In terms of media coverage, Abaaoud had been Belgium's best-known jihadist, and yet he nevertheless managed to travel back and forth between Syria and Europe without raising attention and would ultimately conduct the Paris attacks together with an entire group of other jihadists. Few others have reported as openly on social media about their adventures in Syria as Abaaoud. In Dabiq magazine, an official propaganda organ of Islamic State (IS), he had boasted in January that he could "plan operations" and come and go as he pleased despite the fact that "my name and my picture have been all over the news."

Is the Worst Yet to Come?

Thomson says that, according to his research, an Islamic State unit led by a Frenchman is currently preparing attacks in Europe. After the terrorist attacks in Paris, Western intelligence agencies intercepted communications between Abaaoud and Islamic State leadership in Syria. There had been similar clues after the attack in Beirut the day before and also after IS brought down a Russian jet carrying vacationers over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. When IS issued a claim of responsibility for the Paris attacks a few hours later, it provided no information about the perpetrators. But German authorities say this is standard practice for IS: The order is issued by the leadership, but it is then carried out solely by the terrorist cell.

'Islamic State Is Acting in Europe'

It's a disturbing development. In contrast to al-Qaida before it, terror attacks on the West had not previously been a part of Islamic State strategy. Instead, the group had limited itself to expanding its territories in Iraq and Syria and establishing state-like structures.

"Islamic State conceives itself as a state, it acts like a state -- and it employees bureaucrats whose jobs do not differ much from those in the West," writes terror expert Neumann. It provides five to seven million people with food, child care, heating oil and electricity and is seeking to be the "perfect welfare state," he says. Observers say that IS covers up to $2 billion in annual financial needs through oil sales, donations, taxes and the seizure of assets. Neumann refers to it as a "loot economy."

Addressing parliamentarians on Thursday, Erdem showed a copy of the criminal case number 2013/120 that was opened by the General Prosecutor's Office in the city of Adana in southern Turkey. Speaking to RT later, Erdem explained the basis of his accusations in detail.

The investigation revealed that a number of Turkish citizens took part in negotiations with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) representatives on the supply of sarin gas. Pointing to evidence cited in the criminal case, he said that wiretapped phone conversations proved that an Al-Qaeda militant, Hayyam Kasap, acquired sarin.

“There is data in this indictment. Chemical weapon materials are being brought to Turkey and being put together in Syria in camps of ISIS which was known as Iraqi Al Qaeda during that time. These are all detected. There are phone recordings of this shipment like ‘don't worry about the border, we’ll take care of it' and we also see the bureaucracy is being used,” Erdem told RT.

Based on the gathered evidence Adana authorities conducted raids and arrested 13 suspects in the case. But a week later, for some inexplicable reason, the case was closed and all the suspects immediately crossed the Turkish-Syrian border, Erde says.

US troops have taken control of Rmeilan airfield in Syria’s northern province of Hasakah to support Kurdish fighters against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told Al Jazeera.

The airfield near the city of Rmeilan, which will become the first US-controlled airbase in Syria, was previously controlled by the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

The airfield is close to Syria’s borders with Iraq and Turkey.

“Under a deal with the YPG, the US was given control of the airport. The purpose of this deal is to back up the SDF, by providing weapons and an airbase for US warplanes,” Taj Kordsh, a media activist from the SDF told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

January 28, 2016 (20:30). On January 28 in Moscow, there was a meeting between Russian Federation Minister of Defense, Army General Sergey Shoygu and the Minister of Defense of Syrian Arab Republic Fahd Jassem al-Freij.

The two sides discussed bilateral military and military-technical cooperation. They also discussed the effectiveness of Russian air campaign against terrorist groups. There was an exchange of opinions concerning the current security issues in the Middle East.

The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere and confirmed the shared intent to expand multifaceted collaboration between the two defense ministries.

Of course Kerry won't be able to "sell" that story to the Saudis and the Turks, or to Qatar all of whom are now weighing their oppositions as the US throws in the towel. "Kerry’s mixed messages after the collapse of the Geneva process have put more pressure on Turkey and Saudi Arabia," MEE concludes. "Both feel extreme unease at the potential collapse of the opposition US-recognised Free Syrian Army."

And so, as we said earlier this week, it's do or die time for Riyadh, Ankara, and Doha. Either this proxy war morphs into a real world war in the next two weeks, or Aleppo "falls" to Assad marking a truly humiliating defeat for US foreign policy and, more importantly, for the Saudis' goal of establishing Sunni hegemony in the Arabian Peninsula.

The only other option is for John Kerry to face the Russians in battle. As is evident from the sources quoted above, Washington clearly does not have the nerve for that. 

https://www.rt.com/news/331638-uae-ground-operation-syria/

A serious development in Russia today as President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's Southern Military District to Combat Readiness near Turkey's Border.  Put bluntly, Russia is preparing for war.

"In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, President Vladimir Putin, today from five o'clock in the morning the troops of the Southern Military District, the individual components of Airborne Troops and military transport aircraft are on alert, Complete. " said General of the Army Sergei Shoigu.

As we reported yesterday, in one of the most surprising developments involving the Syrian proxy war, Saudi Arabia and U.S. presence on the ground, the latest twist is that both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are now mulling a full-scale invasion while Russia and the Syrian government continue their progress in wiping out the US and Saudi-funded rebellion. To be sure, there was confusion when CNN Arabia reported first that the Saudis may send as much as 150,000 troops into Saudi Arabia, by way of Turkey, something which Anadolu news promptly denied.

However, the denial itself was softly denied by the Saudi Press Agency, which further stirred the water earlier today when it reported that not only is Saudi Arabia ready to send a special force to fight in Syria, but that this deployment was proposed by the US, which would oversee the Saudi troops as part of the US-led coalition in Syria. To wit:

• AL JUBEIR SAYS U.S. PROPOSED GROUND FORCE DEPLOYMENT: SPA
• SAUDI FORCE WOULD FIGHT AS PART OF U.S.-LED COALITION: SPA
• SAUDI MINISTER SAYS SENDING GROUND FORCE UNDER DISCUSSION: SPA
• SAUDI ARABIA READY TO SEND SPECIAL FORCE TO FIGHT IS IN SYRIA

And so, what was until recently purely an air campaign involving all the major global powers (except China, for for the time being), is about to become a full-blown land war, involving not only Suunis and Shi'ites (especially once Iran joins the fray), but also Russian troops on one side and US and Saudis on the other.

Most notably, oil has refused to budge even an inch on what is rapidly shaping up as a precursor to World War III.