The Daily Terrorist Round-Up 9/17/05

A Maryland man was charged with conspiracy to help a terrorist organization, part of an investigation of the "Virginia jihad network" that has so far resulted in 10 convictions, U.S. law enforcement officials said Friday.

Ali Asad Chandia of College Park, Md., is named in a four-count indictment alleging he conspired to provide material support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba organization, which the U.S. designated a terrorist organization in 2001. Chandia was arrested Thursday at his home, assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher said.

The indictment was returned on Wednesday and unsealed Friday after Chandia's arrest.

Also charged is Mohammed Ajmal Khan of Coventry, England, who prosecutors say is a senior official in Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic rebel group fighting for independence in the India-controlled portion of Kashmir. Khan already is in custody in England on terrorism charges.

Ali al-Timimi, who authorities called the spiritual leader of the Virginia jihad network, was sentenced to life in prison in July after being convicted of soliciting treason and other charges. Prosecutors say al-Timimi wielded enormous influence among a group of young Muslim men in northern Virginia who played paintball games in 2000 and 2001 in preparation for holy war around the globe.

Coalition forces raided an al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist complex south of Haditha that contained a car-bomb factory and weapons caches. Tips from local citizens and intelligence resources had confirmed the 12-building complex's existence.

All terrorists had fled the facility before the coalition had arrived, but forces found that three buildings had been used to store weapons and explosives, as well as to make the car bombs. Their findings included two weapons caches with mortars and artillery shells in one building and a significant number of rocket-propelled grenade rounds, launchers, AK-47 assault rifles, plus other small arms and ammunition in another building. Coalition forces also found three car bombs ready for use and two vehicles rigged as bombs but awaiting explosives.

Coalition air forces then destroyed the Euphrates River Valley complex with precision-guided munitions at a time to lessen the risk to local civilians. The complex was located south of Haditha in a remote area. Coalition forces conducted another air strike Sept. 15 against a known terrorist safe house and weapons cache in the western Anbar province border town of Karabilah.

The target was an abandoned school used by al Qaeda-in-Iraq terrorists to carry out attacks against local civilians and coalition forces. At the time of the strike, terrorists were also observed firing mortars from outside the building.

Two AV8-B Harrier jets destroyed the building using precision-guided 500-pound bombs. Coalition forces reported seeing multiple secondary explosions after the strike.

This latest action comes as Marines based near Karabilah have reported an escalation in fighting between al Qaeda-in-Iraq terrorists and local tribes as terrorists have tried to gain control of the city from its citizens. But officials note that local leaders and sheikhs in western Anbar province continue to resist the al Qaeda-in-Iraq murder and intimidation campaign.

In total, coalition aircraft flew 44 close air support and armed reconnaissance sorties Sept. 15 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a joint Task Force Liberty and Iraqi army raid captured five suspected terrorists near Jalula in eastern Diyala province today. The detainees are suspected of being financers, recruiters and arms dealers for a terrorist organization.

(Based on Multinational Force Iraq and U. S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases. )

The third week of August was a bad one for al Qaeda in Arabia. The terrorist organization piled up more failures and defeats, adding to their growing reputation as loudmouthed losers.

First, Saudi Arabian police cornered and killed the head of al Qaeda operations in the kingdom last week. In another battle, fifteen Islamic terrorists were killed in a three day gun battle. The terrorists used women and children as human shields, which did little for their heroic reputation. The Saudis used special police for these operations.

Extremist organisations are operating on university campuses across Britain and pose a serious threat to national security, a report has revealed, as the Government proposed sweeping new anti-terrorism powers.

On Thursday the Education Secretary for England and Wales, Ruth Kelly, ordered university vice-chancellors to clamp down on student extremists in the wake of the July bomb attacks in London.

But a report due to be published next week by Anthony Glees, the director of the Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies at Brunel University in England, lists more than 30 institutions - including some of the country's best-known - where "extremist and/or terror groups" have been detected.

"This is a serious threat," Professor Glees said. "We have discovered a number of universities where subversive activities are taking place, often without the knowledge of the university authorities."

