Terrorist Round-Up for Nov. 26, 2005 (700 terrorists killed, 1500 captured last 2 months)

[Straight Vermonter]

 Be Thankful

More info below

Our Japanese Allies	Our British Allies	Our South Korean Allies	Our Italian Allies
Our Polish Allies		Our Aussie Allies

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Al-Qaida Devastated by U.S. Offensive

The U.S. military's recent offensive in western Iraq has had a devastating impact on the al-Qaida-backed insurgency, with coalition forces killing over 700 terrorists and capturing 1,500 in the last two months alone.

"It's been very successful," Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told a briefing in Baghdad on Wednesday, referring to a series of security offensives conducted by U.S. and Iraq forces in Anbar province since September 28.

Though media reports suggest recent U.S. casualties are due to deteriorating security conditions in Iraq as a whole, most were incurred during the new offensive - dubbed "Operation Steel Curtain."

In quotes picked up by Reuters, Gen. Lynch noted that despite the heavy combat, U.S. troop casualties had fallen more than 30 percent in November compared with last month. During the November 2004 assault on Fallujah, the monthly casualty rate was nearly twice what it is now.

The Anbar operations, and others in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, have been focused on foreign fighters and militants linked to al-Qaida's chief of operations in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Gen. Lynch said.

Noting that Zarqawi was nearly captured last week, Gen. Lynch said the close call was a result of the terror group's deteriorating position in the country.

"We come close to Zarqawi continuously," the top military man explained, adding, "At one point in time in the not too distant future, we will capture or kill him."

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More than 20 arrested as Operation Lions wraps up
By Joseph Giordono

Nearly 500 Iraqi and U.S. soldiers wrapped up Operation Lions on Thanksgiving, finishing the latest in a series of operations on the edges of Ramadi.

More than 20 suspected insurgents were arrested during the two-day sweep through the capital of Anbar province, military officials said late Thursday. The U.S. soldiers are part of a contingent attached to the 2nd Marine Division west of Baghdad.

Lions, or Asad in Arabic, targeted the Tamim area of Ramadi, which has long been an insurgent stronghold. U.S. officials have said that attacks in the city of 400,000 have decreased by 60 percent in the past several weeks, which they attribute to a series of clearing operations in anticipation of the Dec. 15 elections.

The operation is the third “disruption operation” targeting al-Qaida in Iraq fighters and seeking to “deny them the ability to influence the Iraqi people” there. “Operation Panthers and Bruins denied AQI terrorists the ability to operate in northern Ramadi,” read a Marine Corps press release.

Voter turnout in Ramadi was sparse in both the January and October votes. That was in part due to security concerns and in part due to a Sunni-led boycott of the vote. But, with a constitution approved by Iraqi voters and a government to be elected on Dec. 15, many Sunni leaders have urged their people to vote this time.

U.S. officials say the recent operations are designed to encourage Ramadi residents to go to the polls next month.

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Jaysh al-Mujahideen terrorist lieutenant and propaganda chief captured

Acting on multiple intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens, Coalition forces raided a suspected Jaysh al-Mujahideen terrorist safe house in Abu Ghurayb, west of Baghdad, Oct. 23.

Captured during the raid was Ahmad Ni’mah Khudayyir Abbas (aka. Abu Shihab), a recently identified Jaysh al-Mujahideen lieutenant who oversaw the propaganda cell and who commanded several mortar and improvised explosive device cells.

Abu Shihab, as the propaganda chief for the Jaysh al-Mujahideen media cell operating in the Baghdad area, initially recorded videos and digitized them to compact disc for distribution to various Jaysh al-Mujahideen and al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist groups. These videos would then be downloaded to various Jihadist web sites as propaganda against Iraqi security and coalition forces.

Additionally, the videos would be used to recruit terrorists and foreign fighters, as well as to provide information on potential targets for other terrorists. As his skills and terrorist connections developed, he began directing and coordinating media operations throughout the Baghdad area for Jaysh al-Mujahideen.

