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Two Iraqi men in the United States as refugees, brothers Yousif Al Mashhandani and Adil Hasan, were arrested and charged Monday with immigration fraud after federal authorities found they lied about their biological connection to Majid Al Mashhadani. Mashhadani is an Iraqi who kidnapped an American in 2004 and held them in horrible conditions for nearly a year.

From a Department of Justice release (bolding is mine):

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, on Nov. 1, 2004, a U.S. citizen, identified as R.H., was kidnapped and held with other hostages for months in horrible conditions in an underground bunker. After a raid in 2005 freed the hostages, Majid Al Mashhadani (Majid), who is a full biological brother of Yousif and Hasan, was detained and admitted his complicity in the kidnapping of R.H.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Yousif was admitted into the U.S. as a refugee in 2008. In May 2013, Yousif resided in Vienna and applied for naturalization as a U.S. citizen. In connection with Yousifs applications for citizenship, his fingerprints were taken. According to an FBI fingerprint specialist, analysis conducted in November 2013 determined that Yousifs fingerprints match those found on a document at the underground bunker where forces rescued R.H. and others in Iraq in 2005.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, to justify his application for refugee status, Hasan provided sworn testimony that, in 2006, he had been kidnapped and tortured by members of the Al Mahdi Army and held for nearly a month. Hasan said he was released upon the payment of a ransom of $20,000. In an interview by FBI agents in April 2016, Hasan said he was threatened in Iraq on two occasions, but made no mention of being kidnapped, held hostage and tortured for nearly a month. In a subsequent interview in October 2016, FBI agents confronted Hasan about the discrepancy in his stories and Hasan admitted to making false statements and creating his persecution story.

Based on the fingerprint match found in the Iraqi bunker, Yousif may have been involved in holding hostages with Mashhaadni. As noted, one of those hostages was an American citizen.

Hasan's wife, Enas Ibrahim, was also arrested and charged "attempting to obtain naturalization contrary to law." All three individuals live in Virginia. More from the release:

According to the affidavit, Hasan and Ibrahim also falsely represented their income level while on welfare to obtain an automobile loan.

"On January 8, 2015, Hasan and Ibrahim made a $10,000 down payment on an auto loan they obtained on the basis of their representations that they jointly earned at least $84,000 annually, including $36,000 that Ibrahim claimed to earn as a daycare worker in a job that she held for three years. At that time, Ibrahim was receiving benefits from the SNAP and TANF programs through the County of Fairfax on the basis of representation from 2014 renewal applications with Fairfax County Social Services that a) she was unemployed and had no income; b) their joint income was less that $4000 a week; c) that they had virtually no assets. The representations that Hasan and Ibrahim made to NMAC in January 2015 were inconsistent with the representations that Hasan made to Fairfax County in September and December 2014."

You can read the entire affidavit below:

2017 03 28 Mashhadani Affidavit by Katie Pavlich on Scribd

Go here to see the original:
Fingerprints of Refugee Admitted To US Were Found In An Iraq Bunker Used To Hold Hostages In Terrible Conditions - Townhall

Two U.S. military officials tell NBC News that approximately 275 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division have been ordered to deploy to northern Iraq as the military ratchets up efforts to wrest ISIS fighters from Mosul.

The deployment of troops from airborne division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, was approved last week. The move is aimed at supporting the U.S. troops already in the region helping the Iraqi Security Forces.

The two companies and one route clearance platoon will leave for Iraq on Tuesday.

This is a "temporary mission," one official said, but neither could say how long that would be or where the soldiers will be based.

There are 5,262 American troops authorized to be in Iraq, but soldiers who deploy on temporary orders are usually not included in those force management level numbers.

ISIS has occupied Iraq's second-largest city for more than two years, entrenching in buildings and tunnels.

Earlier this month, nearly 200 civilians were killed in a coalition airstrike in Mosul. Senior military officials are investigating the reports and United States Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the Iraqi security forces had requested the aircraft's assistance.

