks to arrange a possible prisoner swap to win the release of the pilot, who was captured after his plane crashed over Syria in December.
Jordan offered last week to swap an al Qaida prisoner for the pilot, but said after the release of the video that it became clear that the pilot had already been killed in early January.
Al-Maqdesi said the militants were never serious about arranging a swap.
"During my communication, they lied and they were evasive," he said. "They acted like they were interested (in a swap), but in fact they were not interested."
He also criticised IS for declaring a caliphate last year in the areas under its control in Syria and Iraq. Al-Maqdesi said a caliphate, or state run according to Islamic law, is meant to bring Muslims together, but that the militants have been a divisive force.
A decade ago, al-Maqdesi was considered a mentor of the al Qaida branch in Iraq, a precursor to the Islamic State group. However, the cleric fell out with his proteges over their methods, including attacks on fellow Muslims.
Jordan arrested the cleric in October after he criticised Jordan's participation in a US-led military coalition against IS. Jordan, which borders Syria and Iraq, joined the coalition in September.
In the wake of the killing of the pilot, Jordan said it would intensify its attacks. Dozens of fighter jets struck IS weapons depots and training areas yesterday, the military said.

Press Association

Original post found here :http://www.independent.ie/world-news/jihadi-cleric-blasts-is-over-pilot-30969448.html

Jordan's air strikes on IS 'beginning of retaliation'

The Jordanian aircraft flew over the pilot's village, south of Amman

Jordanian air strikes on Islamic State (IS) targets are "the beginning of our retaliation" for the killing of a captured Jordanian pilot, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh has said.

He told CNN that Jordan was going after IS "with everything that we have".
Jordan had previously only bombed IS sites in Syria, but Mr Judeh said it was now also targeting IS in Iraq.
This comes after IS released a video showing Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned alive in a cage.
After Thursday's strikes, Jordanian war planes flew over Lt Kasasbeh's home village.
Their flight coincided with a visit to the village by Jordanian King Abdullah II, who was meeting the pilot's family.
The king has vowed to step up the fight against IS. Jordan is part of a US-led coalition bombing the militants.
'Ongoing effort' In a separate interview with Fox News, Mr Judeh said: "We said we are going to take this all the way, we are going to go after them wherever they are and we're doing that."

King Abdullah (left) had an emotional meeting with the family of pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh

 

Lt Moaz al-Kasasbeh had been held hostage since his plane came down on 24 December

The minister confirmed that some of the strikes targeted militant training camps and ammunition depots both in Syria and Iraq.
"Today more Syria than Iraq, but... it's an ongoing effort."
Lt Kasasbeh, 26, was captured by the militants in December after his F-16 fighter jet crashed in Syria.
IS this week released its video showing the pilot's execution.
Jordan has officially confirmed the death, but said it believed the pilot was killed on 3 January.
'Enemies of Islam' On Thursday, Jordan's state TV showed King Abdullah sitting sombre-faced with Saif al-Kasasbeh, the pilot's father, at a gathering in Aya village, near the city of Karak, south of the capital Amman.

Failed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi had been on death row in Jordan for nearly a decade

The king gestured to the skies as the warplanes flew overhead, media reports said.
The army said in a statement that "dozens of jet fighters" had struck IS targets, including training camps and weapons warehouses.
State television showed people writing messages on what appeared to be missiles for the air strikes, with one calling IS "the enemies of Islam".

