Judge Dismisses Saudi Arabia From 9/11 Suit
By AP. Saudi Arabia was dismissed Tuesday as a defendant in lawsuits brought by the families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks by a judge who said lawyers had failed to show sufficient evidence linking the country to the attacks.
U.S. District Judge George Daniels said in a written ruling that lawyers for the plaintiffs had failed to show facts sufficient to overcome Saudi Arabia’s sovereign immunity. He also dismissed as a defendant the Saudi High Commission for Relief of Bosnia & Herzegovina on the grounds that the charity is an instrument of Saudi Arabia and thus covered as well by sovereign immunity. (Read more from “Judge Dismisses Saudi Arabia from 9/11 Suit” HERE)
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Hundreds of ISIS Fighters Desert Over Pay Disputes
By Mark Duell. Hundreds of jihadis are leaving Islamic State for other extremist organisations after being forced to take a pay cut of almost £200 by chiefs, it was claimed last night.
ISIS militants were allegedly being paid £260 a month until the terror group faced financial shortages which forced their salaries down to £65 – and at least 200 gunmen have since quit.
The fighters from ISIS, which until recently was said to be the world’s wealthiest jihadist group, are now retreating from northern Iraq to earn more money from other terror organisations in Syria
ISIS, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has faced problems since coalition air strikes in Iraq and Syria rendered it unable to access a multi-billion pound war chest, reported the Daily Mirror.
The group has made its money from the likes of bank robberies, stolen oil and people-smuggling, but accountants have cut down on cash convoys between war zones over drone attack fears. (Read more from this story HERE)
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After Attempt on President’s Life, Tiny Nation Seek US Help vs. Terror
By Josh Rogin. The Maldives is calling on the United States to help it respond to an attack on its president, potentially opening the newest front in the war on terror.
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Sunday narrowly escaped an explosion on his boat. His wife was injured. Investigators have converged on the island nation in the Indian Ocean to determine whether the blast is related to organized terrorism. The government is already rethinking its security and defense practices; top officials say terrorist recruiting has been on the rise there.
Maldivian Foreign Secretary Ali Naseer Mohamed told me Tuesday that officials are still piecing together what happened.
“No group has claimed responsibility,” he said. “But we believe it was an attack directed to the president. That’s the first time the president has been attacked in that way.”
Ali was in the United States this week for the UN General Assembly, and he said his government has been tracking an increased flow of its citizens traveling to Iraq and Syria to fight there, at least 40 so far. Some are coming back to the Maldives. (Read more from this story HERE)
