Brussels Bombing Suspect Tied to Paris Plotter

Having identified the three men responsible for Tuesday's bombing at Brussels' Zaventem airport, police are now said to be closing in on the one surviving suspect, Najim Laachraoui. Laachraoui can be seen with Brahim El Bakraou and another bomber, in airport surveillance video taken shortly before the attacks. Bakraou's brother Khaled is believed to be the suicide bomber who blew up a Metro car shortly after the airport attack.

But who is Najim Laachraoui?

A Moroccan native who grew up in the neighborhood of Schaerbeek and attended Catholic school, Laachraoui was known to authorities even before the bombings. Using the name Soufiane Kayal, he is believed to have rented a safe house in Auvelais, Belgium, which the Washington Post reports "was raided shortly after the attacks in Paris." More recently, Belgian police report, both his fingerprints and those of Paris bombing suspect Saleh Abdeslam's were found in another house in Schaerbeek.

It appears that the two have been acquainted for quite some time: they were stopped last September in a routine check as they drove across the Austrian-Hungarian border with a man named Mohammed Belkaid (also known as Samir Bouzid). Belkaid was killed during last week's police raid in Vorst that ultimately led to Abdeslam's capture.

Laachraoui also is known to have gone to Syria to join ISIS in 2013, reportedly using the name Abou Idriss. There is conjecture that he returned by taking advantage of the rush of refugees that arrived in Europe last summer.

It was there that he became an expert at bomb-making, a craft he is believed to have put to use both in Paris and again in Brussels. Authorities reportedly found a third bomb at the Brussels airport that did not detonate.

Laachraoui apparently left the airport before the attack. As of this writing, he remains at large.

ISIS Claims Credit for Belgium Attacks, Promises More Killing

The terrorists who detonated bombs inside Brussels' airport and on a Metro commuter train were "made strong and helped" by God, the Islamic State (ISIS) said in a statement claiming credit for the attacks.

"Crusader Belgium" was targeted because it "has not ceased to wage war on Islam and its people, with God granting victory to our brothers, and planting in the hearts of the Crusaders fear and terror at their doorstep," a translation of the statement by the Investigative Project on Terrorism said.

In the wake of similar attacks, Islamist groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have argued that religion is not a factor in fueling the violence, and the Islamic State is not really Islamic. That message isn't getting through. Last week, former Virginia resident Muhamad Khweis described aspects of his life with ISIS before he turned himself in to Kurdish forces.

"Our daily life was basically prayer, eating and learning the religion for about eight hours...it was pretty hard to live in Mosul," he said.

Tuesday's ISIS statement contained repeated references to God, praising him for the success of the Belgium attacks. The terrorists "killed a number of Crusaders before they exploded their belts amid crowds of them," it said. "... To God be praised and blessing and grace."

Belgium and other Western states fighting ISIS "are facing black days in response to their aggression against the State of Islam. Coming is more calamitous and bitter, with God's permission. Praise be to God for His Guidance and Blessing. We ask Him to accept our brothers in the numbers of the martyrs."

Airstrikes targeting ISIS strongholds in Mosul, Iraq, took place last weekend. Other ISIS statements today indicate the attacks were in retaliation.

Belgian Attacks Horrific, But Expected

As shocking as this morning's simultaneous terror attacks at Belgium's airport and in its Metro system may be, they show the disturbing depth of the terrorist infrastructure which was allowed to take root in the European Union capital's back yard.

A series of police actions reportedly are underway targeting elements of that infrastructure. It's a safe bet that some of those raids will be in Molenbeek, a Brussels suburb.

It has been dubbed "Europe's terrorism capital." Saleh Abdeslam, the key surviving player in November's horrific attacks in Paris, was arrested in Molenbeek Friday. Police were thanked by a hail of bottles, stones and other debris by locals more loyal to the terrorist than the land that gave them refuge.

Authorities "don't have control of the situation in Molenbeek at present" and said the authorities needed to "clean up" the area, said Interior Minister Jan Jambon.

In raids last week, authorities found an ISIS flag, a book about Salafism, a sizable cache of weapons, indicating more attacks were in the works. They just didn't realize how close to completion those plans were.

The Paris attacks were planned in Molenbeek – three of the attackers grew up there – and the resulting investigation last November prompted officials to place the entire country on lockdown, fearing attacks like Tuesday's in Brussels were imminent.

"We were fearing terrorist attacks, and that has now happened," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium said Tuesday.

Belgian Muslims have left Europe to join the Islamic State in greater numbers per capita than any other country. It is so pervasive, Buzzfeed reports, that Belgian law enforcement admits being overwhelmed by the volume of open terrorism investigations.

