Russia, U.S. Urge U.N. To Announce Date For Syria Talks ASAP
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held a telephone conversation this morning calling on U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura to announce a date for the start of Syria peace talks as soon as possible.
RIA Novosti cites a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying that Lavrov "once again stressed the necessity for the faithful implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2254, including the formation of a representative opposition delegation and the setting of an agenda for talks to create a unified front in the war on terror groups, a cease fire, resolving humanitarian issues and developing political reform on the basis of the mutual agreement of the government and its opponents."
AFP has more on Europol's comments that IS is planning large-scale attacks in Europe.
Europol chief Rob Wainright said that IS has honed its ability to carry out global attacks and plans to focus on Europe after the Paris massacre.
A report coinciding with the opening of a new counterterror centre in the Hague shows "how the so-called Islamic State had developed a new combat style capability to carry out a campaign of large-scale terrorist attacks on a global stage -- with a particular focus in Europe," Rob Wainwright told reporters.
Europol's comments come after IS released a new propaganda video on January 24, which purported to show the final statements of militants who took part in the November 13 Paris attacks. The video also seemed to threaten the UK.
Russia's Favorite 'Syrian Opposition' Politician Calls For Talks To Start
Qadri Jamil, a member of Syria's Popular Will party, has called for Syrian peace talks to start, reports RIA Novosti, which describes Jamil as a "representative of the Syrian opposition."
Jamil, who was kicked out of the Syrian parliament in August, has been described as "Russia's man in Damascus" who was originally a leading member of a Syrian government friendly, Moscow-backed branch of the Syrian Communist Party and was seen as a favorite of the Russian government, according to Aron Lund of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
In 2012–2013, Jamil’s name was often mentioned in speculation about who could serve in a hypothetical Syrian unity government and, even less plausibly, as Russia’s pick for future president of Syria. He basked in the attention and was frequently quoted in the media.
Lund notes that Jamil has:
contributed energetically to the Russian attempts to mold a pro-Moscow bloc of moderate opposition members. He was a prominent participant in the Moscow opposition conferences organized in early 2015, when Syrian state news again found occasion to approvingly cite the views of Mr. Qadri Jamil, “opposition figure.”
Now it seems Jamil is being useful for Moscow and Damascus yet again -- as a voice of the "Syrian opposition."
Suicide Attack Targets Ahrar al-Sham Militants In Aleppo: Monitor
A suicide bomber driving a fuel tank blew himself up earlier today at a checkpoint run by the hardline Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham in Aleppo city, killing at least seven fighters, the Britain-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
According to SOHR, four Ahrar al-Sham commanders are believed to be among those killed.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
British Mother Who Went To Syria Denies Tweeting Support For IS Militants
A British mother on trial accused of joining the IS group in Syria has denied tweeting support for the extremist group.
Tareena Shakil, 26, left the UK in 2014 with her young son and went to live in IS's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. A few months later she returned to the UK saying that she had made a mistake.
Shakil, who denies joining the IS group, says that she did not directly tweet support for the IS group.
She was asked why she retweeted messages that blended phrases from the Koran and images of groups of jihadi fighters.
She replied: "If you are saying Koranic passages encourage terrorism ... if that is the case every Muslim would be a terrorist."
"Where is the messages where I encourage any act of terrorism, where are the messages where I glorify any act of terrorism?" she asked the prosecutor.
EU Opens New Counterterrorism Center
The European Union has opened a new counterterrorism center to fight violent extremism, according to the Associated Press.
Europol director Rob Wainwright said the unit in The Hague, Netherlands will be staffed by 40-50 experts in counterterrorism and deal in intelligence-sharing, tracking foreign fighters and sources of illegal financing and firearms, and assisting EU countries in counterterrorism investigations.
Wainwright said over 5,000 EU nationals have been radicalized by fighting with Muslim extremists in Iraq and Syria, and that many have returned home.
Every Reason To Expect IS Will Attack In Europe Again: Interpol Report
Europol has published a new report today, titled "Changes in Modus Operandi of Islamic State Terrorist attacks." The report can be downloaded from the link in Interpol's tweet below, but here are some of the key points:
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Europol say that there "is every reason to expect that IS, IS inspired terrorists or another religiously inspired terrorist group will undertake a terrorist attack somewhere in Europe again, but particularly in France, intended to cause mass casualties amongst the civilian population."
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For foreign militants joining IS, the religious component in recruitment and radicalization is being replaced by more social elements such as peer pressure and role modeling.
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A significant portion of foreign fighters have been diagnosed with mental problems or have criminal records prior to joining IS.
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The nature and structure of IS training apparently enables its operatives to execute terrorist acts in an emotionally detached manner, as demonstrated in the Paris attacks.
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Intelligence suggests that IS has developed an external actions command trained for ‘special forces style’ operations abroad, to include the EU and France in particular.
UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura is about to give an update on the Syrian peace talks -- watch live here.
UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura is giving a press conference in Geneva to update on the situation surrounding the (postponed) Syrian peace talks.
Here are some key points:
- Invitations will be sent out tomorrow, Jan. 26
- Talks to start on Jan. 29 if all goes to plan.