"In this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent JJ Green”, Dr. Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, explains what the death of the leader of al-Qaida’s Yemen branch means for the terror group and the world."

"Mr Issa is the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, according to the nonprofit and non-partisan international policy organisation Counter Extremism Project (CEP)."

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson: "These appointments are effective at providing a conduit between ministers and what’s happening at street level on issues now so serious that they forced the Prime Minister into a rare Downing Street address on extremism not two weeks ago. They marry intent with capability. Speaking truth to power is easier to achieve when your interlocutors are unencumbered by Civil Service machinery that grinds against unpalatable facts. But this week we will see an effort by ministers to update the work to counter-extremism which requires a ‘whole of Government’ response far beyond the purview of the czar."

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler writes: "Two decades ago, on March 11, 2004, Europe was shaken by what is still one of the deadliest terror attacks on its soil. 

The Madrid train bombings, which claimed the lives of 191 people and injured over 2,000 others, left an indelible mark on Spain and the global community. 

As we mark the anniversary of this tragic event, it is evident that despite significant advances in counter-terrorism capabilities, the challenges posed by Islamist extremism and terrorism remain as complex and formidable as ever."

"In 2011, Issa was reportedly involved in playing a role in the Gilad Shalit hostage-prisoner swap, where 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released for Gilad Shalit, among them Yahya Sinwar, the grand architect of October 7, according to the Counter Extremism Project." 

"“... It's striking there's been no uncontrolled escalation [by Israelis' enemies] in the past five months", said Edmund Fitton-Brown, the UK's former ambassador to Yemen, who is now an adviser to the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit group based in Germany and the US. "There is some sense in which Hamas foisted this crisis on everyone else and they have to calculate their own interests in response," he said."

"Prof Ian Acheson, senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project, was commissioned by Mr Gove seven years ago to look into Islamist extremism in prisons.

"He has always been committed to tackling the threat posed by those who advocate hateful ideas in the high-level posts he has held in government as Secretary of State for Education, Justice and now at the department responsible for communities," Prof Acheson told The National."

"This might be a "necessary step", Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project, told The National. But there is concern that it could inadvertently penalise mainstream Muslim groups, as well as organisations campaigning against gay marriage, transgender rights, environmental groups and even supporters of Scottish independence, said Scottish newspaper The National."

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: “Are we being ‘poisoned’ by extremism? The Prime Minister seems to think so. His speech on the steps of Downing Street following the Rochdale by-election described a country where values of tolerance and civility were being deliberately undermined by Islamists and the far right. ‘Islamist extremists and the far right feed off and embolden each other,’ he warned. But in conflating those two threats, the Prime Minister made the same mistake as his predecessors.”

"“... That photo is a boost for the German police. Strict privacy laws make detection very difficult, says German terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler. Only old images of the fugitives were known. “For example, the police are not allowed to search the internet unless there is a specific accusation of terror or an impending terrorist attack. They are also not allowed to use special tools that require them to share images with other parties.”"