Read the rest here:
US to Send 275 More Soldiers to Iraq to Shore up Mosul Efforts - NBCNews.com

He is one of the worlds most prominent priests, but Canon Andrew White known as the Vicar of Baghdad has reached a painstaking conclusion: Christianity is all but over in the land where it all began.

The time has come where it is over, no Christians will be left. Some stay Christians should stay to maintain the historical presence, but it has become very difficult. The future for the community is very limited, White told Fox News this week. The Christians coming out of Iraq and ISIS areas in the Middle East all say the same thing, there is no way they are ever going back. They have had enough.

Thirty years ago, there were approximately 1.4 million Christians in Iraq. The number dwindled to around 1 million after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, and a year ago it was estimated that there were less than 250,000 left. Numbers have continued to decline as families flee, and today even approximate figures are difficult to obtain.

A LOOK INSIDE THE WALLS OF A PRISON IN IRAQ, AND INTO THE TORTURED MINDS OF FEMALE ISIS MILITANTS HELD THERE

If there is anything I can tell Americans it is that your fellow brothers and sisters are suffering, they are desperate for help, he said. And it is not just a matter of praying for peace. They need a lot food, resources, clothes, everything. They need everything.

For decades, Christians endured persecution in Iraq by hardline extremists as infidel people of the book but their fate became significantly more dire in 2014 after ISIS overran Mosul and the many ancient Christian villages surrounding the city. Thousands of families overnight were forced to flee their home, and while some have sought refuge in the northern Kurdish region, many have left the country altogether.

ISIS MURDERING COPTIC CHRISTIANS ON EGYPT'S SINAI PENINSULA OVER FAITH

White earned his moniker serving as the vicar of St. Georges Church, Baghdad the only remaining Anglican Church in the Iraqi capital until November, 2014 when he was ordered by the Archbishop of Canterbury to leave for securitys sake as the ISIS threat burgeoned.

Much of ministry over the years centered on humanitarian endeavors yet his do-good desires have come with controversy.

Last June, White came under criticism and was suspended by the board of trustees as president of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation (FRRME), the charity he founded in 2005 to bridge sectarian divisions and provide emergency relief to those affected by war. The suspension came after he made a Facebook post about freeing Yazidi sex slaves from ISIS, raising questions as to how that was achieved and if the terrorists were paid off.

The post also prompted an investigation of the foundation by the Charity Commission, the official charity regulator in England. As a registered UK charity, the organization is not permitted to engage in hostage release negotiations and it is against the law to pay ransoms to designated terrorist groups.

Nothing has come of the enquiry and White denied any wrongdoing publicly assuring that at no time did we pay money to any terrorists. He has not let the controversy stop him from continuing to help those fleeing ISIS atrocities in the Middle East. He has sincefounded two neworganizations, the Canon Andrew White Reconciliation Ministries in Amman, Jordan and Jerusalem Merit in Israel.

Whites ministry work in the Jordanian capital includes running a school and clinic for refugees and serving as a pastor to Christian families that have fled ISIS persecution. In Jerusalem, he is focused on relief and reconciliation amid the long-running Israel/Palestine conflict and he works directly with an array of religious groups, from Hasidic Jews and Samaritans to Christians and Muslims.

White has also been a vocal supporter of the new U.S. president. He praised Trumps commitment to helping persecuted Christians and for modifying his original travel ban to ensure Iraqis can still travel to the U.S. viewing that as acknowledgment that the two countries maintain positive ties. However, he hopes to foster dialogue with the administration and offer some suggestions to dealing with the Islamic community.

Many have this feeling that America is against them, and they need to show that America is not against Islam, America is against terrorism, White said, adding that by no means is he one of those people who thinks Islam is all about peace. We have got to have good relations, and the U.S is in a unique and powerful position to be a force for good.