Why Jordan's tribal system matters - in 90 seconds

Also on Thursday, Jordan released an imprisoned jihadi cleric, Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, whose writings had inspired members of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Maqdisi, who has previously condemned IS as a "deviant organisation", was detained in late 2014 for promoting jihadist views online.
The reason for his release was unclear, but security sources told Reuters that Maqdisi was expected to condemn the burning of the pilot.
On Wednesday, Jordan responded to the killing of the pilot by executing two convicts, including Sajida al-Rishawi, a failed female suicide bomber, and an al-Qaeda operative.
Last week, IS had demanded the release of Rishawi in return for sparing the pilot's life.
Meanwhile, the US military said that the US-led coalition had conducted a total of nine air strikes on IS-targets in Iraq, and three on targets in Syria, between Wednesday and Thursday morning.
Those strikes hit IS units near the Syrian town of Kobane, and in seven Iraqi cities including Fallujah, Kirkuk and Mosul, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.
Jordan is one of four Arab states to have taken part in the anti-IS air strikes in Syria.

Canadian police make arrest in relation to Ottawa ISIS recruiting cell

TORONTO –  Canadian police made another arrest and announced charges against three men related to an Islamic State recruiting cell in Ottawa, police announced Tuesday.

The case is linked to the arrest of three men in Ottawa last month. It involves alleged recruiting for the Islamic State group and Canadian John Maguire, a fighter who appeared in an IS propaganda video overseas and who reportedly might have been killed recently.
Police announced they arrested Awso Peshdary, 25, and charged him with participation in the activity of a terrorist group and with facilitating an activity for a terrorist group. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also laid terrorism charges in absentia against Khadar Khalib, 23, and Maguire, 24. Both travelled to Syria or Iraq and remain at large.
RCMP Chief Superintendent Jennifer Strachan said while there have been recent reports saying that Maguire was killed in Syria, the RCMP has not received conclusive evidence confirming that he is deceased.
A senior police official said Peshdary, the man arrested in Ottawa, and was the subject of a prior police terror investigation but said police didn't have enough evidence to arrest him then. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak ahead of the planned announcement Tuesday. The Associated Press first released details of the arrest and charges against the three men.
Suliman Mohamed, 21, was charged last month with participating in a terrorist group. That arrest occurred just days after twin brothers linked to Mohamed, Ashton Carleton Larmond and Carlos Larmond, were charged with terrorism-related offences.
Carlos Larmond was arrested at Montreal's airport on charges of intending to travel overseas for terrorist purposes. A separate government official familiar with the matter said that the brothers were trying to get to Syria. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly, earlier confirmed the latest charges includes an arrest and also involved people who are outside Canada.
"It's a cell in Ottawa. Their focus seems to be on overseas activities, not on carrying out terrorist acts at home," the government official said.
Maguire appeared in a polished propaganda video in December urging Muslims to launch indiscriminate attacks against Canadians, similar to those carried out in October in Ottawa and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.
In October, Canada was hit by two terror attacks by so-called "lone wolves" believed to have been inspired by the Islamic State group. In Ottawa, a gunman shot and killed a soldier at Canada's National War Memorial and then stormed Parliament before being gunned down.
The attack in Ottawa came two days after a man ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and injuring the other before being shot to death by police. The man had been under surveillance by Canadian authorities, who feared he had jihadist ambitions and seized his passport when he tried to travel to Turkey.
Canada is taking part in the U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.

Original post found here:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/03/canadian-police-make-arrest-in-relation-to-ottawa-isis-recruiting-cell/

Jordan executes 2 prisoners after ISIS video shows pilot being burned alive

 

 

DEVELOPING: Jordan said it had executed 2 prisoners early Wednesday after a new video surfaced on the Internet Tuesday showing ISIS burning alive a Jordanian pilot the terror group had held since December.

Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said that prisoners Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli were executed. Al-Rishawi has been on death row for her role in a triple hotel bombing in the Jordanian capital Amman in 2005 that killed dozens. Over the past week, Jordan had twice offered to swap her for the pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh. However, officials have said his captors did not deliver proof he was still alive, and the swap never moved forward.
The 44-year-old Iraqi woman's suicide belt did not detonate at the time of the Amman attack and she fled the scene, but was quickly arrested. After a televised confession, she recanted, but her appeal was turned down.
Al-Rishawi had family ties to the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda, a precursor of ISIS. Ziad Al-Karbuli was a former aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian Al Qaeda operative who was killed in 2006.
The 22-minute video, which Jordan said is authentic, brought a grisly end to speculation into the fate of Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, 26, who was captured when his plane crashed during a bombing mission in Syria Dec. 24. The video, which reports said could have been made more than a month ago, shows the pilot standing in a cage with a line of fuel leading to him, which is then ignited, causing him to burst into flames. Islamic State had previously sought to trade Al-Kaseasbeh for Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman who is in a Jordanian prison for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed 60 people in Amman.
WARNING, EXTREMELY GRAPHIC VIDEO: Jordanian pilot burned alive by ISIS
"It's just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization," said President Obama, who met Tuesday evening with Jordan's King Abdullah in the Oval Office, where he offered his condolences. "And I think it will redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of the global coalition to make sure that they are degraded and ultimately defeated.”
In a statement before his meeting with Abdullah, Obama vowed the pilot's death would "redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of our global coalition to make sure they are degraded and ultimately defeated."
"Lieutenant Al-Kaseasbeh's dedication, courage and service to his country and family represent universal human values that stand in opposition to the cowardice and depravity of ISIL, which has been so broadly rejected around the globe," Obama said.

"This horrific, savage killing is yet another example of ISIL's contempt for life itself."- Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel

Dubai-based TV news channel Al Arabiya reported that the Jordanian military had notified al-Kaseasbeh's family that he had been killed and Jordanian TV reported that the pilot was killed Jan. 3.
In the video, viewed by Fox News, Al-Kaseasbeh, clad in an orange jumpsuit, speaks under clear duress. A narrator speaking in Arabic blasts Arab nations, including Jordan, for taking part in U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State. The final five minutes of the video show the caged pilot, his clothing apparently doused in gasoline as the fuel is lit. His screams are audible as he collapses to his knees. After being killed, the burned man and the cage are buried by a bulldozer. The video ends with ISIS offering "100 golden Dinars" for any Muslims in Jordan who kill other Jordanian pilots, whose names, pictures and hometowns are shown.
U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said administration officials are examining the video.

"We are aware of the video purporting to show that [al-Kaseasbeh] has been murdered by the terrorist group ISIL," read Meehan's statement. "The intelligence community is working to confirm its authenticity. The United States strongly condemns ISIL’s actions and we call for the immediate release of all those held captive by ISIL. We stand in solidarity with the Ggvernment of Jordan and the Jordanian people."
CIA and counter-terrorism analysts noted the tape follows a pattern familiar in ISIS clips. It features news clips of the Jordanian king with sound of coalition strikes and ground operations. Sources told Fox News it demonstrated the highest production values of any tape to date, suggesting it took considerable time to shoot and produce.
Release of the video follows days of intense protests by Jordanians outside King Abdullah’s palace over the government's refusal to agree on a prisoner swap with the terror group. Many Jordanians as well as the pilot’s family are faulting Amman – not ISIS – for allowing their country to be drawn into a "war" they claim is one between the Islamic State and the U.S. and its allies. Demonstrators outside the gates of the royal palace have cried out, “Abdullah, why are we fighting?” while other Jordanian protesters have taken to social media, creating an Arabic hashtag on Twitter that reads #NotOurWar.
The horrific footage surfaced just a day after top Islamic State leaders warned against social media disclosures of the terror army's activities that were not sanctioned by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi or the group's spokesman, Mohammad al-Adnani. It also came just hours after Secretary of State John Kerry met with King Abdullah and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Washington.
On Saturday, an online video surfaced that appeared to show Islamic State executing Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. And one week earlier, a video posted on the Internet showed the Islamist terror group delivering the same fate to another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge and Nadiah Sarsour contributed to this report.
Original post found here:http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/04/new-isis-video-purpotedly-shows-jordanian-pilot-being-burned-alive/

