Islamists enter military in Egypt as part of Muslim Brotherhood effort to take control, US says Freebeacon.com, BY: Bill Gertz March 29, 2013 5:00 am Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated government recently allowed members of the Brotherhood and hardline jihadists to join Egypt’s military academy for the first time as part of what U.S. officials say is a covert effort to impose Islamist rule in the key Middle East state. According to U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports, the government of President Mohamed Morsi is covertly taking steps to take control over the pro-Western military and the police forces as part of … Continued

USA Today, March 22, 2013 AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Anxious to keep Syria’s civil war from spiraling into even worse problems, President Barack Obama said Friday he worries about the country becoming a haven for extremists when — not if — President Bashar Assad is ousted from power. Obama, standing side by side with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, said the international community must work together to ensure there is a credible opposition ready to step into the breach. “Something has been broken in Syria, and it’s not going to be put back together perfectly immediately — even after Assad leaves,” … Continued

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Why Syria’s Islamists Are Gaining By J. MALCOLM GARCIA Published: February 14, 2013 ALEPPO, Syria A YOUNG fighter for the Free Syrian Army sat at a checkpoint on a couch taken from an abandoned house. He cradled his Kalashnikov and waited on the empty street for a car to inspect, or a pedestrian to pat down. If only the future of Syria would reveal itself to him as easily. The rebels in the Free Syrian Army don’t doubt that they will drive President Bashar al-Assad from power — eventually — but they have no idea what will happen afterward: Democracy? An Islamic … Continued

Published January 06, 2013 FoxNews.com A defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad made a rare public appearance Sunday, ignoring international demands and calling for Syrians to fight the uprising against his rule in a speech that drew a sharp rebuke from the State Department. In his first public speech in six months, Assad laid out terms for a peace plan that keeps himself in power and pledged to continue the battle “as long as there is one terrorist left” in Syria. “What we started will not stop,” he said, standing at a lectern on stage at the regal Opera House in … Continued

Washington Post By Abigail Hauslohner, Published: January 6 CAIRO — Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi rebuilt his cabinet Sunday, replacing 10 ministers and amplifying the Islamist presence in the government. The move, in which at least three Islamists were appointed to head major economic ministries, comes a day ahead of a planned visit by a top International Monetary Fund official to discuss an impending $4.8 billion loan. To read the entire article

BAMAKO | Tue Jan 8, 2013 7:53am EST (Reuters) – Malian soldiers fired warning shots on Tuesday at Islamist fighters pushing south towards their positions, military and diplomatic sources said, raising fears of the first clashes since militants seized Mali’s north in April. The capture of the northern two thirds of the arid West African nation by a loose coalition of Islamist groups has sown fears among Western and regional powers that Mali could become a haven for radicals to plot international attacks. To read the whole story

By Abigail Hauslohner, Published: January 7 The Washington Post GIZA, Egypt — Egypt’s Christians were worried about their safety on Monday as they marked the first Christmas under Islamist rule, with Coptic Pope Tawadros II urging worshipers “not to be afraid” and some complaining that their lives had gone from bad to worse in the nearly two years since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. At St. Mary’s Church in the dense and religiously mixed neighborhood of Imbaba, where sectarian clashes have flared before, midnight Mass on Christmas Eve started early because of safety concerns. The church, which was torched by an Islamist mob … Continued

Pentagon sources tell NBC News that the Syrian military is awaiting final orders to launch chemical weapons against its own people after precursor chemicals for deadly sarin gas were loaded into aerial bombs. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reports. NBCNews.com By Jim Miklaszewski and M. Alex Johnson, NBC News Updated at 8:20 a.m. ET: The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday. The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be … Continued

New York Times By JAMES RISEN, MARK MAZZETTI and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT Published: December 5, 2012 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats. Enlarge This Image Bryan Denton for The New York Times Libyans in Benghazi last year in front of a Libyan flag, right, and a Qatari flag painted on the wall. No evidence has emerged linking the … Continued

Reuters.com 12/6/12 (Reuters) – Demonstrators rejected a call from Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Mursi for a national dialogue after deadly clashes around his palace, demanding the “downfall of the regime” – the chant that brought down Hosni Mubarak. Mursi said in a televised speech late on Thursday that plans were on track for a referendum on a new constitution on December 15 despite clashes that killed seven people. He proposed a meeting on Saturday with political leaders, “revolutionary youth” and legal figures to discuss the way forward after that. But a leading activist group rejected the offer, and fresh demonstrations … Continued