Beyond humanitarian efforts, the central tenet of Whites work has for years been devoted to cultivating communications between Shia and Sunni leaders and even ISIS jihadists themselves in Iraq. Despite the constant terrorist threat, he continues to travel to Baghdad to continue his work in anti-extremism dialogue and to undergo stem cell treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, a diagnosis he received at age 33.

A lot of these guys I have known before they were ISIS, when they were part of militias like Sons of Iraq, he said. They operate in secret cells all over Baghdad, and the harder the Iraqi Army attacks Mosul, the more they attack Baghdad.

And, White stressed, there simply isnt a safe way to work with them.

It is important to find ways to engage with them, to look into their philosophies. I tried to invite some of the ISIS jihadists to dinner once, he added. They told me they would come, but that they would chop my head off afterwards. I didnt think it would be a nice way to end a dinner party.

Hollie McKay has been a FoxNews.com staff reporter since 2007. She has reported extensively from the Middle East on the rise and fall of terrorist groups such as ISIS in Iraq. Follow her on twitter at @holliesmckay

See the original post:
Christianity in Iraq is finished, says Canon Andrew White ...

Isis will be defeated in Iraq within weeks, according to the country's prime minister,Haider al-Abadi.

Insisting they would definitely be driven from the country, MrAbadimade the comments as his country'sarmed forcescontinue their campaign to retake the northern city ofMosulfrom the terrorist group.

The city is Isis last remaining stronghold in the country.

However, Mr Abadi admitted the group, which is also known as Daesh, will continue to maintain strongholds in Syria.

At the moment we are at a very important juncture where Daesh is on the retreat, he told Fox News. We in Iraq have been killing Daesh, removing them from our land. We are killing their aim so that recruits are minimal at the moment.

In Iraq the defeat is sure, its definite. Well finish the job in a very short time its within reachwithin the next few weeks.We are defeating them militarilywe need the efforts of others to flush them out in Syria and other places.

The Iraqi army has been engaged in a bloody battle with the jihadist group in Mosulafterlaunching a new offensive on the city late last year.

After months of heavy fighting, around 400,000 civilians are estimated to be trapped in the city, with food, clean water and electricity all in scarce supply.

Isis retains control of around 40 per cent of the western part of Mosul, and the remaining 2,000 or so militants in the city are continuing tofiercely fightto defend their positions.

Mr Abadisaidlast weeks terrorist attack in Westminster was a result of Isis trying to maintain its reputation as it faces defeat in Iraq.

Five people were killed when Khalid Masood drove a car into crowds on Westminster Bridge and then stabbed a policeman in Parliament.

Isis claimed responsibility for the attack but experts said the group frequently claims to have been behind incidents in which it actually had little involvement.

Syrian refugee recalls ISIS horrors

They are trying to attract more recruits by doing these criminal acts, Mr Abadi said. Its like somebody who is dying and is just trying to flex his muscle at the last moment.The only way forward is to kill their home - just to finish them. Then they will not have any hope to commit such criminal acts.

Mr Abadi also suggested Donald Trump is more determined than Barack Obama to defeat Isis.

President Obama didnt want to get involved in the first place, he said. He just wanted to just forget Iraq.

Coming back to Iraq was sort of imposed on him because of Daesh and what they had done by crossing the Syrian-Iraqi border, occupying about 40 per cent of Iraqi land and slaughtering people. So there was a lot of pressure on President Obama to come to the help of Iraq.

In contrast, he said MrTrump's Administration understood that Iraq is an ally and we should keep on working with Iraq to support Iraq to stand against terrorism.

Continue reading here:
Isis will be defeated in Iraq 'within weeks', says country's Prime Minister - The Independent

Forbes

A New Mechanism for Syria. But what about Iraq? Forbes Since their rise as a major terrorist group in the Syria and Iraq conflicts, Daesh has perpetrated some of the worst atrocities and war crimes that we have witnessed in years. It has become clear that the atrocities committed by Daesh against religious ...

Continued here:
A New Mechanism for Syria. But what about Iraq? - Forbes