Their challenge is compounded by the depth of Islamist radicalization which has taken root in Molenbeek, as Friday's violent reaction to Abdeslam's arrest shows.

"There is a sort of clannishness in the area that is stronger than anything else," Claude Moniquet, a former intelligence agent now with the European Centre for Strategic Intelligence and Security in Brussels, told London's Telegraph.

Violence Breaks Out in Molenbeek After Paris Suspect's Arrest

The most wanted terrorist in Europe, considered a leader in November's multi-targeted attack in Paris that left 130 people dead, was arrested Friday by Belgian authorities.

But residents in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, where Saleh Abdeslam was captured, didn't breathe a sigh of relief. Within hours, the district, which has a majority Muslim population, erupted into riots. Dozens of Abdeslam's fans attacked police with bottles, stones, and other objects, local press reported, angered by the arrest of their "hero."

The situation is developing.

Worse yet, Belgian newspaper De Morgen reported (subscription only) that "the whole neighborhood" knew where Abdeslam was ever since the Paris attacks. Nobody tipped off authorities.

The violence and code of silence over Abeslam's hideout is not as surprising as it might seem. As we've noted previously, the Paris attacks were hatched in Molenbeek, in addition to the 2015 attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's offices.

International Federation of Journalists Defends Palestinian Violent Incitement

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) defended the right of a terrorist-affiliated Palestinian media outlet to incite murder against Israelis, according to Honest Reporting.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recently closed down "Palestine Today" – a Palestinian Islamic Jihad radio and television station – for inciting violence and glorifying Palestinian terrorists. Instead of condemning the Palestinian media outlet, the IFJ accused Israel of engaging in a "wave of violence targeting journalists."

"The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), which represents 600,000 journalists across the globe, stands by its affiliate the Palestinian Journalists Union (PJS) in condemning this brutal attack against free press and ask for UN immediate reaction to the escalation of attacks against the press in the occupied territories," reads an IFJ statement.

The IFJ statement bestows journalistic legitimacy upon the propaganda arm of an organization designated as terrorists by the United States, European Union and other major Western countries. The IFJ also failed to point out that Palestine Today calls for Palestinians to kill Israelis.

"Freedom of the press does not extend to terrorist propaganda and to those who incite to murder," Israeli parliamentarian Yair Lapid in a statement to the IFJ. "The content on Palestine Today would not pass the editorial guidelines of any of your members. I was a journalist for over three decades; this isn't journalism. This isn't free speech, this is hate speech. You are not defending press freedom; you are defending incitement to murder."

The IFJ has a history of supporting other "journalists" who were exposed as terrorist operatives. The IFJ pressured the Newseum, a Washington D.C. based museum specializing in media, to maintain two Hamas terrorists on its journalist commemoration list, despite revelations of their true identities.

The IFJ also failed to condemn Hamas for intimidating Western journalists in Gaza covering the 2014 summer war between Israel and the terrorist organization. Hamas operatives threatened and harassed journalists for reporting cases of the terrorist groups' use of human shields, inhibiting the ability for journalists to report the conflict accurately.

Kerry Bows to Congressional Pressure, Says ISIS Committing Genocide

Secretary of State John Kerry bowed to congressional pressure Thursday, declaring that the Islamic State is conducting genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims.

The declaration follows Monday's unanimous U.S. House of Representatives vote also calling ISIS's slaughter of religious minorities genocide. Congress previously gave Kerry until today to make a determination whether the Islamic State's actions qualified. ISIS "is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology, and by actions – in what it says, what it believes and what it does," Kerry said. "Daesh [ISIS] is also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups and in some cases against Sunni Muslims, Kurds and other minorities."

Kerry noted specific atrocities carried out by Islamic State forces, including executing Christians solely based on their religion in Mosul and Qaraqosh in Iraq; murder of Coptic and Ethiopian Christians in Libya; and the systematic destruction of the cultural heritage of Armenian, Syriac Orthodox and Roman Catholics by blowing up their monasteries and churches.

Kerry also cited the ISIS murder of hundreds of Yazidi men in the town of Kocho, Iraq and its trapping of tens of thousands of Yazidis on Mt. Sinjar in Northern Iraq. The group subsequently captured thousands of Yazidis women and girls, enslaving them and raping them.

He additionally noted the Islamic State's frequent attacks against Shiites, who it calls "disbelievers and apostates."

"We know that Daesh's actions are animated by an extreme and intolerant ideology that castigates Yazidis as quote, 'pagans' and 'devil worshippers,' and we know that Daesh has threatened Christians by saying that it will, quote, 'conquer your Rome, break your crosses and enslave your women," Kerry said.

