Brussels Airport Still Closed as Authorities Search for Attacker

Belgian authorities are still looking for the “man in the hat,” who was seen with the suicide bombers at Zaventem airport in Brussels last Tuesday, and had to release their lead suspect, Faycal Cheffou, on Monday because of a lack of evidence. Belgian authorities have been criticized for not responding to warnings from other countries — one of the attackers was deported from Turkey after trying to enter Syria as a foreign fighter and the FBI reportedly shared information on the brothers involved in the attacks with the Netherlands six days before the bombings. Police are continuing to conduct raids and evidence found on a laptop that was used by one of the attackers suggests that an attack was also being planned against the Belgian prime minister’s office or residence.

Though Zaventem airport was scheduled to reopen yesterday, it will stay closed today as security officials conduct drills and test new security precautions. The reported death toll for the attack has gone down from 35 to 32 — previous reports of 35 deaths were based on a compiling error, according to Belgian authorities.

Islamic State Attacks Police in Dagestan

A local affiliate of the Islamic State operating in the North Caucasus claimed credit for two car bombings last night in Dagestan, Russia. Local police said that one police officer was killed and two others were wounded, though the Islamic State claimed to have killed more. The attack in the latest of several claimed by the Islamic State in Dagestan, a Muslim-majority region bordering Chechnya.

Headlines

• After a series of terrorist bombings in Ankara and Istanbul so far this year, U.S. officials announced yesterday that they are withdrawing many of the family members of military and diplomatic personnel stationed in the country, citing security concerns.

• Seif Eddin Mustafa, who hijacked and diverted an EgyptAir flight to Cyprus yesterday to try to meet with his ex-wife, will be held for eight days by police and faces charges of “hijacking, illegal possession of explosives, kidnapping and threats to commit violence.”

• The Yemeni military seized several buildings in the Mansoura district of Aden, including a prison, that had been captured by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants.

• U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on countries around the world this morning to resettle more Syrian refugees; UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, is convening a conference today with the goal of securing guarantees for the resettlement of 480,000 refugees, which is about 10 percent of the total in countries neighboring Syria.

• Iranian Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ missile tests, saying “If the Islamic Republic seeks negotiations but has no defensive power, it would have to back down against threats from any weak country,” and calling people who disagree “ignorant or traitors.”

Arguments and Analysis

“Around Aleppo, It’s Not Peace — Just a Break“ (Thanassis Cambanis, The Century Foundation)

“Aleppo’s state of play underscores just how difficult it would be to work out the details of a lasting settlement. It has proven impossible, even with massive Russian support, for the Syrian government to fully encircle the rebels in Western Aleppo. It isn’t known whether Russia made a tactical decision not to allow a full government takeover of Aleppo, in order to prevent government overreach, or whether it wasn’t able to. Moreover, despite indications that the Syrian civil war might be tilting toward a punishing stalemate, the factions around Aleppo—once the economic and industrial hub of Syria — have plenty of fight still left in them. During the ceasefire, skirmishes have continued over city’s strategic choke points. Militias have shifted their forces in anticipation of major battles they expect as soon as the ceasefire breaks down. And commanders with access to foreign arms, like Rajoub and his FSA colleagues, are shopping across the border in Turkey. ‘We ask the Friends of Syria and they give us,’ Rajoub said with a smile. ‘They have just now given us new supplies of everything. But we want some special weapons to give us a little bit of leverage.’”

“Where literary meets military: The book wars of Riyadh” (Brian Whitaker, al-Bab)

“In previous years the fair has also been a battleground in Saudi Arabia’s internal religious/cultural war. The 2011 fair was disrupted by thugs — allegedly members of the religious police — complaining of “immoral practices” which included gender-mixing and the presence of ‘questionable books and authors’. Last year, the religious police halted a seminar entitled ‘Youth and Arts … A Call for Coexistence’ after one of its speakers, Dr Mojab al-Zahrani, condemned the destruction of ancient monuments by ISIS. The religious police accused him of supporting idolatry and interrupted the proceedings with a call to prayer. Other reported incidents have included a male bookseller being told never to speak to female customers — ‘Keep silent and don’t acknowledge them when taking their money’ — and a Kuwaiti author being instructed not to smile during his book-signing ceremony because the dimples on his face ‘would be too distracting’. This year’s fair opened with the authorities trying to show a more liberal image — at least for the first day when dignitaries, foreigners and the media attend.”

-J. Dana Stuster

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