Abu Shihab’s multi-media and organizational skills propelled him to the highest tier within Jaysh al-Mujahideen. Once he became a lieutenant to the Emir of Jaysh al-Mujahideen, he assumed responsibility for a myriad of terrorist duties. Besides overseeing Jaysh al-Mujahideen media operations, Abu Shihab was responsible for the coordination of weapons, explosive purchases and the distribution of money to different terrorist cells, as well as the official record keeping of the organization’s terrorist activities.

Abu Shihab was also in command of several terrorist cells in the Baghdad area, specifically mortar and IED cells. He admitted to conducting numerous bombings and mortar attacks against Iraqi security and coalition forces.

Abu Shihab admitted to being involved in the swindling of money from Iraqi citizens. He, as well as other Jaysh al-Mujahideen terrorists, would represent a local Baghdad charity they set up specifically to funnel donations to Jaysh al-Mujahideen.

One method of garnering donations from local citizens, according to Abu Shihab, was to stage pictures with children and young adults highlighting the "charity’s" name and logo in the background. The pictures would be shown to the Iraqis to solicit money supposedly in support of youth education and religious study; these donations would then be used to support terrorist operations in the Baghdad area.

The Jaysh al-Mujahideen terrorist organization, which is centrally controlled in Baghdad, also has terrorist cells in major cities in Iraq, to include Mosul, Fallujah, Ramadi; Jaysh al-Mujahideen is associated with al Qaeda in Iraq.

Source : MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ  COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER BAGHDAD, Iraq
 

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Russia claims top Chechen rebel has surrendered days before Chechnya vote

Russian media has reported the surrender of a Chechen rebel commander described as prominent, days before Kremlin-organized local parliamentary elections are held in Chechnya, but sources in the rebel republic said the commander had long stopped fighting.

'One of the most influential among rebel leaders, Khizir Khachukayev, today in the Chechen republic voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities to benefit from an amnesty,' state-controled Channel One television said.

It then proceeded to show Khachukayev, in front of Moscow's television tower, laboriously reading a prepared statement announcing the dismemberment of his combat unit.

However, sources in Chechnya told Agence France-Presse that while Khachukayev had been active on the rebel side in the first, 1994-1996 Chechen war, he had taken no part in the second conflict, which has been going on since October 1999.

The Russian authorities are organizing local parliamentary elections in Chechnya Sunday, in a bid to show that the war-torn republic is returning to a normal life.

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Government cheers conviction in al-Qaida aid trial
By LARRY NEUMEISTER

The government Friday praised the conviction of a young Pakistani man on charges that he wanted to help an al-Qaida operative sneak into the United States and carry out a terrorist attack.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales called the conviction of Uzair Paracha, 25, "an important step as we seek to cut off the lifeline of support to al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations, here and abroad."
Gonzales added in a statement that the administration of President Bush "will continue to use all available tools, including the criminal justice system, to deter terrorists from drawing their support from within our nation's borders."

U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said in the same statement that the conviction was "another victory in the global fight against terrorism."

<snip>

Paracha was convicted Wednesday of trying to help al-Qaida member Majid Khan, a former Baltimore resident, sneak back into the United States to carry out a chemical attack.

His confession to FBI agents was the centerpiece of the government's evidence in the two-week-long trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

(More..)

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Iraqi aide: Some insurgents want to talk

An aide to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said insurgent groups have asked to become involved in the political process.

Lt. Gen. Wafiq al-Samarraie told the New York Times the people he has talked to are former Baathists but appear to have no continuing loyalty to Saddam Hussein. Samarraie refused to say which groups are involved, how many there are or what they want in return.

(More..)

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INSURGENT DEATH TOLL (Killed by Brits)

SOME 261 insurgents have been killed by British forces in Iraq since June 2003.

Adam Ingram, replying to a parliamentary question, also revealed that a further 141 had been wounded.

But the Armed Forces Minister said the figures were "not an accurate estimate".

Ingram added: "There is no way of checking since UK forces do not risk their own lives to ascertain how many casualties they have caused hostile forces."