Former U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, who was among the first to publicly call for such a declaration last year, expressed his gratitude to Kerry.

"I am very appreciative that they declared it," Wolf said. "It is very, very important."

Declaring the Islamic State responsible for genocide honors the victims, Wolf said. It makes it easier for Christians, Yazidis, Shiites and other groups covered by the declaration to obtain asylum.

Wolf also believes it could make Saudis, Qataris and Turks who have been complicit in supporting the Islamic State subject to prosecution.

"Now they are complicit in genocide," Wolf said. "It's important because in 2003 there were one and a half million Christians in Iraq. Now, they are down to 250,000. There was a group out of England ... that put out a report that said that if something isn't done there will be no Christians left in the Middle East."

Police: Islamist Motivation in Canadian Recruitment Center Attack

A top police official has alleged an Islamist motivation in Monday's attack on a military recruitment center in Toronto.

Ayanle Hassan Ali

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders told reporters at a press conference Tuesday morning that Ayanie Hassan Ali, the 27-year-old accused in the case, said, "Allah told me to do this. Allah told me to kill people" during the attack.

Saunders also said Ali was taken to a mental hospital but appeared "non-responsive" when questioned.

A bulletin issued to members of the Toronto Police Service following the attack cautioned officers against "potential sympathizers or lone-actors" and asked them to "maintain heightened vigilance for suspicious behavior."

U.S. intelligence officials say similar concerns have reached the United States military, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has learned. For the past several months, soldiers have been told to remove their uniforms when they are off base.

Ali, the suspect in Monday's attack, was born in Montreal and moved to Toronto in 2011. He is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. News reports said Ali walked into the recruiting office Monday afternoon and stabbed a master corporal behind the counter. He was subsequently subdued by other soldiers but managed to stab another soldier in the ensuing scuffle. Both soldiers suffered non-fatal injuries.

Ali, who is expected to appear in court today, is being investigated for radical connections both nationally and overseas.

Radical Islamists "Control" Some Maximum Security Prisons in Britain

Islamist extremists are intimidating other inmates to convert to Islam and guards at Britain's most secure jail have "lost control" over the situation, reports London's Evening Standard.

Lawyer Rubert Pardoe recently told a judge at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales that Islamist bullying was so severe that some prisoners at Thamesmead jail are kept in "lockdown" to protect them from the Muslim inmates.

"There is a sense that the prison authorities have lost control. Many defendants in my client's situation are in total lockdown. There's a degree of fear as to the need to conform to certain religious views in Belmarsh (prison)," Pardoe said.

Prisoners, including Pardoe's client, reportedly are scared of being transferred to Belmarsh due to the immense pressure emanating from a rising number of radical Muslim inmates.

Growing terrorism convictions have led to a significant increase of the Muslim inmate population at Belmarsh, who now represent more than a quarter of the total population.

"We have concerns that Islamist extremists are deliberately getting custodial sentences in order to target vulnerable prisoners. They are often clever and well educated and can brainwash young people," assistant general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, Glyn Travis said in December.

Michael Adebolajo – one of two terrorists who brutally murdered British soldier Lee Rigby – was reportedly transferred from Belmarsh in 2014 to prevent him radicalizing other prisoners.

Adelbolajo – a convert to Islam – admitted to helping hack Rigby to death in a ruthless, daylight attack in London in 2013

"My religion is everything. When I came to Islam I realized that... real success is not just what you can acquire, but really is if you make it to paradise, because then you can relax," testified Adelbolajo, acknowledging that radical Islamic beliefs motivated the attack.

Some lawyers have argued that prison security measures are so drastic that it can be impossible to meet with their clients. In light of the situation, senior judges forced Belmarsh officials to establish a video feed for defense teams in court to communicate with their clients.

These assertions corroborate growing concerns regarding widespread Islamic radicalization in jails. Justice Secretary Michael Gove has already ordered an inquiry to evaluate the impact of Islamist inmates on prisoner radicalization.

A Ministry of Justice official dismissed the concerns as "untrue. HMP Belmarsh is not in lockdown and continues to operate as normal,"

But challenges posed by imprisoned radical Islamists are "a global problem," Patrick Dunleavy, former deputy inspector general for the New York State Department of Corrections and author of The Fertile Soil of Jihad told the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Jihadists have an "uncanny ability" to flourish in prisons, he said.

"Until we acknowledge the threat and devise effective counter measures to address the problem the threat will continue to spread," Dunleavy said.