The study states that the Islamist groups Hizb ut-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun, which are subject to a "no-platform" policy by the National Union of Students, are active on many campuses and often operate under different names. The report catalogues the activities of far-right organisations and animal rights extremists.

Disputing criticism that Pakistan is not doing enough to keep out militants, Major General Akram Sahi, General Officer Commandant Miran Shah made it clear that Pakistani troops are covering every inch of the rugged northwestern border with Afghanistan.

"We have had no reports of anyone crossing Afghan border from Pakistan for many months," he told reporters shuttled to the scene on Thursday to what the military called its biggest operation against al-Qaida in the North Waziristan Agency.

"The al-Qaida stronghold ... has been eliminated," Sahi said, referring to Jalal uddin Haqqani madrassa, which security forces overran this week.

He said more than 320 militants have been killed since 2001 while 853 have been netted. We also suffered the brunt of the operation our 268 Jawans had been martyred during the operation. He said seven more suspected militants were arrested in the area Thursday, raising the operation's total to 28. None have been publicly identified, but officials say they include foreigners.

Three suspected Pakistan-based militants were killed in a clash with soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir when they tried to sneak across from the Pakistani part of the troubled region, an army official said on Friday.

Brigadier Sant Ram, Deputy Commander, Pooch Brigade, said that a large group of militants of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba were trying to sneak in from Shahpur on the wee hours on Wednesday, when they were killed in an encounter.

“It was an infiltration bid and we had picked up their movement as soon as they reached the Line of Control .We let them in but restrained from firing as we thought we should not be targeting innocent civilians. But when it was confirmed they were militants then we ambushed them,” said Brigadier Ram.

He said that a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including mobile phones and Pakistani currency, was recovered from the slain militants. The cache included one AK 47 Assault rifle, 16 magazines, seven grenades and a few pistols.

The infiltration bid comes when Indian and Pakistani leaders have held talks in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in their effort to push forward the peace process.

India and Pakistan have held two rounds of peace talks since January 2004 and the third is expected in a few months.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Friday said that his country's security agencies have captured nearly 200 of the 380 most wanted militants associated with proscribed religious outfits, reports Online News.

Speaking at a function hosted by the National Commission for Human Development here, he said: "We're trying our best to plug sources encouraging militancy and religious fanaticism.

"We'd not spare anyone and the crackdown on terrorists and extremists would continue."

Musharraf said that no one would be allowed to use mosques or madrassas to spread religious bigotry.

Afghans elect a national parliament and provincial assemblies Sunday, the last formal step on a path to democracy laid out after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.

Police in Bangladesh hunting for militants involved in last month's serial bombings, raided a suspected militant hideout and seized a large amount of explosives on Friday, police said.

The raid is the latest in the country after about 500 small bombs exploded across Bangladesh on Aug. 17, killing two people and wounding about 100. Police believe Islamic militants carried out the blasts.

"We have detained two people, seized four pistols and explosives that could be used to make hundreds of bombs like those exploded across the country on Aug. 17," a police officer said.

Police believed militants used the hideout in the country's north as a bomb-making factory.

The two suspects detained on Friday bring to 15 the number held over the past two days as part of a nationwide sweep for suspected militants.

No one has claimed responsibility for last month's almost simultaneous blasts, but copies of a leaflet found at most bomb sites carried a call by a banned Islamic militant group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, for the introduction of Islamic rule in Bangladesh, a Muslim democracy.

Nearly 300 people have been detained over the past four weeks, and police say many of them have confessed to being members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and taking part in the recent blasts.

The group's supreme leader Shayek Abdur Rahman remains at large, police said on Friday.

A day earlier, police seized four kg (8.8 lb) of gunpowder, 50 detonators, compact discs and printed documents from two militants detained in the capital and in Kishorganj, north of Dhaka, police said.

State Minister for Home Affairs, Lutfuzzaman Babar asked police officials on Thursday to further beef up security in diplomatic areas, government centres, airports and public places.