It also emerged that 10 soldiers are under investigation over incidents where Iraqis have allegedly been killed or injured, but there have been no charges as yet.

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al-Qaida conviction in Belfast
By Lisa Smyth

The documents that helped to convict Northern Ireland's first terrorist with al-Qaida links were discovered accidentally during a combined police and immigration operation.

Abbas Boutrab, not his real name, was yesterday found guilty of downloading information on how to blow up a passenger jet and possession of a number of stolen passports. He will be sentenced next month.

The man who headed up the investigation, Detective Superintendent Esmond Adair, revealed that police are still unaware of the true identity of Boutrab, but added that they are aware of at least 10 identities under which he has operated.

Outlining Boutrab's movements before he came to Northern Ireland, where he was finally arrested in Newtownabbey over suspected immigration offences, DS Adair revealed that Boutrab had lived in France and the Netherlands, where he unsuccessfully applied for asylum twice, before arriving in the Republic.

During this time, Boutrab came to the attention of Gardai, who wanted to speak to him in connection with an attempted murder in the Dublin area in 2002 in which a man was seriously injured in a knife attack.

Welcoming the conviction, DS Adair said it was the result of a "long and complicated intelligence-led investigation" by the PSNI, security service, FBI and other police forces throughout the world.

(More..)

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Saudis hold Afghans for al-Qaida ties

Saudi authorities arrested several Afghans for distributing leaflets promoting Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

Daily al-Watan quoted security sources as saying Friday that police in the city of Taif, in western Saudi Arabia, arrested several Afghans for possessing leaflets, compact discs and cellular phones containing messages that praise and promote al-Qaida leader.

(More..)

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US soldiers join anti-Abu Sayyaf operation in Philippines: report
 

OV-10 "Bronco"

Four US soldiers have joined the anti-Abu Sayyaf operation in Indanan, Sulu, the local newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on its website Friday.

The report quoted a Jolo official, Councilor Cocoy Tulawie, as saying that the four US servicemen were seen in a village in Indanan town by one of his staff on Thursday.

Philippine military aircraft Thursday pounded on a suspected camp of Abu Sayyaf rebels who had been fighting government forces in Indanan for two weeks, killing an unspecified number of rebels.

Brigadier General Alexander Aleo, commander of the Task Force Comet, said in a telephone interview with Xinhua that two OV-10 planes dropped at least four bombs Thursday evening on the suspected camp located in Mt. Tumatangis in Indanan.

At least four government soldiers and 20 to 25 rebels have been killed in the two weeks' fighting in Sulu.

US embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop on Thursday dismissed as "absolutely not true" reports that American soldiers are taking part in combat operations in Mindanaos.

He said the more than 100 US soldiers are in the southern Philippines merely "to advise, assist, train, and share information with" Philippine troops.

The Visiting Forces Agreement, a military accord signed by the United States and the Philippines, does not allow for direct participation of US troops in field combat.

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Al Qaeda finance and forgery gang broken up
By ALFONSO TORRES
 
An Islamic gang linked to Al Qaeda was broken up by Civil Guards in a simultaneous operation in three Spanish provinces on Wednesday. The group allegedly supplied funds and false documents to terrorist cells belonging to the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), close associates of Osama bin Laden in North Africa and Europe, said the Minister of the Interior, José Antonio Alonso.

The operation, carried out during the night and on Wednesday morning, resulted in eight arrests in the province of Alicante (in Torrevieja), two in Granada and one in Murcia. Searches were made in ten private homes and businesses - at least two telephone call centres and a mechanical workshop - belonging to suspects in the three provinces.

The Ministry of the Interior said that Civil Guards had seized, among other things, a kilo of cocaine and 35,000 euros in cash, the profits, according to sources involved in the investigation, from drug trafficking operations, robbery and the forgery of bank cards. This was how, said the sources, some of those under arrest obtained funds that were then handed over to terrorist cells. A large amount of documentation was also discovered during the searches, as well as bank cards and the material for forging them.

