INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2016 Two refugees arrested in US over IS links LOS ANGELES: US authorities said two peo- affiliate Ansar al-Islam (Partisans of Islam), citizenship or naturalization unlawfully and From Refugee to Radical ple with ties to the Islamic State group were which previously operated under its own making false statements. Hardan, who lives in Houston, was due in court yesterday in California and banner in Iraq and Syria. Listed as a terrorist Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other granted legal permanent resident status Texas, including a refugee from Syria organization by the United Nations and the local officials said Hardan’s arrest backed in 2011, two years after entering the accused of returning there to fight alongside US, its Iraqi faction has since merged with their calls for a refugee ban. “This is precisely United States. According to the indict- IS. The arrests come amid heightened securi- the Islamic State group, though some of its why I called for a halt to refugees entering ment, he provided training, expert advice ty in the United States following last month’s Syrian fighters rejected IS. US Attorney the US from countries substantially con- and assistance to IS. He also lied on his assault by a radicalized Muslim couple in Benjamin Wagner was careful to stress that trolled by terrorists,” he said. The state’s formal application to become a natural- California that left 14 people dead and the “while (Jayab) represented a potential safety Attorney General Ken Paxton called the ized US citizen, saying he was not associa- November terror attacks in Paris. The attacks threat, there is no indication that he planned arrest a “troubling revelation,” using the tion with a terror group despite having added to pressure for more scrutiny of any acts of terrorism in this country”. occasion to take a swipe at President Barack been associated with IS members and refugees from war-ravaged Syria. Another Iraqi-born Palestinian, Omar Obama. “The arrest in Houston of an Iraqi sympathizers throughout 2014. During an Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, an Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, was indicted refugee for suspicion of terrorist activities is a Oct 2015 interview, Hardan is also said to Iraqi-born Palestinian arrested Thursday Wednesday in Texas for providing material troubling revelation - especially in light of have falsely claimed he had never who came to the United States from Syria as support to the IS group. He is due to make the president’s insistence on placing further received weapons training of any kind a refugee in 2012, traveled to Syria the fol- an initial court appearance yesterday. refugees in Texas,” he said. “My office will when he had in fact learned to use lowing year where he fought for various ter- Hardan, 24, was charged with one count continue to press for the right of Texans to machine guns. He faces up to 53 years in ror groups, according to a criminal com- each of attempting to provide material sup- ensure that terrorists are not being placed in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on plaint. One of those groups was Al-Qaeda port to ISIL (Islamic State), procurement of our communities.” all charges. — AFP Princess Ashraf, shah’s twin sister, dies aged 96 DUBAI: Iranian Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, the twin sister of the country’s deposed shah whose glamorous life epitomized the excesses of her brother’s rule, has died after decades in exile. She was 96. Many in Iran before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution believed Princess Ashraf served as the true power behind her brother, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and pushed him into taking power in a 1953 coup engineered by the US. Immortalized in her royal prime by an Andy Warhol portrait with bright red lips and raven-black hair, Princess Ashraf’s years out of power more resembled a Shakespearean tragedy. Assassins killed her son on a Paris street just after the Islamic Revolution, her twin brother died of cancer shortly after, while a niece died of a 2001 drug over- dose in London and a nephew killed himself in Boston 10 years later. Still, she always defended her brother’s rule and held onto her royal past. “At night, when I go into my room, that’s when all the thoughts come flooding in,” the princess told AP in a 1983 interview in Paris. “I stay up until 5 or 6 in the morning. I read, I watch a cassette, I try not to think. But the memories won’t leave you.” Reza Pahlavi, a son of the shah, announced his aunt’s death in a Facebook post on Thursday night. Her personal website said she died Thursday, without elaborating. A longtime adviser to Princess Ashraf in New York could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday. In Iran, local media reported her death relying on international reports. State television reported she died in Monte Carlo and described her as being famous for being corrupt. Born Oct 26, 1919, ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Sunni Muslims shout slogans during a protest yesterday against Iran and in support of Saudi Princess Ashraf was the daughter of the monarch Reza Shah, who Arabia. — AFP came to power in a 1921 coup engineered by Britain and later was forced to abdicate the throne after a 1941 invasion by Britain and Russia. By 1953, America helped orchestrate the coup that overthrew Protests held in Iran Iran’s popularly elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, over fears he was tilting toward the Soviet Union. That brought her brother to power and set the stage for decades of mistrust between against Saudi Arabia the countries. — AP Row smolders between rivals TEHRAN: Anti-Saudi demonstrators took to of anger across the Shiite world. Relations news agency IRNA. Nimr was executed along the streets of Tehran yesterday to protest between the longtime adversaries hit a fresh with 46 other prisoners that Riyadh said were Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shiite cler- low Thursday when Iran accused Saudi war- “terrorists”. ic and after Iran accused its rival of bombing planes of deliberately targeting its embassy In response, protesters in Iran stormed its embassy in Yemen. The festering diplo- in Sanaa, damaging the property and seri- and set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran matic crisis between the Middle East’s lead- ously wounding a security guard. The and consulate in the second city of Mashhad. ing Sunni and Shiite Muslim powers has Yemeni conflict, which pits the rebels known Iran denounced those attacks, but the reper- raised sectarian tensions across the region as Houthis against pro-government forces cussions quickly rippled across the region and complicated efforts to resolve conflicts backed by Riyadh and other Gulf Arab states, with Saudi allies Bahrain, Djibouti, Somalia in Syria and Yemen. In a development that is one of the main sources of dispute and Sudan also cutting diplomatic ties with could further strain relations, Saudi media between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Tehran. At the same time, the United Arab reported yesterday that four Iranians would Emirates has downgraded relations with Iran, go on trial in the kingdom, one for spying ‘Crimes against Muslims’ while Kuwait and Qatar have recalled their and the other three for “terrorism”. During weekly prayers in Tehran, influen- ambassadors. Iran hit back Thursday by Around 1,000 protestors marched tial cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Emami announcing a ban on imports from the king- through Tehran chanting “death to America” Kashani told worshippers that Riyadh, along dom, which will reportedly affect goods and “death to Israel”, frequent rallying cries at with Israel and the United States, was respon- worth about $40 million. The latest crisis demonstrations in Iran. Some carried plac- sible for “all crimes committed against threatens a fragile UN-backed initiative to ards with the picture of Nimr Al-Nimr, the Muslims”. “The Zionist regime plans, the US end the war in Yemen, where the world body NEW YORK: In this April 17, 1980 file photo, Ashraf Shiite cleric and activist whose execution by supports and Saudi Arabia sources the neces- says at least 2,795 civilians have been killed Pahlavi, twin sister of the deposed Shah of Iran, is inter- Saudi Arabia on Saturday unleashed a wave sary funds,” Kashani said, according to state since March. — AFP viewed for ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America”. — AP .