ISIS sends 500,000 Mujahedeen to Europe

ISIS has threatened to flood Europe with half a million migrants from Libya in a 'psychological' attack against the West, it was claimed today.

Transcripts of telephone intercepts published in Italy claim to provide evidence that ISIS is threatening to send 500,000 migrants simultaneously out to sea in hundreds of boats in a 'psychological weapon' against Europe if there is military intervention against them in Libya.

Many would be at risk of drowning with rescue services unable to cope. But authorities fear that if numbers on this scale arrived, European cities could witness riots.

Separately, the militants hope to cement their control of Libya then cross the Mediterranean disguised as refugees, according to letters seen by Quilliam the anti-terror group, reported by the Telegraph.  

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Breaking point: The officials at Lampedusa airport (pictured) are struggling to process the 1,200 newly arrived migrants in a reception centre built for a third of that number - and now Islamic State has threatened to send 500,000 to Europe's shores

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Escape: Today, the spread of violence and extremism in Libya has forced thousands to flee to Italy (ferry port of Lampedusa pictured) where officials are struggling to deal with the sudden influx

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Prophecy: Muammar Gaddafi predicts the Mediterranean would become a 'sea of chaos' four years before Islamic State beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya - prompting a swift and brutal response from the country who launched airstrikes on their locations

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Violent coup: Muammar Gaddafi was deposed as Libya's leader in August 2011 and killed in October, when forces loyal to the government that overthrew him found him hiding in a drainage pipe in Sirte

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Dangerous: Egypt's brutal airstrikes on the Libyan village of Derna - in retaliation for the mass murder of 21 of its countrymen - forced many to abandon their homes 

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Anxious: The Egyptians who fled their adopted home in Libya face a nervous wait before passing through the border village Sallum

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Searching for safety: With militancy and violence spreading through Libya, many Egyptians living there are now returning to their home country

 (pictured on the border village Sallum) 

Italian Minister for the Interior Angelino Alfano said on Monday that Libya was the 'absolute priority' and insisted there was 'not a minute to lose' for the international community.

He said: 'If the militias of the Caliphate advance faster than the decisions of the international community how can we put out the fire in Libya and stem the migration flows? We are at risk of an exodus without precedent.'

More than 170,000 migrants arrived in Italy by boat last year. Since last Friday almost 4,000 have been rescued.

The spread of militancy across Libya was predicted by the country's deceased leader Muammar Gaddafi, who warned the Mediterranean would become 'a sea of chaos'. Share

ISIS had not yet made frightening inroads into Libya when he made this chilling prophecy during his last interview in March 2011.

But the Arab Spring uprising that year sparked a civil war in Libya and opposition forces - backed by NATO - deposed Gaddafi in violent coup just five months after his ominous prediction.

In October 2011, forces loyal to the country's transitional government found the ousted leader hiding in a culvert in Sirte and killed him.

Four years later, Islamic State kidnapped 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Sirte - Gaddafi's birthplace - before releasing gruesome footage of their beheading on the shores of the Mediterranean, just 220 miles south of Italy. In it the terrorists warned 

that they 'will conquer Rome'. 

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Fleeing terror: Over 170,000 migrants arrived in Italy by boat last year and since last Friday alone almost 4,000 have been rescued

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Forced to leave: Migrants wait to board a plane at Lampedusa airport in Italy, bound for a detention center elsewhere in the country

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Safe: The mainly African migrants were among some 3,800 would-be immigrants to Europe rescued in the Mediterranean since Friday, according to figures compiled by the International Organisation for Migration

Bloody realisation: Four years after Gaddafi's chilling prophecy that the Mediterranean would become 'a sea of chaos' ISIS murdered 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya 

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Total control: ISIS' have spread their brutal regime throughout Gaddafi's former home, with recent footage showing a fleet of brand new cars carrying its notorious black flag driving freely through Benghazi

In response, Italian security chiefs have approved plans to put 4,800 soldiers on the country's streets to help prevent terrorist attacks.

The statement from the Interior Ministry said they would guard 'sensitive sites' until at least June and reports claim 500 will be deployed in Rome - where soldiers are already guarding diplomatic residences, synagogues and Jewish schools.  

The troops are also expected to be deployed at tourist venues such as archaeological sites and monuments.

A treaty between Gaddafi and the Italian premier provided for joint boat patrols which curtailed the departure of migrant boats from Libya.

But, as the Libyan despot predicted back in 2011, if the Gaddafis were brought down, Islamists would exploit the power vacuum. 

Still holding court in a Bedoin tent while holed up in the fortified citadel of Bab Al Azizya, Gaddafi warned: 'If, instead of a stable government that guarantees security, these militias linked to Bin Laden take control, the Africans will move en mass towards Europe.'

He added: 'The Mediterranean will become a sea of chaos.'

