Latest news with #counterterror
Arab News
2 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan, EU renew GSP+ commitment, discuss counterterror cooperation, Middle East peace efforts
ISLAMABAD: Senior officials from Islamabad and the European Union on Thursday resolved to continue their engagement under the Generalized Scheme of Preference Plus (GSP+) framework, discussing counterterror collaboration and peace efforts in Gaza, Pakistan's foreign office said. Europe's GSP+ scheme grants beneficiary countries' exports duty-free access to the European market in exchange for voluntarily agreeing to implement 27 international core conventions, including those on human and civil rights. In October 2023, the EU unanimously voted to extend GSP+ status until 2027 for developing countries, including Pakistan. Olof Skoog, the deputy secretary general of the European External Action Service and Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch led the delegations from both sides, as they held the 10th Political Dialogue in Brussels on Thursday. 'The two sides reiterated their resolve to continue close engagement under the GSP+ framework,' Pakistan's foreign office said. 'They acknowledged the meaningful cooperation on various aspects of migration, aiming to hold the third Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Dialogue later in 2025.' The statement said both sides also discussed views on regional and global issues, stressing the importance of multifaceted cooperation on security matters, including counterterrorism and counter-narcotics. Both delegations condemned all forms of 'terrorism,' the foreign office said. Brussels and Islamabad discussed the Ukraine conflict and the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan as well, pushing for dialogue. 'Both sides agreed on the need for efforts based on dialogue and diplomacy in order to solve contentious issues and underscored the importance of upholding international law and the sanctity of international agreements/treaties,' it added. The two sides also exchanged views on the evolving situation in the Middle East, where Israel has killed over 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza in military operations since October 2023. 'They agreed on the urgent need to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza,' the statement said. 'Both sides called for the resumption of a ceasefire, and expressed support for initiatives that contribute to a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in Palestine in accordance with the two-state solution.' Islamabad considers EU a vital trading partner. Pakistan has become the largest beneficiary of the GSP+ trade scheme in recent years, with its businesses increasing their exports to the EU market by 108 percent since the trade scheme was launched in 2014.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Man charged over car theft tied to synagogue attack
A man has been charged with the theft of a car linked to several high profile violent incidents, including the alleged "politically motivated" firebombing of a synagogue. Detectives arrested a 20-year-old man before executing a search warrant at a home in Melbourne's west on Wednesday, where they seized multiple items. The man has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle, along with failing to provide access to applications on his phone. Police allege the man stole a blue 2020-model VW Golf sedan at Melton on November 29, 2024. The stolen car was used in other offences, including the Lux nightclub arson at South Yarra in November, as well as an arson and shooting at Bundoora. Investigators do not consider the Bundoora and South Yarra incidents politically motivated attacks. Police believe the car was used in the Adass Israel Synagogue arson attack on December 6. Two of the synagogue's three buildings in Ripponlea, in Melbourne's southeast, were gutted in the fire. Inside at the time were two congregants preparing for morning prayers who escaped, with one suffering minor injuries. Photos and CCTV footage released by counter-terror police in May showed a Golf sedan repeatedly passing the synagogue before parking directly outside its main entrance. Three people donning hoodies and masks get out of the vehicle and use an axe to damage the entrance of the building. No one has been charged with carrying out the firebombing and the accused car thief is the first person to be accused of any offence linked to the attack. Terrorism investigators continue to investigate the attack as a priority. Investigators have combed through CCTV from more than 1400 locations and believe multiple offenders are directly and indirectly linked to the synagogue arson, police confirmed in May. Detectives have been investigating several alleged acts of anti-Semitism across Melbourne in July, including an incident at the Israeli restaurant Miznon and the alleged arson attack on a East Melbourne Synagogue on July 5. A group of worshippers was forced to flee the synagogue when a man allegedly set the building on fire during weekly services. Police have since charged a 34-year-old man with multiple offences including reckless conduct endangering life and criminal damage by fire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the "reprehensible anti-Semitic attacks" on both the Melbourne synagogue and the restaurant. Police are continuing to work with people from the synagogue and other representatives from the Jewish community to ensure they have appropriate supports. The 20-year-old charged with car theft was granted strict conditional bail to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on October 3.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Prevent programme missed chances to intervene with Southport killer, review told
