Reuters: Germany Bans Muslim Association For Pursuing Radical Islam

“Germany's interior ministry said on Wednesday it has banned the Islamic Centre Hamburg (IZH) association and its subsidiary organisations, saying it pursues radical Islamist goals. The ministry said in a statement that 53 of the organisation's premises had been searched by authorities in eight German states early on Wednesday, acting on a court order. In addition to the Hamburg-based IZH, which includes one of the oldest mosques in Germany known for its turquoise exterior, its subgroups in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin were also banned. As a result, four Shiite mosques will be closed, said the ministry. The IZH was not available for comment by phone on Wednesday morning, and its website was not accessible to the public. Evidence from an earlier search of 55 properties conducted in November provided the basis for Wednesday's ban of the IZH, known in German as Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, said the ministry. "Today, we banned the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, which promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.”

Associated Press: Radical British Preacher Anjem Choudary Convicted Of Directing A Terrorist Group

“Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary was found guilty Tuesday by a London jury of directing a terrorist group. Choudary, 57, was convicted in Woolwich Crown Court of membership in a banned organization, the radical Muslim group al-Muhajiroun, or ALM, and for drumming up support for the group. ALM was outlawed by the British government in 2010 as a group involved in committing, preparing for or promoting terrorism. “ALM’s tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security,” Metropolitan Police Cmdr. Dominic Murphy said. “There are individuals that have conducted terrorist attacks or traveled for terrorist purposes as a result of Anjem Choudary’s radicalizing impact upon them.” Prosecutor Tom Little, who described Choudary as having a “warped and twisted mindset,” said that he had stepped in to lead ALM after Omar Bakri Muhammad, the group’s founder, was imprisoned in Lebanon between 2014 and March 2023.”

United States

Associated Press: Netanyahu Looks To Boost US Support In Speech To Congress, But Faces Protests And Lawmaker Boycotts

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks before Congress Wednesday in hopes of bolstering U.S. support for continuing Israel’s fight against Hamas and other adversaries, even as the Biden administration is urging him to focus on closing a deal ending the devastating nine-month war in Gaza. Netanyahu is assured a warm welcome from Republican lawmakers who arranged his speech in the House chamber, an appearance making him the first foreign leader to address a joint meeting of Congress four times, surpassing Winston Churchill. But many Democrats and independents plan to boycott his appearance. The most notable absences will be behind Netanyahu as Vice President Kamala Harris, who serves as president of the Senate and traditionally would sit behind whatever dignitary is speaking, says a long-scheduled trip will keep her away. The next Democrat in line, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, is declining to attend.”

Iraq

Associated Press: Iraq Bans A Kurdish Separatist Group And Strengthens Its Cooperation With Turkey

“The Iraqi government announced Tuesday an official ban on a Kurdish separatist group which has been engaged in in a long-running conflict with Turkey. Turkey has been seeking greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that has waged an insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s and is banned there. The order issued July 14 and published Tuesday by the Department of Administrative Affairs at the Iraqi Parliament said Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had issued instructions for the PKK to be described as the “banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party” in all official correspondence. It was the clearest statement from the Iraqi government on the group’s status to date. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq in April for the first time in more than a decade. At the time, Erdogan said he and Sudani had “consulted on the joint steps we can take against the PKK terrorist organization and its extensions, which target Turkey from Iraqi territory.””

Afghanistan

Voice Of America: Taliban Lament Lack Of Support Despite Victory Against Illicit Afghan Drugs

“Afghanistan’s Taliban claimed Tuesday that their crackdown on illegal drug production in the country has helped address a major global challenge but expressed frustration at the ongoing lack of international support in response. Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told a national labor conference in Kabul that his country used to be the world’s largest opium-poppy producer. It was detrimental and smuggled to the entire world and resulted in more than four million Afghans becoming drug addicts in the past two decades, he said. “The illegal production of drugs has ceased. The addicts are now in need of medical treatment while the farmers need livelihoods and employment,” Muttaqi said in his televised speech. He noted that their counternarcotics campaign has led to immense economic pressures and severe hardships for Afghans reeling from the effects of years of war and natural disasters in the impoverished country.”

Yemen

Reuters: Houthi Threat To Red Sea Shipping Is Growing, Says UN Envoy To Yemen

“Recent developments in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways suggest that the threat to international shipping from Yemen's Houthis is growing, U.N. Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. In a briefing on the situation in Yemen, Grundberg warned of a real danger of a devastating regional escalation following new Houthi attacks on commercial shipping and the first Israeli air strikes on Yemen in retaliation for Houthi drone and missile attacks on Israel. "I remain deeply concerned about the continued targeting of international navigation in the Red Sea and its surrounding waterways," Grundberg said. "Recent developments suggest that the threat against international shipping is increasing in scope and precision." The Houthi attacks on Israel and July 20 Israeli retaliatory strikes on Yemen's port of Hodeidah and its oil and power facilities represent "a new and dangerous level" of violence, he said.”