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Insecurity: Four years later Lybian soldiers gather in the same square after an Islamist-led militia seized the capital

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Military intervention: As Libyan soldiers protected the capital Tripoli (pictured on February 9), the elected parliament was forced to relocate in the eastern city of Tobruk

That very sea ran red with blood when Islamic State brutally executed 21 Egyptian Christians on its shores.

The accompanying video, released on Sunday, showed the men dressed in orange jumpsuits and shackled - kneeling in the sand before the militants slit their throats and watched them bleed to death.

Egypt retaliated furiously by launching coordinated airstrikes on ISIS targets in Libya.

The European powers were putting their own security at risk by helping the rebels, Gaddafi pointed out.

He told Il Giornale, the Italian newspaper owned by his former friend Silvio Berlusconi he was saddened by the attitude of his friend. They no longer spoke.

'I am shocked at the attitude of my European friends. They have endangered and damaged a series of great security treaties in their own interest.'

Without his harsh, but effective, regime, the entire North African Mahgreb 'would become another Gaza,' he claimed.

Footage shows fleet of Jihadi cars moving through streets

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Power: The ominous show of discipline and wealth shows how the country has been overrun by extremism as efforts to suppress ISIS focus on Iraq and Syria

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Chilling: Even young children salute the procession of cars as they pass undeterred through the streets of Benghazi

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Support: The parade of Toyota Land Cruisers is welcomed by the locals in Benghazi. The video was posted by terrorist group Ansar Al-Sharia - who pledged allegiance to Islamic State last October

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Overrun: The majority of Libya's coastal cities have surrendered control to Islamic State and other rebel extremist groups created to oppose the NATO-

led invasion which removed Gaddafi from power

The telephone transcripts, seen by Il Messaggero newspaper claimed to provide evidence 'that IS will use the migrants as a "psychological weapon" against countries that say they want to intervene in Libya, in particular, against Italy.'

'As soon as our country mentioned armed intervention on Libya the jihadists suggested they let drift, bound for Italy, hundreds of boats full of migrants. The figure discussed is five hundred thousand, most of the 700,000 that are on the coast waiting to board,' the newspaper reported. 

Following the dire threat Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi immediately backtracked from his government's previous rhetoric saying that 'it was not the time for military intervention'.

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said this morning that Italy does not want to embark on 'adventures, never mind Crusades' in Libya.

But former President Giorgio Napolitano said that the 'biggest error' in the post-Gaddafi's period was the European Unions 'lack of involvement' in the country.

Meanwhile following direct threats on Rome, the commander of Vatican City's 110-man Swiss Guard said his forces are ready to defend Pope Francis if ISIS attempt a strike . 

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Executed: On Sunday, ISIS released a video showing the brutal mass murder of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya

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Horror: Blood is seen in the Mediterranean Sea four years after Muammar Gaddafi predicted it would become a 'sea of chaos'

Egyptian MOD release footage of airstrikes on ISIS in Libya

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Colonel Christoph Graf said 'Following the terrorists' threats, we're asking the guards to be more attentive and observe peoples' movements closely. If something happens we're ready, as are the men of the Gendarmerie.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2958517/The-Mediterranean-sea-chaos-Gaddafi-s-chilling-prophecy-interview-ISIS-threatens-send-500-000-migrants-Europe-psychological-weapon-bombed.html 

ISIS terrorists infiltrating refugee boats to Europe

Refugees and migrants arrive on a dinghy on the Greek island of LesbosReuters

Lebanon's education minister Elias Bousaab became the latest in a series of politicians to say that Islamic State (Isis) militants may be infiltrating migrant boats carrying would-be refugees to Europe. His and similar claims have been used by nationalist parties across the EU to advocate for tougher immigration policies.

In Britain, Ukip has warned more vocally than any other party about the risks of Islamist intrusions. Launching the party campaign for Britain's EU referendum at the beginning of September, leader Nigel Farage said there was a "very genuine fear" that IS could exploit the migrant crisis to carry out atrocities.

"When [IS] say they will use the migrant tide to flood Europe with 500,000 of their own jihadists, I think we better listen," he said, citing threats made by IS supporters online. "Five hundred thousand may not be realistic but what if it's 5,000, what if it's 500?" he asked.

The possibility that even a tiny number of them are trained jihadists is indeed a matter of concern for European governments. However there is little proof this is actually happening, according to officials and analysts.More than 500,000 migrants have crossed EU borders this year, adding to the 280,000 who arrived in 2014, according to the 28-nation bloc border agency. Many fled war in Syria and Iraq – where IS has a strong presence – or boarded rickety boats for Italy in Libya, where the extremist group is also active.

Italy, which with Greece is the main entry point for asylum seekers travelling via sea, hasn't had any case of known terrorists disembarking from a migrant boat over the last two years, a lawmaker with inside knowledge of related investigations toldIBTimes UK.

"There have been no confirmed cases, zero!" said Giorgio Brandolin, the deputy chairman of a cross-chamber parliamentary committee on immigration and security. "Terror groups spend money on training militants; it makes no sense for them to send them over on death boats, risking them drowning on the way," he said.