Prevent, the government 's counter-terror programme, missed a number of chances to intervene in the actions of Axel Rudakubana before he killed three young girls in Southport last year, a review has been told. A report assessing Rudakubana's closed referrals to the programme years before he went on to murder three girls, and attempted to kill eight others and two adults, found too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology. Solicitor Chris Walker, who represents the girls' families, said that opportunities to intervene were lost because referrals to other agencies who could have helped Rudakubana were not followed up. He and the families expect the public inquiry into the atrocity to establish whether a different handling of the case would have led to a different outcome, adding that 'real change needs to come in order to prevent other families going through what my clients face'. The review, looking at lessons learned from the cases of MP Sir David Amess ' murderer Ali Harbi Ali and Southport murderer Rudakubana, said 'intensive' efforts have been made to improve processes, but the 'jury is out' on some of the changes. Independent Prevent commissioner David Anderson KC has recommended the deradicalisation initiative should remain open to those with no fixed ideology in his report published on Wednesday. Lord Anderson said: 'A huge amount of effort has already gone into making Prevent a stronger programme than the one which failed to deal in 2014 with the future killer of Sir David Amess.' A blizzard of further initiatives has followed the Southport murders of last summer. Though it is too early for all of these to be fully evaluated, taken together they will reduce the chances of such failings being repeated. 'But more needs to be done. It has to be clear that people with a fascination with extreme violence can be suitable subjects for Prevent, even when they have no discernible ideology.' He added: 'In the longer term, I believe that Prevent could work better as part of a comprehensive violence prevention and safeguarding strategy.' The report recommended for a Cabinet Office task force to be set up to explore the possibility of formally connecting Prevent to a broader violence prevention and safeguarding system. It comes as the commissioner for the Commission for Countering Extremism, Robin Simcox, told the Commons' Home Affairs Committee that if Prevent shifted its focus towards taking on more cases of those with interests in extreme violence, it would mean the system 'isn't really a counter-terrorism programme any more'. He told MPs on Tuesday it would be a 'pretty fundamental shift in what Prevent is', adding: 'Prevent better brace itself for an awful lot of referrals.' Meanwhile, the interim Prevent commissioner's report also called for the body to 'up its game in the online world, where most radicalisation takes place'. Lord Anderson's report said that approaches to understanding organised terrorist activity from the last two decades are 'insufficient' for understanding digital movements of self-radicalised extremists, whose online behaviours are 'increasingly difficult to detect and interpret'. Speaking at the Home Affairs select committee on Tuesday, Lord Anderson said the average age of a person referred to Prevent is now 16 years old, and 40% are aged 11-15 so they are 'dealing here with digital natives'. The report concluded: 'Wider decisions loom on how Prevent can be better tailored to the online world inhabited by so many of its subjects; how best to deal with those whose ideology amounts to little more than a fascination with extreme violence; and whether Prevent should ultimately be embedded in a more general violence reduction strategy.' Lord Anderson detailed that he heard evidence from across the country of a large increase in Prevent referrals in the first quarter of this year following the publicity of Rudakubana's case. He added that reactions to popular Netflix series Adolescence on the theme of 'incels' may have also encouraged more referrals. Latest figures on Prevent referrals for 2023-2024 included in the report show 36% of 6,921 cases were made up of concerns of vulnerability but no ideology or counter-terror risk, followed by 19% extreme right wing and 18% for conflicted ideology. 'Lord Anderson is right that lessons must be learned and we call upon the government and authorities to ensure they do more than simply paying lip service,' Mr Walker added. Harbi Ali's case was also deemed to be closed too early after 'problematic' assessments, before he went on to kill veteran MP Sir David seven years later. Lord Anderson's report found that lessons 'must continue to be learned' from the failure to stop two killers. Radd Seiger, adviser and spokesperson for the family of Sir David, said they are 'deeply upset' and 'frankly offended' by the way Lord Anderson's report has been handled by the Home Office. He said the family were given 'next to no notice' of the timing or advance sight of the report, adding media leaks were a further insult to the family. Mr Seiger said they also received a 'dismissive' letter from the Home Secretary, which he said was designed to 'protect the government following its failings' and not support them. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government will 'immediately act' on findings made by Lord Anderson. In a written statement, she said Prevent thresholds will be clarified in guidance for frontline workers who have a duty to refer individuals to Prevent, so they understand those fascinated with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks should be referred to the counter-terror programme. She said this work will be completed by the end of September. The Home Secretary also said work will continue to look at how Prevent connects with wider violence prevention and safeguarding efforts, and officials will work with tech companies to boost efforts to tackle online radicalisation. Ms Cooper said: 'Whilst we must look immediately at how Prevent works alongside wider safeguarding mechanisms to stop further missed opportunities, we also look forward to the outcome of the first phase of the Southport Public Inquiry, led by Sir Adrian Fulford, which will publish its findings later this year.' Responding to the report, Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) senior national coordinator for prevent and pursue, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, added: 'We will now carefully reflect on the report and its recommendations, and continue to work alongside the government, Security Services, wider policing and other partners to ensure that systems designed to keep the public safe from harm do exactly that.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Prevent programme should continue referrals for no ideology
Prevent, the Government's counter-terror programme, could work better as part of a violence prevention strategy in the long term and should apply to those fascinated by extreme violence, a watchdog has said. Independent Prevent Commissioner David Anderson KC has recommended the deradicalisation initiative should remain open to those with no fixed ideology in his report published on Wednesday. The review, looking at lessons learned from the cases of MP Sir David Amess's murderer Ali Harbi Ali and Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana, said 'intensive' efforts have been made to improve processes, but the 'jury is out' on some of the changes. Lord Anderson said: 'A huge amount of effort has already gone into making Prevent a stronger programme than the one which failed to deal in 2014 with the future killer of Sir David Amess. 'A blizzard of further initiatives has followed the Southport murders of last summer. Though it is too early for all of these to be fully evaluated, taken together they will reduce the chances of such failings being repeated. 'But more needs to be done. It has to be clear that people with a fascination with extreme violence can be suitable subjects for Prevent, even when they have no discernible ideology.' He added: 'In the longer term, I believe that Prevent could work better as part of a comprehensive violence prevention and safeguarding strategy.' The report recommended for a Cabinet Office task force to be set up to explore the possibility of formally connecting Prevent to a broader violence prevention and safeguarding system. It comes as the commissioner for the Commission for Countering Extremism, Robin Simcox, told the Commons' Home Affairs Committee that if Prevent shifted its focus towards taking on more cases of those with interests in extreme violence, it would mean the system 'isn't really a counter-terrorism programme any more'. He told MPs on Tuesday it would be a 'pretty fundamental shift in what Prevent is', adding: 'Prevent better brace itself for an awful lot of referrals.' Meanwhile, the interim Prevent commissioner's report also called for the body to 'up its game in the online world, where most radicalisation takes place'. Lord Anderson's report said that approaches to understanding organised terrorist activity from the last two decades are 'insufficient' for understanding digital movements of self-radicalised extremists, whose online behaviours are 'increasingly difficult to detect and interpret'. Speaking at the Home Affairs select committee on Tuesday, Lord Anderson said the average age of a person referred to Prevent is now 16 years old, and 40% are aged 11-15 so they are 'dealing here with digital natives'. The report concluded: 'Wider decisions loom on how Prevent can be better tailored to the online world inhabited by so many of its subjects; how best to deal with those whose ideology amounts to little more than a fascination with extreme violence; and whether Prevent should ultimately be embedded in a more general violence reduction strategy.' Lord Anderson detailed that he heard evidence from across the country of a large increase in Prevent referrals in the first quarter of this year following the publicity of Rudakubana's case. He added that reactions to popular Netflix series Adolescence on the theme of 'incels' may have also encouraged more referrals. Latest figures on Prevent referrals for 2023-2024 included in the report show 36% of 6,921 cases were made up of concerns of vulnerability but no ideology or counter-terror risk, followed by 19% extreme right wing and 18% for conflicted ideology. The report follows Prevent Learning Reviews published into the two cases. A review assessing Rudakubana's closed referrals to the programme years before he went on to murder three girls, and attempted to kill eight others and two adults, found too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology. Harbi Ali's case was also deemed to be closed too early after 'problematic' assessments, before he went on to kill veteran MP Sir David seven years later. Reacting to the Prevent commissioner's report on Wednesday, Radd Seiger, the adviser and spokesperson for the family of Sir David, said the family are 'deeply upset' and 'frankly offended' by the way Lord Anderson's report has been handled by the Home Office. He said the family were given 'next to no notice' of the timing or advance sight of the report, adding media leaks were a further insult to the family. Mr Seiger said they also received a 'dismissive' letter from the Home Secretary, which he said was designed to 'protect the Government following its failings' and not support them. The review on Prevent also comes after the terror watchdog recommended for a new offence to address the gap for lone individuals planning mass killings. In March, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall, said the terrorism definition should not be changed in the wake of the Southport murders, but instead the law could be changed to create an offence to prevent mass casualty attacks before they happen, similar to terrorism offences applying to an offender preparing for an attack.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Prevent programme should continue referrals for no ideology
Prevent, the Government's counter-terror programme, could work better as part of a violence prevention strategy in the long term and should apply to those fascinated by extreme violence, a watchdog has said. Independent Prevent Commissioner David Anderson KC has recommended the deradicalisation initiative should remain open to those with no fixed ideology in his report published on Wednesday. The review, looking at lessons learned from the cases of MP Sir David Amess's murderer Ali Harbi Ali and Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana, said 'intensive' efforts have been made to improve processes, but the 'jury is out' on some of the changes. Lord Anderson said: 'A huge amount of effort has already gone into making Prevent a stronger programme than the one which failed to deal in 2014 with the future killer of Sir David Amess. 'A blizzard of further initiatives has followed the Southport murders of last summer. Though it is too early for all of these to be fully evaluated, taken together they will reduce the chances of such failings being repeated. 'But more needs to be done. It has to be clear that people with a fascination with extreme violence can be suitable subjects for Prevent, even when they have no discernible ideology.' He added: 'In the longer term, I believe that Prevent could work better as part of a comprehensive violence prevention and safeguarding strategy.' The report recommended for a Cabinet Office task force to be set up to explore the possibility of formally connecting Prevent to a broader violence prevention and safeguarding system. It comes as the commissioner for the Commission for Countering Extremism, Robin Simcox, told the Commons' Home Affairs Committee that if Prevent shifted its focus towards taking on more cases of those with interests in extreme violence, it would mean the system 'isn't really a counter-terrorism programme any more'. He told MPs on Tuesday it would be a 'pretty fundamental shift in what Prevent is', adding: 'Prevent better brace itself for an awful lot of referrals.' Meanwhile, the interim Prevent commissioner's report also called for the body to 'up its game in the online world, where most radicalisation takes place'. Lord Anderson's report said that approaches to understanding organised terrorist activity from the last two decades are 'insufficient' for understanding digital movements of self-radicalised extremists, whose online behaviours are 'increasingly difficult to detect and interpret'. Speaking at the Home Affairs select committee on Tuesday, Lord Anderson said the average age of a person referred to Prevent is now 16 years old, and 40% are aged 11-15 so they are 'dealing here with digital natives'. The report concluded: 'Wider decisions loom on how Prevent can be better tailored to the online world inhabited by so many of its subjects; how best to deal with those whose ideology amounts to little more than a fascination with extreme violence; and whether Prevent should ultimately be embedded in a more general violence reduction strategy.' Lord Anderson detailed that he heard evidence from across the country of a large increase in Prevent referrals in the first quarter of this year following the publicity of Rudakubana's case. He added that reactions to popular Netflix series Adolescence on the theme of 'incels' may have also encouraged more referrals. Latest figures on Prevent referrals for 2023-2024 included in the report show 36% of 6,921 cases were made up of concerns of vulnerability but no ideology or counter-terror risk, followed by 19% extreme right wing and 18% for conflicted ideology. The report follows Prevent Learning Reviews published into the two cases. A review assessing Rudakubana's closed referrals to the programme years before he went on to murder three girls, and attempted to kill eight others and two adults, found too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology. Harbi Ali's case was also deemed to be closed too early after 'problematic' assessments, before he went on to kill veteran MP Sir David seven years later. Reacting to the Prevent commissioner's report on Wednesday, Radd Seiger, the adviser and spokesperson for the family of Sir David, said the family are 'deeply upset' and 'frankly offended' by the way Lord Anderson's report has been handled by the Home Office. He said the family were given 'next to no notice' of the timing or advance sight of the report, adding media leaks were a further insult to the family. Mr Seiger said they also received a 'dismissive' letter from the Home Secretary, which he said was designed to 'protect the Government following its failings' and not support them. The review on Prevent also comes after the terror watchdog recommended for a new offence to address the gap for lone individuals planning mass killings. In March, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall, said the terrorism definition should not be changed in the wake of the Southport murders, but instead the law could be changed to create an offence to prevent mass casualty attacks before they happen, similar to terrorism offences applying to an offender preparing for an attack.
