Excerpts: German minister says Qatar financing ISIS. SAUDI busts ISIS
recruiter cell. Saudi counters illegal migrants. Iran: Hamas victorious.
Qatar ready to rebuild Gaza.Patriarchs of Orient urge Christian protection
August 27, 2014

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 27 Aug.’14:”German minister accuses Qatar of
financing ISIS”, Agence France Press

SUBJECT: German minister says Qatar financing ISIS

QUOTE:”Germany’s development aid minister, Gerd Mueller, on Wednesday[27
Aug,] accused Qatar of financing the militant group the Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria (ISIS).”

FULL TEXT:Germany’s development aid minister, Gerd Mueller, on Wednesday[27
Aug.] accused Qatar of financing the militant group the Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

FULL TEXT:“A story like this always has a history,” he said in an interview
with public broadcaster ZDF.

“Who is financing these troops? Hint: Qatar,” he added

Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel this week urged a
“debate” about who has been and is financing ISIS, but without naming any
countries.

Meanwhile, Germany said it is ready to send weapons to support Iraqi Kurds
in their battle against ISIS, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

It is a controversial issue for Germany which, burdened by its history of
aggression in two world wars, has often been reluctant to send troops into
foreign conflicts and which as a rule does not send weapons into war zones.


+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 27 Aug,’14:”Saudi Arabia busts cell of ISIS
recruiters”,Staff Writer
SUBJECT: Saudi busts ISIS recruiter cell
FULL TEXT:The Saudi interior ministry said Tuesday[26 Aug.] it detained
eight individuals for trying to recruit youth into “extremist groups
abroad.”
Al Arabiya News channel that the recruits were for the Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria (ISIS).

“Security authorities conducted on Monday[25 Aug.] an operation that led to
the arrest of eight citizens who were involved in recruiting youth to join
extremist groups abroad,” an interior ministry statement carried by the
country’s Saudi Press Agency said.

Saudi Arabia has taken a tough stance against militant groups in the kingdom
and has made arrests of cells with links to extremist elements in different
Arab countries.

In May, the Interior Ministry said it had dismantled a major “terrorist
organization” with links to extremist elements in Syria and Yemen that was
plotting attacks against government facilities and foreign interests.
Sixty-two suspected members of the group were arrested in the bust.

In March, the Interior Ministry published a list of “terror” groups,
including Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, al-Nusra Front, which is Al-Qaeda’s
official Syrian affiliate, and ISIS, another militant group that has gained
swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria.

It also includes the little-known Saudi Hezbollah Shiite militant group, as
well as Shiite Houthi rebels fighting in neighboring Yemen.

The ministry has said it will prosecute anyone who backs such groups
“financially or morally,” or who seeks to promote them in the media and on
social networks.

+++SOURCE:Saudi Gazette 27 Aug.’14:”22,000 infiltrators detained each month,
says ministry”

SUBJECT: Saudi counters illegal migrants

FULL TEXT:The Ministry of Interior has issued a report revealing that an
average of 22,000 illegal migrants were detained every month for the past
six months, Al-Madinah daily reported. The report also shows 252,544 people
were prevented from crossing into the country illegally


+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 27 Aug.’14:”Iran: Hamas ‘Brought Israel to its
Knees”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Iran: Hamas victorious
QUOTE:”Iran said Wednesday that Palestinian militants [Hamas] had emerged
the victors and brought their Israel foe ‘to its knees’ “

Iran said Wednesday[27 Aug.] that Palestinian militants had emerged the
victors and brought their Israeli foe "to its knees" during the bloody
50-day Gaza conflict.

"The heroic Palestinian people have forged a new era with the victory of the
resistance which has brought the Zionist regime to its knees," the foreign
ministry said in a statement.

"This victory prepares the way for the final liberation of all the occupied
lands especially Quds (Jerusalem)," it said, congratulating the Palestinian
people and the militant groups in Gaza that Iran supports.

After seven weeks of the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in a decade,
a long-term ceasefire took hold at 1600 GMT on Tuesday, sparking festivities
around the Gaza Strip.

The conflict, which began on July 8 when Israel began Operation Protective
Edge in a bid to stamp out cross-border rocket fire, cost the lives of 2,143
Palestinians and 70 on the Israeli side.

U.N. figures show nearly 70 percent of the Palestinian victims were
civilians, while 64 of the Israelis killed were soldiers.

A Palestinian official said the Egyptian-mediated deal would involve an end
to Israel's eight-year blockade of Gaza.

Ending the blockade had been a key Palestinian demand in truce talks, with
the Islamist movement Hamas that rules Gaza hailing the agreement as a
"victory for the resistance."

SourceAgence France Presse

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 27 Aug.’14:”Qatar says ready to Rebuild
War-Battered

Gaza”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Qatar ready to rebuild Gaza

FULL TEXT:Qatar, a key backer of Palestinian militant group Hamas, hailed
the Gaza ceasefire accord and offered to help rebuild the enclave battered
by seven weeks of Israeli bombardment.[IMRA:bombardment in response to
Hamas missile attacks.]

The accord for a long-term ceasefire which came into effect on Tuesday[26
Aug.] was thanks "firstly to the resistance and the sacrifices" of the
Palestinians, the gas-rich Gulf emirate said in a statement.

It said Qatar, which is home to Khaled Meshaal, the exiled chief of the
Islamist movement Hamas, was "ready to contribute to the reconstruction of
the Gaza Strip as soon as possible".

The conflict, which began on July 8 when Israel launched Operation
Protective Edge in a bid to stamp out cross-border rocket fire, cost the
lives of 2,143 Palestinians [IMRA: Largely due to being used as human
shields.] and 70 on the Israeli side.

The Egyptian-mediated deal ending a war which wreaked widespread destruction
in Gaza calls for an easing of Israel's eight-year blockade of the
impoverished coastal strip, a key Palestinian demand in truce talks.

SourceAgence France Presse


+++Naharnet (Lebanon) 27 Aug.’14:”Patriarchs of the Orient to Urge Major
Powers for Protection of Christians”

SUBJECT: Patriarchs of Orient urge Christian protection

QUOTE: ”Pope Francis has called for collective action through the U .N. to
‘stop unjust aggression in Iraq’”

FULL TEXT:The patriarchs of the Orient are scheduled to meet on Wednesday[27
Aug.] with the envoys of major powers at the seat of the Maronite church in
Bkirki over the crisis in Iraq, An Nahar newspaper reported.The meeting is
part of the initiative made by them to preserve the role of Christians in
Iraq where Islamic State militants have been waging a campaign against
minorities, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

According to An Nahar, the patriarchs will send letters to the major powers
on the importance of preserving the Orient's multiculturalism by protecting
Christians. They will tell the ambassadors that excuses of non-intervention
in Iraq are not convincing, said the daily.

The letter states that the assault on Christians in the Orient is facing a
similar fate in Lebanon by paralyzing the presidential elections, it
said.The international community has a partial responsibility in the
paralysis given its influence on the local parties, the letter says.

Last week, al-Rahi headed a delegation from the patriarchs of the Orient to
the Iraqi Kurdish region of Erbil.

Pope Francis has called for collective action through the United Nations to
"stop unjust aggression in Iraq”.

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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA