Within a few hours of an Islamist terror attack against Coptic Christians in Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi launched airstrikes against known extremist positions in Eastern Libya.   In the aftermath of those strikes we shared: “don’t be surprised if“…

(Via Reuters) Warplanes carried out three air strikes on the Libyan city of Derna on Monday, a witness said, days after Egypt launched strikes on militant camps there against those it said were responsible for killing Egyptian Christians.

On Friday, Egyptian fighter jets struck Derna just hours after masked militants boarded vehicles en route to a monastery and opened fire at close range in the southern Egyptian province of Minya, killing 29 and wounding 24.

No military immediately confirmed Monday’s strikes. The witness said one attack hit the western entrance to Derna and the other two hit Dahr al-Hamar in the south.  (more)

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Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly appears on Fox News Sunday for an interview with swamp gatekeeper Chris Wallace.

Wallace began the interview in his customary insufferable fashion trying to bait Kelly into the vast ‘muh Russian’ conspiracy story and Jared Kushner.   Secretary Kelly did a great job outlining how Jared Kushner setting up channels of communication with anyone, including Russians, is a nothingburger.  Wallace reluctantly was forced to move on…

Secretary Kelly went on to outline the status of the U.S. terror threats.  Yikes.

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As the British Police make two more arrests they are asking for help filling in the timeline of activity for Manchester Bombing terrorist Salman Abedi (22).

MANCHESTER – British police on Saturday released surveillance-camera images of the Manchester concert bomber on the night of the attack as they appealed for more information about his final days.

[…]  The photos released by police show attacker Salman Abedi on the night of the bombing, wearing sneakers, jeans, a dark jacket and a baseball cap. The straps of a knapsack are visible on his shoulders.  Authorities said they had made major progress in unravelling the plot behind the concert bombing but acknowledged there were still gaps in their knowledge.

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While it doesn’t come as a significant surprise the latest development in the Manchester bombing shows the financiers for the terrorist attack were U.K. taxpayers.

Yes, the British people actually paid Salman Abedi to kill themselves and their children:

Telegraph –  Salman Abedi is understood to have received thousands of pounds in state funding in the run up to Monday’s atrocity even while he was overseas receiving bomb-making training.

Police are investigating Abedi’s finances, including how he paid for frequent trips to Libya where he is thought to have been taught to make bombs at a jihadist training camp.

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26 people have been killed and 25 wounded after masked gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians in central Egypt. The terrorist attack happened in Minya province, about 220km (140 miles) south of the capital city of Cairo. The bus was headed to the Monastery of St Samuel.

The bus was ambushed by masked men in three 4 wheel drive vehicles. An immediate response by Egyptian military and security forces is underway, while units of the police special forces closed all exits to Minya.

According to Egyptian media – the terrorists had driven from the Western Desert to a nearby location of the attacked bus then walked to ambush the bus, where they sprayed the bus with gunfire indiscriminately. During the terrorists exit, they found another group in another bus, which they stopped, killed everyone aboard and fled.

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The Manchester Bomber is one of Hillary Clinton’s Libyan “Rebels”

Islamic State fighters landed in Libya back in November of 2014, and began work establishing training camps in the Libyan city of Derna before launching a terror offensive which included an attack on a Libyan hotel, attacks on oil field workers, and the execution of 21 Copts in a graphic video which made international headlines.

In early through mid-2015 several extremist jihadist elements in Libya swore allegiance to Bakar al-Baghdadi.  A man named Abdelhakim Belhadj took the position as head of ISIS in Libya. Abdelhakim Belhadj was critical in forming “Libya Dawn”, essentially a group of Islamic militia forces (LIFG or Libyan Islamic Fighting Groups) who fought under various banners such as Ansar al-Sharia (al-Qaeda in Libya) and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Today the links emerge between the Manchester bomber, Salman Abedi (22), and these extremist forces within Libya.  It appears the bombing attack against the Manchester concert venue was directed and coordinated by the family of Abedi and their close contacts within Libya including his father Ramadan Abedi who was arrested earlier today.

Important top-lines:

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Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks *boldly tonight against the backdrop of the Manchester terrorist attack.

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*where “boldly” in 2017 means speaking common sense.

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The suicide bomber who detonated a bomb at a Manchester pop concert killing 22 people including young children has been named as 22-year-old Salman Abedi.

According to the UK Daily Mail the bomber was previously known to authorities. He died at the scene and police carried out a controlled explosion at what is believed to be his home during raids around the city today.

(UK Daily Mail) […] Abedi is understood to have been born in Britain but is from a Libyan family. A school friend told MailOnline had grown a beard when he last saw him and neighbours claimed he had been ‘acting strangely’ recently.

A 23-year-old man, believed to be Abedi’s brother, was also arrested by anti-terror officers as police and security services attempt to work out if the suicide bomber was part of a cell.

Security sources have told MailOnline that initial analysis of the ‘sophisticated’ device suggests it was made by an expert.

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♦ Massive explosion at conclusion of singer Ariana Grade concert in Manchester England. ♦ At least two ‘explosions’. ♦ US officials briefed on the incident say UK officials suspect it was caused by suicide bomber, NBC News reported. ♦ Police confirm 19 people were killed and at least 50 more were wounded. ♦ Mostly teen girls. ♦ 10:30pm Local Time.

(UK Daily Mail) Nineteen people have been confirmed dead and around 50 injured after a terrorist attack inside Manchester Arena at the end of a teen concert tonight.

Video footage showed thousands of people fleeing in tears from the venue, many covered in blood, after the Ariana Grande concert finished.

Horrifying footage showed petrified children leaping over fences as they desperately tried to escape the 21,000-seat venue.

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In January of 2015 Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi began a journey of peace by asking the holiest and most influential Islamic Scholars in the Arab world to join him in stepping away from the noise of extremist voices and engaging in long-term introspective review of their Islamic faith.  President al-Sisi called for a religious revolution to focus Islam toward a future of peace.  The engaged Dar al-Iftaa scholarly audience erupted in applause.

President al-Sisi stood up, resolute, spoke of large truths with bold leadership, and took great risk upon himself.  After the speech a coalition of like-minded voices began to grow in number and consequence.   That moment became the pebble dropped in the shoe of the Arab leadership of consequence – the emphasis shifted toward peace.

That influential speech, and more importantly the leadership of all joining member states, including the praise of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia before his untimely death, paved the way forward toward this upcoming weekend.   King Abdullah’s successor, his brother King Salman, is now positioned to put his own footprint in history.

All of the necessary elements, many of them taking years to organize, are aligned in common purpose for this specific moment in time.

More than a dozen heads of state from Arab and Islamic nations have been invited by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to attend the conference with President Trump including: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Egypt), King Abdullah III (Jordan), Muhammad Fuad Masum (Iraq), Mamnoon Hussain (Pakistan) and all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE).  All are expected to be in attendance.

We are living in one of those rare moments when we are fortunate enough to see the building blocks of historic enterprise being erected while we watch.  The results of these next several days will shape how our children view the landscape of the middle east in all the years to come.

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