Associated Press: UN Envoy To Yemen Warns Of A ‘Devastating’ Regional Escalation, But Points To Glimmer Of Hope

“The U.N. envoy for Yemen warned Tuesday that recent developments in the Red Sea, Israel and inside the country “show the real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation” — but he also pointed to a glimmer of hope. Hans Grundberg said Yemen’s warring parties — the internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels – informed him Monday night “that they have agreed on a path to de-escalate a cycle of measures and countermeasures which had sought to tighten their grip on the banking and transport sectors.” But he warned the U.N. Security Council that seven months of escalating actions reached “a new and dangerous level last week” which saw a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv and Israeli retaliatory attacks on Yemen’s key port of Hodeida and its oil and power facilities. He said Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways continue and the rebels are escalating their crackdown “on civic space and on international organizations.””

Middle East

The New York Times: Rival Palestinian Factions Project Unity, But Deep Divisions Remain

“The two main rival Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, signed a joint statement in Beijing on Tuesday that endorsed, in concept, a temporary government for the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in a grand show of unity brokered by China’s foreign ministry. The statement supports the formation of a unified government for the two territories that all parties can agree on — a high bar to clear for two factions that have long been vehemently, sometimes violently, opposed. But it offers little about how such a government would be formed, or when. Smaller Palestinian groups also signed the statement. For China, the agreement represents an opportunity to promote an image of Beijing as a peace broker and an important player in the Middle East. Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, declared that “historic moments” were underway. Mahmoud al-Aloul, the deputy leader of Fatah, showered praise on China for standing beside the Palestinian people.”

Somalia

Garowe Online: Somali Army Records Multiple Successes Against Al-Shabaab

“Monday's outing by the Somali National Army (SNA) could be the best in as many months, with statistics showing the army may have as well killed over 120 Al-Shabaab militants in three separate operations after the group tried to run military bases. The coordinated counterattacks were carried out by the Somali National Army and Jubaland Security Forces in three separate locations, in Western and Southern Kismayo, the regional administrative capital of Jubaland state. Multiple reports indicate that the militants tried to launch attacks at Bulo Haji, Harbole, and Mido, all of which were seized from al-Shabab last month. The militants also fired on a fourth base at Bar Sanguni in an apparent attempt to disrupt possible reinforcement to the bases under attack. But Major Mohamed Farah Dahir, the spokesperson of Jubaland Regional Forces, said close to 135 militants were killed with an additional 28 captured alive by the determined security teams engaged in the operations.”

France

Reuters: France Probed Migrant Communities To Fight ISIS-K Threat To Olympics

“French security services have been probing migrant communities from former Soviet republics in an effort to safeguard the Olympics from the ISIS-K militant group, the interior minister said, confirming a Reuters report published last week. Gérald Darmanin, interviewed in a Le Parisien article published on Tuesday, said ISIS-K was "undoubtedly the most dangerous movement", though he said authorities hadn't identified any concrete threat to the Games. ISIS-K is a resurgent wing of Islamic State, named after the historical region of Khorasan that included parts of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. To counter the danger, Darmanin said security services had "looked particularly at all the people who revolve around the 10 nationalities of the former Soviet Union". Last week, Reuters reported that French security services had been racing to address an intelligence blind spot and forge deeper ties with Tajiks, Central Asians and other people from former Soviet republics living in France.”

Reuters: France Arrests Russian Suspected Of Planning To Destabilize Olympics

“French police have arrested a Russian man suspected of planning to destabilize the Olympics, the Paris prosecutor's office said on Wednesday, just days before the Games begin. The 40-year-old man was detained on Tuesday after police raided his house at the request of the Interior Ministry, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. The evidence found at his home raised "fears of his intention to organize events likely to cause destabilization during the Olympic Games," it said. Relations between France and Russia have been deteriorating for months as President Emmanuel Macron is a prominent critic of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and a strong supporter of the Kyiv government. French authorities have repeatedly flagged suspected Russian disinformation campaigns, while Russia has arrested a French researcher in the country on espionage charges. The arrested man has been placed in pre-trial detention and could face up to 30 years in prison, the statement said.”

Germany

Associated Press: German Government, Mainstream Opposition Move To Protect Highest Court Against Extremist Forces

“Germany’s governing coalition and the conservative opposition on Tuesday presented a plan to protect the country’s highest court against possible future manipulation or obstruction by extremist or authoritarian politicians. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann cited experiences in Poland, Hungary and Israel as illustrating the need to bolster the Federal Constitutional Court. Germany’s own political landscape has become increasingly fragmented in recent years, with the far-right Alternative for Germany party emerging as a significant political force. The plan put forward by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition and the mainstream conservative Union bloc, the biggest opposition force, calls for the court’s ground rules to be anchored in the Constitution, which they largely weren’t when the post-World War II German Constitution was drawn up 75 years ago. That means a two-thirds parliamentary majority would be required to change them in the future, rather than a simple majority.”

Associated Press: Germany Carries Out Raids And Bans A Group Accused Of Links To Iran And Support For Hezbollah

“The German government on Wednesday banned an organization accused of being an “outpost” of Iran’s theocracy, promoting the ideology of its leadership and supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. Police raided 53 properties around the country, including a prominent mosque in Hamburg. The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and five suborganizations around Germany followed searches in November. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said evidence gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.” The IZH “promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” while it and its suborganizations “also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism,” Faeser said in a statement. Her ministry said that “as the direct representative of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution,’ the IZH disseminates the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in an aggressive and militant way and seeks to bring about such a revolution in the Federal Republic of Germany.””