Ukip has warned more vocally than any other party about the risks of Islamist intrusionsGetty

Similarly at European level, Afzal Khan, the vice chair of the EU parliament subcommittee on security and defence, told IBTimes UK that he had also no information on Islamists arriving disguised as migrants. "The only thing I have seen evidence of has been European citizens going into Syria and committing terrorist acts. I have not come across any evidence the other way around," the Labour MEP said.

Bousaab himself said his statement was based on "a gut feeling" rather than hard evidence.

Gunmen return to their car after their attack on the offices of French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo (seen at rear) in this still image taken from amateur video shot in ParisGetty

Most Islamist attacks that hit Europe in recent months, like theshootings at Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris and at cultural centre and synagogue in Copenhagen, have been carried out by young men born, raised and radicalised in the country they then chose as target rather than by foreign jihadists. Ayoub El-Khazzani, the 25-year-old Moroccan who allegedly opened fire on a passenger train in France last month, had been living in Europe for years. He is believed to have travelled to Turkey and possible to Syria in May but is not known to have come back on a migrant boat. Would-be refugees are usually fingerprinted and identified upon reaching European shores.

There have been reports that Salafist preachers in Europe are targeting freshly arrived refugees for radicalisation, as well as cases of migrants who went on to apply for asylum and had their request turned down over suspected terrorist ties.

Christopher Hein, the director of the Italian Council for Refugees (CIR), a charity helping migrants with asylum applications, said they had a handful of beneficiaries who turned out to be suspected Islamists from 2010 to 2013 but none over the past couple of years.

"It doesn't mean that it's certain there have been no cases at all but I can assure it's absolutely a residual phenomenon", he said.

The Greek interior ministry said they could not disclose the number of asylum application they recently denied because of suspect terrorism links, as the information was confidential and classified. Greek police did not reply to questions regarding suspects who had reached the country but did not apply for refugee status.

Refugees and migrants are packed together while waiting for a registration procedure at the port of Mytilene on the Greek island of LesbosReuters

Similarly in the UK, the Home Office said information on asylum denials related to terrorism was protected on the grounds of national security.

Ukip's migration spokesman, Steven Wolfe MEP, told IBTimes UKthat was the reason they also had no evidence of Islamist migrants. However, he said that regardless of the numbers the prospect was still concerning.

In his campaign launch speech, Nigel Farage mentioned as proof that IS fighters had already arrived in Europe Majid Touil, 22, a suspected Islamist militant who was detained on a Tunisian arrest warrant in the northern Italian town of Gaggiano in May. Tunisian authorities alleged he was involved in the Bardo museum attack that killed 22 people."The issue was very pressing before because there were always routes into Europe. As we have seen in the past few weeks, it's obvious that it is easy to travel into Europe over the borders, whether it is through Macedonia up to Hungary or whether you are coming in through Serbia or Turkey," he said.

However he claims to be innocent and doubts have been raisedabout his supposed role in the shooting. The Moroccan was initially described as one of the key figures in the 18 March attack, but it soon became clear he had arrived in the Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle aboard a crowded migrant boat from Libya in mid-February.

There he was identified, photographed, fingerprinted and issued with an expulsion order, not because considered a security threat but because Rome doesn't grant Moroccans immediate right of asylum. He neglected the loosely enforced order and reached his mother and siblings who live in Gaggiano and described him as a young man who prefers local bars to the mosque.

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Moroccan citizen Touil Abdelmajid makes a victory sign as he arrives with migrants at Porto Empedocle harbour in Sicily in FebruaryReuters

Authorities confirmed he was attending class at literacy school near Milan when armed men stormed the museum in Tunis.

He is facing extradition to Tunisia on allegations he provided logistical support to the attackers and remains in remains in jail pending Italy's lengthy judicial proceedings. Details of accusations laid out against him should become clearer in the coming weeks as Milan prosecutors are due to file their arguments for extradition. His lawyer Silvia Fiorentino said Touil came to Italy to join his family and has nothing to do with the events at Bardo museum. "I believe and hope he will not be extradited," she told IBTimes UK. Tunisian authorities arrested roughly 50 people in a crackdown on alleged Islamic militants in the wake of the shooting.

Brandolin said Touil's case and the terrorist threat posed by the migrant influx have been overblown by nationalists across Europe for political gain. "People's fears are exploited to blur their minds. There is a lot of manipulation and little information," he said.

Nevertheless the MP with Italy's ruling centre-left Democratic Party said authorities remained watchful since Islamic terrorism was doubtless a matter of concern. His views were echoed by Khan, who said: "It is a key point that we cannot afford this risk so we need to be alert and we need to take all the necessary precautions to prevent that".

However, he noted, referring to Bousaab's claim, "We cannot go around making policies based on gut feeling. Policies have to be based on evidence."

       

                       

                                         

                                  

                                 

     

  

                                                       

 

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