UN to examine chemical weapons attacks
The UN adopts a resolution aimed at identifying those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Ban and the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will be asked to prepare a plan for an inquiry. US ambassador to the UN, Power:
Today’s resolution has been adopted with the council’s unanimous support. This sends a clear and powerful message to all those involved in chemical weapons attacks in Syria. The joint investigative mechanism will identify you if you gas people. It bears repeating as well that we need to bring the same unity that we have shown today to urgently find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”
The resolution follows months of negotiations between the US and Russia. Syria’s ambassador to the UN denies his government was behind the attacks, claiming the Islamic State (IS) group and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front are to blame. Under the terms of the agreement, a team of expert inspectors will be given full access where possible to all locations in Syria and be allowed to collect materials and interview witnesses. Churkin, the UN’s Russian representative, says he hopes that the joint investigative body will work
impartially, objectively and professionally.
The resolution calls for Ban and the OPCW to recommend a team of investigators within 20 days.
14-year-old ‘jihadi’ girl arrested
French authorities arrest a 14-year-old girl in the western city of Quimper on suspicion that she is planning to conduct jihad in Syria. She is moved to Paris to be questioned by an anti-terror judge on possible connections to the disappearance of another 14-year-old girl from the Paris area in June, as part of an enquiry that has also led to the arrests of a 15-year-old and 17-year old girl a week earlier.
Texan pleads guilty to terror support
Texas native Michael Todd Wolfe, also known as Faruq, pleads guilty to ‘attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization.’ Wolfe was caught in an FBI sting as he sought a contact to help him enter Syria and join ISIS. A court complaint describes how he and his wife watched a video of ISIS activities with an FBI agent posing as a contact:
While watching the video, Wolfe occasionally stopped the video to explain the current allegiances of the various groups fighting in Syria. They include ISIS, al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, the Free Syria Army, and Dawla
Teen girls arrested for jihad plans
France arrests two girls aged 17 and 15 in Lyon, Rhone, and Tarbes in the Hautes-Pyrenees for alleged involvement in jihad. The arrests form part of a broader enquiry into jihadism in the country. Around 900 French citizens are implicated in jihad – meaning that they have either taken part in a conflict, plan to participate in one, or are returning from one. Both girls are reported to have been planning to travel to Syria to join militant activities there. Paris-based international security consultant Samuel Laurent:
Obviously this is proof of how appealing caliphate ideology is for French and European citizens