New ISIS video purportedly shows Jordanian pilot being burned alive

 

 

A new video that surfaced on the Internet Tuesday appears to show ISIS burning alive a Jordanian pilot the terror group has held since December -- an act that reportedly has prompted Jordan to ready the execution of an unknown number of terrorist prisoners.
If authentic, the 22-minute video would bring a grisly end to speculation into the fate of Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, 26, who was captured when his plane crashed during a bombing mission in Syria Dec. 24. The video, which reports said could have been made more than a month ago, shows a man standing in a cage with a line of fuel leading to him, which is then ignited, causing him to burst into flames. Islamic State had previously sought to trade him for Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman who is in a Jordanian prison for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed 60 people in Amman

“Should in fact this video be authentic, it’s just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization," President Obama said. “This organization appears only interested in death and destruction.”

“Should in fact this video be authentic, it’s just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization."- President Obama

Several media outlets reported that Jordan moved swiftly following the video's surfacing, transferring imprisoned jihadists, including al-Rishawi and Ziad Al-Karbuli, a former aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian Al Qaeda operative who was killed in 2006, in preparation for execution, perhaps within hours. Lebanon-based news channel Al Mayadeen nreported that Jordan intends to execute Al-Rishawi at dawn on Wednesday.
Jordan had shown a willingness to make the exchange, but had sought proof that its pilot was still alive. Dubai-based TV news channel Al Arabiya reported that the Jordanian military had notified al-Kaseasbeh's family that he had been killed and Jordanian TV reported that the pilot was killed Jan. 3.
In the video, viewed by Fox News, the man believed to be al-Kaseasbeh, clad in an orange jumpsuit, speaks under clear duress. A narrator speaking in Arabic blasts Arab nations, including Jordan, for taking part in U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State. The final five minutes of the video show the caged pilot, his clothing apparently doused in gasoline as the fuel is lit. His screams are audible as he collapses to his knees. After being killed, the burned man and the cage are buried by a bulldozer. The video ends with ISIS offering "100 golden Dinars" for any Muslims in Jordan who kill other Jordanian pilots, whose names, pictures and hometowns are shown.
U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said administration officials are examining the video.

"We are aware of the video purporting to show that [al-Kaseasbeh] has been murdered by the terrorist group ISIL," read Meehan's statement. "The intelligence community is working to confirm its authenticity. The United States strongly condemns ISIL’s actions and we call for the immediate release of all those held captive by ISIL. We stand in solidarity with the Government of Jordan and the Jordanian people."
CIA and counter-terrorism analysts noted the tape follows a pattern familiar in ISIS clips. It features news clips of the Jordanian king with sound of coalition strikes and ground operations. Sources told Fox News it demonstrated the highest production values of any tape to date, suggesting it took considerable time to shoot and produce.
Release of the video follows days of intense protests by Jordanians outside King Abdullah’s palace over the government's refusal to agree on a prisoner swap with the terror group. Many Jordanians as well as the pilot’s family are faulting Amman – not ISIS – for allowing their country to be drawn into a "war" they claim is one between the Islamic State and the U.S. and its allies. Demonstrators outside the gates of the royal palace have cried out, “Abdullah, why are we fighting?,” while other Jordanian protesters have taken to social media, creating an Arabic hashtag on Twitter that reads #NotOurWar.
The horrific footage surfaced just a day after top Islamic State leaders warned against social media disclosures of the terror army's activities that were not sanctioned by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi or the group's spokesman, Mohammad al-Adnani. It also came just hours after Secretary of State John Kerry met with King Abdullah and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Washington.
On Saturday, an online video surfaced that appeared to show Islamic State executing Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. And one week earlier, a video posted on the Internet showed the Islamist terror group delivering the same fate to another Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge and Nadiah Sarsour contributed to this report.

Original post found here: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/03/new-isis-video-purpotedly-shows-jordanian-pilot-being-burned-alive/