US boosts reward on ISIS leader to $25 mn-25 مليون دولار مكافأة لمن يدلي بمعلومات عن زعيم داعش

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

The United States on Friday more than doubled the bounty on the head of the shadowy leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to $25 million.

The announcement by the State Department "Rewards for Justice Program" came as US-backed local forces close in on the Islamist militant group's main urban strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the cities of Mosul and Raqa.

The cash will be paid to anyone who can offer "information leading to the location, arrest or conviction" of the elusive militant, known to his followers as "Caliph Ibrahim".

"Under al-Baghdadi, ISIL has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Middle East, including the brutal murder of numerous civilian hostages from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States," the State Department said.

"The group also has conducted chemical weapons attacks in Iraq and Syria in defiance of the longstanding global norm against the use of these appalling weapons, and has enabled or directed terrorist attacks beyond the borders of its self-declared caliphate."

Baghdadi has kept a low profile, despite having declared himself the leader of a renewed Muslim caliphate, but last month released a defiant audio message urging his supporters to defend Mosul.

It is not clear if he is in the besieged city, where he declared his caliphate in 2014 after the ISIS group seized territory covering much of eastern Syria and northern Iraq.

The video, which showed a man with a black and grey beard wearing a black robe and matching turban, is the only one IS has released of Baghdadi to date.

He has been reported wounded in US-led coalition air strikes multiple times, but the claims have never been verified, and his apparent survival has added to his mystique.

According to an official Iraqi government document, Baghdadi was born in Samarra in 1971 and has four children with his first wife -- two boys and two girls born between 2000 and 2008.

An Iraqi intelligence report records that Baghdadi has a PhD in Islamic studies and was a professor at Tikrit University.

Baghdadi apparently joined the insurgency that erupted after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and spent time in an American military prison.

قالت وزارة الخارجية الأمريكية، اليوم الجمعة، إن الولايات المتحدة زادت قيمة المكافأة المرصودة لمن يدلي بمعلومات تقودها إلى "أبو بكر البغدادي زعيم تنظيم داعش الإرهابي".

وأضافت الخارجية الأمريكية "إنه تم رفع قيمة المكافأة إلى 25 مليون دولار، من مبلغ 10 ملايين دولار الذي تم عرضه لأول مرة عام 2011، عندما أضيف اسم البغدادي إلى قائمة الإرهاب الأمريكية"، منوهة إلى أن التهديد الذي يشكله البغدادي "زاد بشكل كبير".

وقالت وزارة الخارجية إنه "في ظل زعامة البغدادي، أصبح التنظيم الإرهابي مسؤولًا عن مقتل الآلاف من المدنيين في منطقة الشرق الأوسط، ومن بين ذلك عمليات القتل الوحشي للعديد من الرهائن المدنيين من اليابان والمملكة المتحدة والولايات المتحدة".

وأشارت الخارجية الأمريكية أيضا إلى الهجمات بالأسلحة الكيميائية التي شنها التنظيم الإرهابي في كل من سوريا والعراق، في تحد للمعايير الدولية ضد استخدام هذه الأسلحة.

BREAKING NEWS : Sputnik : Main illegal oil transportation routes located on Turkey-Syria border

BREAKING NEWS : Sputnik : Main illegal oil transportation routes located on Turkey-Syria border

Snapshot from Russia Today TV

The general staff has irrefutable evidence on Turkey's involvement in illegal oil trade. Moscow calls on Turkey to open access to places where, according to the retrieved Russian intel, ISIS oil trade centers are located. 

"We have identified three main oil routes," Rudskoy said.

The western route leads to the Turkish ports in the Mediterranean, the northern — to Patma oil refinery, and the eastern — to Dzhazri transfer point. 

The ministry provided photographs of columns of oil fuel tankers on the Turkish-Syrian border. Fuel tankers with oil freely cross the border between Turkey and Iraq, according to Russia's General Staff.

The oil from ISIS-controlled areas in Syria is being shipped to third countries for processing after having been transported to Turkey, the General Staff noted.

Russian Defense Ministry's information on ISIS oil trucks in Syria will be made publicly available online.

285 Egyptians return home from conflict-stricken #Libya

Saturday's flight via EgyptAir raises the number of Egyptians returning to Cairo since mid-February to 11,163

Egyptians cross from Libya to Egypt through the Salloum land port gate

A total of 285 Egyptians landed in Cairo Saturday from conflict-stricken Libya, the last batch since Egypt launched airstrikes on Islamic State (ISIS) militant group targets in Derna.

This raises the number of Egyptians returning to Cairo since mid-February via EgyptAir flights to 11,163, As reported.

In February, Egypt launched airstrikes against IS militant positions in Libya’s Derna, in collaboration with Libya’s government. The strikes came in retaliation for the beheadings by ISIS militants of 20 Coptic Egyptians.

Since then, Egypt has drawn up evacuation plans for Egyptian citizens in Libya who wish to leave the war-torn country.

In recent statements, Egyptian Minister of Manpower Nahed Al-Ashry said no official number exists of Egyptian workers in Libya because large numbers travel illegally to the oil-rich North African country. However, she estimated the number stands between 800,000 and 900,000.

Since the 2011 toppling of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, rival militias have been fighting a weak central government across the country.

Instability in Libya earlier prompted many Egyptian workers to return to Egypt, though many others remained.

#Jordan #king & #queen offer #condolences for #pilot murdered by #ISIS

King Abdullah described IS as a 'terrorist, coward group that has no connection with our religion [Islam]'

Jordan's King Abdullah and Queen Rania

The Jordanian King Abdullah and Queen Rania offered their condolences to the family of pilot Muath Al-Kassasbeh who was burned alive by Islamic State (ISIS) in a video released on Tuesday.

Addressing the nation in a televised speech on Wednesday, King Abdullah expressed his "sorrow and anger" for the death of Al-Kassasbeh who was captured by the militant group in Syria last December after his plane went down.

The King described the IS as a "terrorist, coward group that has no connection with our religion [Islam]," and added that these tough troubles and difficulties "make us stronger and more united."  

"The brave pilot [Muath] died in defence of his people and country, joining other martyrs who preceded him and sacrificed their lives for the sake of Jordan. Today we stand with Muath's family, our people and our military forces in such times that are hard for all Jordanian men and women," Jordan News Agency (Petra) quoted Abdullah as saying.

Queen Rania posted a Quranic verse on her Facebook page that says:" Think not of those who are killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and are provided sustenance."

Jordan is a member of the US-led coalition, which includes other Arab countries, that carries out air assaults against sites controlled by the IS in Iraq and Syria.

Amman executed Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karboli, two jihadists, on early Wednesday in response to killing of Muath.