ISIS: Italy Steps Up Security After Reports that Pope Francis Might Be a Target of the Terror Group
Source: hngn
After the Vatican dismissed earlier reports this week claiming that Pope Francis might be a target of the Islamic State militant group, otherwise known as ISIS, new reports state increasing concern for the pontiff's -and the public's - safety, The Daily Beast reported.
In an article published Monday, Il Tempo reported that the pope is a target of ISIS, citing an unnamed Italian intelligence source. The pope, who is considered the "the greatest exponent of the Christian religions" and the "bearer of false truths" by ISIS, is "in the crosshairs of ISIS," Il Tempo reported, adding that the extremist group plans to "raise the level of confrontation" by attacking Italy and greater Europe.
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"ISIS could launch terrorist attacks on what they referred to as 'sensitive targets' in Rome and elsewhere, specifically pinpointing embassies to both Italy and the Holy See, Catholic churches, bus and train stations, sea ports, airports and travel agencies," according to The Daily Beast. "Other security measures include restricting air space above Vatican City and Italy's foreign ministry, in addition to stepped-up police presence in public transportation hubs and busy tourist sites like the Coliseum, the Spanish Steps and St. Peter's Square."
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Meanwhile, at least five suspected potential jihad fighters have been arrested this week as they were preparing to leave for Iraq. In a new report, at least 50 Italians are now known to be fighting with ISIS, 80 percent of whom are "very Italian" and 20 percent are sons of immigrants, dispelling fears among Italians that a spike in illegal immigration has somehow played a role in the recruitment of young people, Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.
Read more: http://www.hngn.com/articles/40924/20140831/isis-target-pope-francis-update-italy-steps-up-security-multiple.htm
= new reply since forum marked as read
Probably moved in after bin Laden's lease expired. They will have to embellish the drawing, though. Besides changing the title, they will have to create a secret buried runway for their air force and another chamber for all of their nuclear missiles, or something. After all, it has been 13 years. There must have been some upgrading by now.
Nuclear plant at the core of the installation. 
...In Kuwait, donors have taken advantage of weak terror financing control laws to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to various Syrian rebel groups, including ISIS, according to a December 2013 report by The Brookings Institution, which receives some funding from the government of Qatar.*
“Over the last two and a half years, Kuwait has emerged as a financing and organizational hub for charities and individuals supporting Syria’s myriad rebel groups," the report said, adding that money from donors in other gulf nations is collected in Kuwait before traveling through Turkey or Jordan to reach the insurgents.
“Everybody knows the money is going through Kuwait and that it’s coming from the Arab Gulf,” Andrew Tabler, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told The Daily Beast. “Kuwait’s banking system and its money changers have long been a huge problem because they are a major conduit for money to extremist groups in Syria and now Iraq...”
U.S. officials have stated that they are "eye-to-eye" with Saudi Arabia on the importance of stopping these donations. The Saudi government views the organization as a threat to the kingdom's security, and made private donations to ISIS illegal when it designated them as a terrorist organization in March...
http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-funding-us-allies-2014-6
There's A Theory Saudi Arabia Funds The ISIS Extremists Taking Over Iraq — Here's Why It's Wrong
...Yet questions continue to arise about Saudi financial support to the group. Addressing these questions requires a better understanding of three issues: the scope of official Saudi government support to ISIS, if any; government allowance of private donations to the group; and the relative importance of Saudi donations compared to the group's other sources of income...
To be sure, many governments in the region and beyond sometimes fund inimical parties to help achieve particular policy objectives. Riyadh has taken pleasure in recent ISIS-led Sunni advances against Iraq's Shiite government, and in jihadist gains in Syria at Bashar al-Assad's expense. Nevertheless, official financing of the group may be precluded by Riyadh's perception that the ISIS terrorist threat is immediate and serious (though it would not be surprising to learn of limited, perhaps indirect contact, logistical coordination to further Sunni positions in Syria and beyond, or leaking of funds and materiel from Saudi-supported rebels to ISIS)...
There is a misconception that the kingdom does not get in the way of private Saudi financing of terrorist groups operating in Syria, including ISIS. Yet one of Riyadh's most observable counter-terrorism financing activities is its monitoring of the country's formal financial sector in order to block suspect donations. Indeed, social media fundraising campaigns highlight the challenges of sending such funds from Saudi Arabia to Syria. To ensure that their contributions actually reach Syria, Saudi donors are encouraged to send their money to Kuwait, long considered one of the most permissive terrorism financing environments in the Persian Gulf...
Today, Saudi citizens continue to represent a significant funding source for Sunni groups operating in Syria. Arab Gulf donors as a whole -- of which Saudis are believed to be the most charitable -- have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Syria in recent years, including to ISIS and other groups. There is support for ISIS in Saudi Arabia, and the group directly targets Saudis with fundraising campaigns, so Riyadh could do much more to limit private funding. U.S. officials have hinted that a combination of politics, logistics, and limited capabilities have impeded more effective Saudi efforts to counter terrorism financing. One particularly difficult problem is how to monitor cash transfers, a method common among Saudi donors...
http://www.businessinsider.com/theory-that-saudi-arabia-funds-isis-2014-6
*Interesting little note there, may create bias, and then again, maybe it means nothing.
One reason we cannot control this is the Islamic banking system. They don't use dollars, pounds or Euros. Western banks aren't in this chain.
No one can force them to stop funding ISIS or their actions in Syria, etc. by international law. It's their money and can't be taken away.
As the BI article says, some may be using ISIS as a tool to change the world to what they want.
From the Wikipedia page on it:
Islamic banking
Islamic banking (Arabic: المصرفية الإسلامية?, Persian: بانکداری اسلامی?
is banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of sharia and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. As such, a more correct term for 'Islamic banking' is 'Sharia compliant finance'...
By 2009, there were over US$822 billion assets being managed in over 300 banks and 250 mutual funds around the world complying with Islamic principles.[4] As of 2005, sharia compliant financial institutions represented approximately 0.5% of total world assets...[5]
And interesting item in this article:
The Vatican has put forward the idea that "the principles of Islamic finance may represent a possible cure for ailing markets."[23] The Catholic Church has always forbade usury, but in recent centuries has been forced to tolerate it due to non-Catholic capitalist dominance of the Western world...
A lot of stuff at the link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Islamic_banking&printable=yes
Kerry, et al, have visited the various countries to encourage more control, but their banking system is set up in such a way that it is very private. So the facts lie more with our being unable, not being unwilling, IMO.
I don't ascribe to LIHOP as some seek to explain these things and stop looking for the reality of the situation because it's too complicated. We'll never know it all. Just part of the world's lovely cluster fornication.