"It is immaterial whether there is a threat of more bomb attacks or not, but we must ensure the mischief-mongers have no respite," Babar told reporters after meeting police and intelligence chiefs.

Coalition forces continue to press operations in the heart of the Sunni Triangle. The towns of Haditha and Karabilah are the latest targets. Haditha, which has been inaccurately referred to the Zarqawi’s “Islamic Republic of Haditha”, was the focus of a raid by ground forces, followed by airstrikes. A terrorist complex was uncovered, and weapons caches and a VBIED (car bomb) factory were destroyed. Some of the car bombs were ready to use, others were close to completion. According to CENTCOM, the residents of the “Islamic Republic" provided the intelligence to conduct the operation.

September 16, 2005
www.siteinstitute.org

Terrorism Headlines of the Week

Domestic

Emotions Boil In Al-Arian Case

TAMPA Frustration seized the day briefly Tuesday in the terror-support trial of Sami Al-Arian as a defense attorney bumped a federal prosecutor and accused the government of "cheating."
William Moffitt was angry that Hebrew documents an Israeli government official testified about had no English translation attached. Moffitt said he wanted to question the witness about the documents' contents during a morning break.

Federal prosecutor Cherie Krigsman told Moffitt she wanted someone else in the room to observe the conversation.
That set Moffitt off. Prosecutors should have provided translations, he said, throwing the documents onto the defense table. He then bumped Krigsman and hollered, "This is business. You're trying to put a guy in jail for life."
"You cheat," he continued. "You cheat all the time."

Both the jury and U.S. District Judge James Moody had left the courtroom and did not see the incident.
It seemed to catch the other lawyers and U.S. marshals in the courtroom off guard. FBI Agent Kerry Myers got between Moffitt and Krigsman, telling Moffitt to leave Krigsman alone because "she's a female."

Source: Tampa Bay Tribune

Bush Plot Trial On, Despite U.S. Objection

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The trial of a man charged with joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush will go forward next month, despite the objections of prosecutors who sought a delay.
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 24, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new nine-count indictment including charges of conspiracy to assassinate the president, conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy and contributing services to al-Qaida. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

The new charges supersede a six-count indictment handed up in February that made the same general allegations against Abu Ali, but the initial charges carried maximum prison terms of 15 years.

Prosecutors allege that Abu Ali confessed to joining al-Qaida in 2002 or 2003 while in college in Saudi Arabia, and that he discussed numerous terrorist plots, including a plan to assassinate Bush through a suicide bombing or sniper attack. He also discussed plans to hijack planes on foreign soil and fly them into U.S. targets, according to the indictment.
Abu Ali says he was tortured into a false confession by Saudi authorities, and that U.S. authorities were complicit in his torture by working with the Saudis.

Source: The Associated Press

Two men plead not guilty to federal terrorism charges

SANTA ANA – Two men pleaded not guilty to federal charges of planning terrorist attacks against U.S. military facilities, the Israeli Consulate and other Los Angeles-area targets.
Levar Haley Washington, 25, and Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21, were ordered held without bond after entering their pleas Monday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.
"In the name of Allah, I plead not guilty," Washington said before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Nakazato.
Trial was set for Nov. 8.

Prosecutors contend the plot was orchestrated by Washington, Patterson and Hammad Riaz Samana at the behest of 29-year-old Kevin James, a California State Prison, Sacramento, inmate who founded the radical group Jamiyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS.
Washington converted to Islam while imprisoned at the facility for a previous robbery conviction.

The four men face counts of conspiracy to wage war against the U.S. government through terrorism, kill armed service members or murder foreign officials, among other charges, according to the indictment

Source: The Associated Press

ABC News gets tape of man threatening Los Angeles, Australia

NEW YORK – A tape delivered to ABC News in Pakistan this weekend features a masked man making terrorist threats against Los Angeles and Australia.
ABC News reported that the man is believed to be Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American from California purported to be an al-Qaeda member and wanted by the FBI. The CIA said Sunday it was aware of the report but had no immediate comment about the tape's authenticity.

