Ali ponders way ahead for Daesh

PARIS – Chairman of the Center for Middle East Studies in Paris Abdul Rahim Ali said Monday that the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington turned al-Qaeda into an international organization.

Following the attacks, he said, al-Qaeda deployed members almost everywhere in the world.

He raised questions during a lecture at the French parliament about whether the same scenario would happen in the case of Daesh.

"Will we see Daesh in Morocco; Europe, Asia and America?" Ali asked.

He said the decision of US President Donald Trump to relocate the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would embolden all terrorist organizations in the Middle East region, especially the Muslim Brotherhood; Hamas; Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda.

Ali said Trump's decision coincided with a petition signed by 300 French figures for Muslims to delete some verses from their holy book, the Quran.

"This is a clear provocation to 1.5 billion Muslims living around the world," Ali said.

There is collaboration, Ali added, between political parties in the US and Europe, on one hand, and radical Islamist movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and its international organization, on the other.

He accused these parties of allowing terrorist groups to establish entities that encourage terrorism on European soil.

Ali referred to organizations, such as the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe and Care in the US.

He said these organizations were established with Qatari and Turkish money.

Ali's lecture at the French parliament focused on post-Daesh terrorism, the dangers inherent in terrorism financing, and the implications of this financing for Europe.

The lecture also focused on the role the Muslim Brotherhood and its international organization play in backing terrorist activities worldwide.