U.S. Media Ignore Tel Aviv Shooter's Plan to Attack Israeli Kindergartens

The terrorist who shot and killed three Israelis in Tel Aviv on New Year's Day hoped to slaughter Israeli kindergarten students, Israel Police reported Sunday.

Nashat Milhem indiscriminately fired a submachine gun killing two Israelis outside of a bar on a popular Tel Aviv street before running off. An hour later, the terrorist also killed a Bedouin taxi driver. After a week-long manhunt, Israeli forces killed Milhem following an exchange of fire near his home in northern Israel.

Two days after the attack, police uncovered Milhem's plans to "carry out an attack on Tel Aviv kindergarten students." However, the terrorist "felt he was being chased" and "focused on survival," instead of going through with the plot to murder Israeli pre-schoolers.

Milhem's attack was among those lauded in a Hamas video which aired Friday after the terrorist group hacked into Israel's Channel 2 feed. "The year started in Tel Aviv and we have already returned to Dizengoff," Hamas threatened, referencing the famous street in Tel Aviv where the terrorist attack took place.

"Terror will never end," the video said, telling Israelis to "get out of our country."

While the Washington Post chose to write about Hamas' hacking attack, no mainstream U.S. media outlet, including the New York Times, saw fit to report on a terrorist's plan to massacre Israeli schoolchildren.

The Times and Washington Post reported extensively on follow-up plots after November's terrorist attacks in Paris. However, a heinous terrorist plot targeting Israeli kindergarten students following a New Year's Day shooting spree apparently does not rise to the level of meriting a new story for American readers.

These types of glaring omissions are consistent with the misleading reporting associated with the initial Jan. 1 Tel Aviv shooting attack.

In a Jan. 5 article, the Times indicated officials remained unsure whether the shooting attack was a terrorist attack or criminal in nature.

But by Jan. 2 – a day after the attack – a growing consensus among Israeli security officials considered the shooting a terrorist attack.

Nevertheless, a week after the shooting spree, the Post argued that "the motive for the Tel Aviv attack also remains unclear..."

Imagine the headlines if the roles were reversed, and an Israeli was found plotting an attack on Palestinian youngsters. The coverage would last for days. Story lines would include detailed examinations of public reaction and what the incident means about the wellbeing of Israeli society. Why, then, is Milhem's shocking plan failing to attract a word of coverage?

DHS Bulletin Focuses on Terror Threat to DC Hotels

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intelligence officials released a bulletin Thursday raising the possibility of a terror attack against hotels or conference centers in Washington, D.C.

While nothing in the bulletin mentions specific intelligence or concerns of an imminent attack, it comes two days after the Islamic State posted a video online warning of a Paris-style attack somewhere in the U.S.

"Paris isn't far from you – we will by Allah's permission do to your country what we did to Paris. We will kill, slaughter and burn your people," the Islamic State video said. "Inshallah (God willing), we will attack you very soon with anything we lay our hands on."

The terror group also repeatedly threatened Washington in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. Jihadist terrorists previously have struck hotels in places such as Tunisia, Burkina Faso, India and Jordan.

The bulletin was prepared by the Washington Regional Threat Analysis Center (WRTAC), the National Counterterrorism Tracking Center, and the District of Columbia Hotel Security Director's Association, with FBI participation.

Terrorist organizations, homegrown terrorists and lone wolves view hotels as soft targets that offer them an increased potential to cause mass casualties or economic damage, the bulletin said. It also gives terrorists an opportunity to target high-profile individuals and organizations.

"Many hotels in the District of Columbia often host dignitaries, large numbers of people in enclosed space, and special events ... Nefarious actors can exploit the need to balance customer service and security at conference hotels, as found in an August 2014 exercise in which DHS-led teams successfully infiltrated a conference hotel by circumventing facility security measures," the bulletin said.

Terrorists can find open-source information to discover how to access restricted areas of a hotel with ease. The bulletin notes that terrorists could infiltrate an event by stealing a name badge off a registration table in the event. It suggests that events hosting public figures that are advertised in advance may particularly be vulnerable because they give the terrorists time to prepare.

DHS notes in the bulletin that the FBI previously disrupted a plot involving a threat against a Washington-area hotel in October 2010 when it arrested Ahmed Farooque of Ashburn, Va.

It suggests responses to attacks using small arms, improvised explosive devices (IEDS) and to car or truck bombs.

"Conference hotels in the District of Columbia are vulnerable to this type of attack; they often do not have an outside security perimeter or additional security in their parking facilities, potentially rendering them vulnerable to [car or truck bomb] placements," the bulletin said.

It suggests that hotel employees should be educated about the warning signs of possible terrorist activity in response.

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