Counterterror officials believe Gadahn also may be the person on a 75-minute video given to ABC News last year in Pakistan.
The tape was aired on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Sunday, the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The man on the tape, wearing a black turban with most of his face covered, calls the attacks of four years ago "blessed events" before making a threat against the U.S.

"Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, Allah willing. And this time, don't count on us demonstrating restraint and compassion," the man says during the 11-minute tape.

Source: The Associated Press

International

US intelligence source says Zarqawi unites insurgent groups in Baghdad

LONDON (AFP) - A US intelligence officer told a British newspaper that Al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has united insurgent groups in Baghdad to target the Shiite Muslim majority in the city.
The comments came as Zarqawi declared "all-out war" on Iraq's long-suffering Shiites and told all other religious and tribal groups to join his anti-government campaign or also face attacks.
The Times newspaper quoted the anonymous officer as saying: "We have got reason to believe that al-Zarqawi has now been given tactical command in the city over groups that have had to merge under him for the sake of survival."

An intelligence summary, cited by The Times, said of an estimated 16,000 Sunni Muslim insurgents, 6,700 were hardcore Islamic fundamentalists, who have been supplemented by 4,000 members after an amalgamation with Jaysh Muhammad -- formerly an insurgent group loyal to Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime.

Source: Agence France Presse

Pakistan busts tribal region’s biggest Al Qaeda Base

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Pakistan has busted the biggest Al Qaeda base in its North Waziristan tribal zone and recovered huge caches of weapons in a swoop that will cut violence in neighbouring Afghanistan before key elections, the military said on Thursday.
The militant den was in a madrassa, or Islamic school, and a nearby compound owned by the son of a former minister of the hardline Taleban regime that ruled Afghanistan until late 2001, Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain said in the city of Peshawar.
He said the owner, Sirajuddin Haqqani, whom he described as a senior Al Qaeda insurgent, had escaped after a tip off.

“The raid on the Haqqani madrassa and compound is still going on but we can say we have busted the biggest Al Qaeda terrorist den in North Waziristan,” Hussain, who commands troops in northwestern Pakistan, told reporters.
“We have recovered 15 truckloads of ammunition and weapons from there and arms and ammunition are still being recovered,” he said.
“We also busted a communications centre which was used to coordinate operations in Afghanistan.”

Seven militants were captured in the operation, raising the number arrested this week to 28, Major General Mohammad Akram Sahi said in the nearby border town of Miranshah where journalists were shown another cache of weapons recovered from militant hideouts.

Source: Agence France Presse

Bin Laden needs medical treatment: report

Beirut: Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is ill and seeking medical attention, according to a US military commander in Afghanistan quoted by an Arabic newspaper Wednesday.
"American forces have information that bin Laden is trying to obtain medical treatment," the pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper quoted Colonel Don McGraw, director of operations at the Combined Forces Command in Kabul, as saying.

Pakistani officials have previously said the Saudi-born terror mastermined was suffering kidney problems and required dialysis when he was being sheltered by the ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Source: Agence France Presse

American Envoy Says Syria Assists Training of Terrorists

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 - The United States ambassador to Iraq lashed out at Syria on Monday, saying that its government continued to allow terrorists to operate training camps within Syria that have sent hundreds of insurgents into Iraq.
"Our patience is running out," said the ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad.

While other administration officials made similar accusations early this year, the focus of American attention to Syria in recent months has been its occupation of Lebanon. Over the summer, Syria said that it had cracked down on insurgents operating within its territory.
But Mr. Khalilzad, in remarks to reporters in Washington, made it clear that the United States believed that Syria was providing assistance to insurgents operating in Iraq and that such help might have increased.

(snip)
Source: New York Times

British immigration officers detain seven people as security threats

LONDON – Britain on Thursday ordered the deportations of seven men detained as threats to national security, including some accused in a terrorist plot to spread the poison ricin.
The men were being held in London and Manchester under the government's powers to deport people "whose presence in the U.K. is not conducive to the public good for reasons of national security," the Home Office said.

