Three men

U.S. struggling over what to do with Syrian rebels once tied to al Qaida

Last July, an ultraconservative Islamist rebel group made a splash by publicly offering to work with Western powers to resolve the Syrian civil war and build “a moderate future,” a surprising overture from a force that regularly fights alongside al Qaida loyalists.

But the very next month, the same rebel group eulogized Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban chief who sheltered Osama bin Laden before and after the 9/11 attacks, as a steadfast warrior who embodied “the true meanings of jihad and sincerity.”

The mixed messaging from Ahrar al Sham poses a serious dilemma for the Obama administration and its allies as they determine which rebel militias are acceptable partners in a revived diplomatic effort to resolve the Syrian conflict.

Ahrar al Sham is one of Syria’s largest and most effective rebel forces, and its involvement in – or exclusion from – peace negotiations could determine the viability of any settlement hatched from a new series of negotiations in Vienna. The group is too important to exclude from talks on the country’s future, say officials and analysts who monitor the conflict.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article48058665.html#storylink=cpy

Bombing them might be a start.

Photo of San Bernardino shooter without burqa causes controversy

Source: SF Gate

Al Jazeera producer Hashem Said is being criticized after tweeting that ABC News should have respected San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik by not sharing photos of her without a burqa, the Gateway Pundit writes.

One individual responded to Said's comment by posting a picture of Malik after she was shot and killed by law enforcers. Malik is shown lying on her back on pavement as one arm covers her face. The individual who posted the photo wrote "Here is a picture of her without her face."

Said has since retracted the tweet and apologized for his remark on Twitter. He also issued several tweets clarifying that he didn't mean to offend anyone by his comment, and he explained that what he meant to say is that the image ABC used could be offensive to Malik's family.

ABC News was the first to reveal an image of Malik. Malik typically donned a burka but the image they used reveals her face.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Photo-of-San-Bernardino-shooter-without-burka-6679589.php

Dad: San Bernardino shooter agreed with ISIL, 'obsessed with Israel'

Source: USA Today

The father, who is also named Syed Farook, told La Stampa that his son took on an overly conservative outlook on Islam and at least once expressed support for ideas promoted by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State militant group, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

"He said he shared the ideology of al-Baghdadi to create an Islamic state, and he was obsessed with Israel," the father told a reporter in an interview outside the home of this other son, Syed Raheel Farook, in Corona, Calif.

The father said he counseled his son to be patient because, he said, in time political changes in the Middle East will accomplish his desires.

"I kept telling him always: stay calm, be patient, in two years Israel will no longer exist," the elder Farook told the newspaper. "Geopolitics is changing: Russia, China, America too, nobody wants the Jews there."

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/06/dad-san-bernardino-shooter-agreed-isil-obssessed-israel/76890108/

German Vice Chancellor warns Saudi Arabia over Islamist funding

Source: Reuters

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel urged Saudi Arabia on Sunday to stop supporting religious radicals, amid growing concern among some lawmakers in Berlin about the funding of militant mosques by the world's biggest oil exporter.

The unusual criticism of the Gulf state follows a report by Germany's foreign intelligence agency which suggested that Saudi foreign policy was becoming more "impulsive".

The German government rebuked the BND agency for making such suggestions about Saudi Arabia, an important business partner that is involved in international talks to find a political solution to the Syria crisis.

"We need Saudi Arabia to solve the regional conflicts," Sigmar Gabriel, the head of the Social Democrats (SPD) who share power with conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel, told the mass-circulation newspaper Bild am Sonntag.


Read more: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/german-vice-chancellor-warns-saudi-arabia-over-islamist-135521960.html

Safeway ordered to pay almost $42 million for website sales

A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered Safeway to pay almost $42 million to customers nationwide who bought groceries from the market chain’s website and were unaware that they were being charged 10 percent above store prices.

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar granted $30.9 million in damages and $10.9 million in interest Monday to online shoppers who had registered with Safeway.com between 2006, when the website opened, and November 2011, when the company reworded its policy to declare that online prices “may differ from your local store.”

Safeway did not send notices of the change to pre-November 2011 customers, who can seek refunds of at least some of the surcharges they paid after that date. Tigar has not said how many customers will be eligible for refunds or how they can apply, details that may be worked out in future hearings.

Safeway said Friday it will ask the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to overturn Tigar’s earlier ruling that it had misled customers about their prices.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Safeway-hit-with-near-42-million-judgment-for-web-6678059.php

Israeli organ trafficking suspect arrested in Istanbul

A Turkish court on Dec. 5 arrested an Israeli organ trafficking suspect, who was sought by Interpol’s red notice and detained at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport on early Dec. 4.

He was reportedly in Turkey to convince struggling Syrian migrants to sell their organs.

Boris Walker was detained over alleged “organ trafficking” and “fraud” at 2:40 a.m. immediately after he arrived in Istanbul on a flight from Bangkok.

A court ruled for Walker’s arrest for 40 days, after which he is expected to be extradited to Israel.
According to a report by daily Vatan, Walker wanted to expand his illegal business in Turkey, targeting struggling Syrian migrants.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/video-israeli-organ-trafficking-suspect-arrested-in-istanbul.aspx?PageID=238&NID=92093&NewsCatID=509

They have excellent propaganda and pay well...nt

F.B.I. Treating San Bernardino Attack as Terrorism Case

Source: NY Times

On the day she and her husband killed 14 people and wounded 21 others in San Bernardino, Calif., a woman pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a Facebook post, officials said Friday, as the F.B.I. announced that it was treating the massacre as an act of terrorism.

“The investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers, and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations,” the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said at a news conference here. But he said that investigators had not found evidence that the killers were part of a larger group or terrorist cell. The couple died in a shootout with the police on Wednesday.

“There’s no indication that they are part of a network,” he said.

The woman, Tashfeen Malik, declared allegiance to the Islamic State on Facebook at roughly the time of the shooting on Wednesday, according to a Facebook spokesman. At a news conference in San Bernardino, David Bowdich, the F.B.I. assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles office, said he was aware of the post, which was taken down by Facebook on Wednesday, but he would not elaborate.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/us/tashfeen-malik-islamic-state.html?_r=0

Dutch far-right leader Wilders tells Turks: 'You will never join EU'

Source: Reuters

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, the most popular politician in the Netherlands, has told Turks "you are not welcome here" in a video that takes aim at Turkey's hopes of joining the European Union.

Wilders, who is fiercely anti-Islam, has surged in public opinion polls with his call for the closing of national borders in the face of a migrant crisis that has seen hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Muslims, fleeing to Europe this year to escape conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and beyond.

Turkey promised at an EU summit in Brussels last Sunday to help stem the flow of migrants in return for cash, an easing of visa restrictions for Turks visiting Europe and renewed talks on admitting Turkey as a member of the bloc.

In his English-language video posted online on Friday with Turkish subtitles, however, Wilders told Turks in typically blunt fashion: "Your government is fooling you into believing that one day you will become a member of the European Union. Well, forget it."

Read more: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/dutch-far-leader-wilders-tells-turks-never-join-155354933.html