Officials declined to disclose the names or nationalities of the seven, but a senior government official told The Associated Press that some them had been charged with planning an attack uncovered two years ago involving ricin, cyanide, botulinum and explosives.
Four Algerians were acquitted in that case in April, and prosecutors dropped charges against three other Algerians and a Libyan. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, declined to discuss how many of Thursday's detainees were acquitted in the ricin case or their nationalities.

Source: The Associated Press

Terror Briton jailed for 47 years

Briton Hemant Lakhani has been jailed for 47 years for trying to sell a missile to an undercover FBI agent.
Lakhani was convicted in April of attempting to support terrorism after being caught in a sting.
He was also convicted at the court in Newark, New Jersey, of weapons brokering, money laundering and importing goods using false statements.

The 69-year-old, from Hendon, north London, had denied the charges, saying he was a victim of entrapment.
Lakhani was arrested in August 2003 after offering a shoulder-fired Igla missile to an FBI agent posing as a Somali terrorist.
He was one of three people held after a two-year operation by the FBI, UK and Russian intelligence services.

Judge Katherine Hayden told New Jersey District Court in Newark: "There is overwhelming evidence that Mr Lakhani was prepared to sell missiles to terrorists to shoot down aircraft which could have killed hundreds of human beings.

Source: BBC

No terror threat to Melbourne

AN al-Qaida tape threatening an attack on Melbourne has been dismissed as propaganda.
A U.S. Government counter terrorism official said yesterday the tape was rhetoric aimed at intimidating Australia and America.
"There isn't any information pointing to an attack in America or Australia. Al-Qaida has not yet attacked Australia in the homeland," the official said. "I would take this with a large grain of salt.
"It's just an attempt to intimidate as opposed to a genuine threat."

US spy agency, the CIA, confirmed the man in the tape threatening attacks "tomorrow" in Melbourne and Los Angeles was American goat farmer, turned terrorist, Adam Gadahn, also known as "Azzam the American". "The voice appears to be the same as that from the last tape identified as Azzam the American," a CIA spokesman said.
Gadahn appeared in a tape last year threatening to turn American streets "red with blood" and the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said yesterday the only reason Gadahn was used in the tape released on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks was "because he can speak English and is an American citizen".

Source: The Advertiser

Another militant sentenced to death over Australian embassy blast

Another member of the conspiracy to bomb the Australian Embassy in Jakarta last year has been handed the death penalty in the South Jakarta District court.
Our correspondent in Jakarta, Tim Palmer, says Ahmad Hasan, a 33-year-old fertiliser salesman, has been given the maximum penalty for the attack, which killed 11 people on September 9, 2004.

The three judges ruled that Hasan bought and transported explosives, surveyed the embassy as a target and helped make the bomb.
He also drove the bomb in a truck carrying it close to the embassy.
Then, after the blast, Hasan helped one of the alleged organisers of the plot, Malaysian Azahari bin Husin, escape on a motorbike.

Supporters of the Islamic radicals say the verdict is the result of international pressure.
On Tuesday, the field co-ordinator of the attack, known as Rois, was also ordered to face a firing squad.

Source: Radio Australia

Jordan Sentences 12 for Terror Plotting

AMMAN, Jordan - Twelve Islamic militants screamed praise for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a Jordanian court jailed them for up to three years Sunday for plotting terrorist strikes against the American and Israeli embassies in Jordan.
The convicted defendants — mostly Jordanians or Jordanians of Palestinian descent — were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1 1/2 years to three years after being found guilty of conspiring in 2004 to attack the embassies.

The 12 defendants, who did not enter pleas, also were accused of planning other attacks, including against a hotel popular with Israeli tourists in the northern city of Irbid; the home of a cultural festival director; and an American troupe performing at the annual event.
Prosecutors did not say how the defendants planned the attacks. The plot was uncovered and foiled when the defendants were detained in August 2004 and September 2004.

Wearing prison uniforms and sporting long beards, the defendants stood behind bars in the courtroom dock to hear the guilty verdicts, which can be appealed. Another four defendants were acquitted for insufficient evidence.
During their sentencing, the defendants started hailing the al-Qaida attacks on the United States four years ago.

Source: The Associated Press

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