The investigators consider that the cell was in charge of financing and logistics for GSPC, a radical branch of the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA), and sent documents to the latter in Algeria to facilitate the entry of members into Europe and their movement from one country to another within the continent. GSPC is the Al Qaeda associate with the greatest presence in Europe, along with the GIA, the alleged instigator of the March 11th attacks in Madrid last year.

Five other countries

Civil Guards suspect that the gang arrested forms part of a group that exists further afield, at an international level. Data have, therefore, been passed on to five other countries - Germany, Holland, the U.K., Belgium and Denmark - about links between the people under arrest and North Africans living in these countries so that it can be established whether they form part of the same Islamic network.

The Minister of the Interior said that nothing made the forces of law and order suspect that the group arrested were “planning a terrorist attack in the short or medium term in Spain”. He explained that the arrests constituted a preventative measure against the real threat of Islamic terrorism, in order to “cut off” these infrastructure groups “at the root” and thus to prevent them from maturing and developing into operative terrorist cells.

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Jemaah Islamiyah planned to bomb Bali memorial service: report

Southeast Asian extremist network Jemaah Islamiyah planned to bomb a memorial service in Indonesia for those killed in the 2002 Bali attacks but was deterred by high security, a report said.

The Islamic militants instead chose to attack tourist spots on the Indonesian resort island two weeks ahead of the anniversary, carrying out three suicide bombings on restaurants popular with westerners on October 1 and killing 23 people, the Australian newspaper said.

Citing intelligence sources in Indonesia, the paper said that master bomb-maker Azahari Husin had planned on placing a suicide bomber at the October 12 Bali memorial in Kuta.

But the attack was cancelled because of the high level of security at the event attended by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Justice Minister Chris Ellison, Bali police chief Chief I Made Mangku Pastika and relatives and friends of those killed in the blasts.

Indonesian police have worked closely with their Australian counterparts since the 2002 bombings of a Bali nightclub strip in which 202 people were killed, including 88 Australians.

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American terrorism expert denied entry into Indonesia

An American terrorism expert has been denied entry into Indonesia for a second time, for undisclosed reasons, officials said Friday.

Sidney Jones, director for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group in Jakarta, was denied entry Thursday when she arrived at Jakarta airport, the officials said. Immigration officials showed her an official letter that bars her from entering the country, the officials said. In June 2004, Jones was expelled from Indonesia following her report about Jemaah Islamiyah.

(These last two articles make an interesting juxtaposistion. Indonesia seems to be trying to both fight and appease the terrorists as the Saudis did in the 90s.  It failed for the Saudis and it will fail for the Indonesians.)

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Two killed, Jaish militant among four arrested in J and K
 
Two people, including a girl, were killed while security forces arrested four militants, including a Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) activist in the Jammu and Kashmir overnight, an official spokesman said.

He said militant shot at and wounded one Mohammad Rafiq at Handwara in the frontier district of Kupwara last night. He was admitted to the hospital where he died.

A girl, who was injured in a grenade blast in the house of one Abdul Hameed on November 23 night at Phagla, died in the hospital this morning. With this, the toll in the incident has risen to two.

He said security forces arrested a JeM militant at Pulwama while three other militants were nabbed at Ganderbal and Handwara alongwith some arms and ammunition.

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Alleged Jaish conduit arrested
By Devesh K. Pandey

An alleged conduit of extremist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad has been arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police.

He was part of the network that provided support to those involved in the Ayodhya attack in July.

He has been identified as Amir Ali, a resident of Chaubees Pargana in West Bengal. He was arrested from his West Bengal hideout at the instance of Abdul Baqi, another alleged JeM conduit arrested in November.

During interrogation, Amir allegedly said he had arranged the Mehrauli hideout for Mehmood, the Pakistani JeM militant who masterminded the Ayodhya attack. Mehmood and his accomplice, Yunus, had stayed in the hideout for several months planning the attack.

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Countries Supporting Ops in Iraq
	Country	In Iraq	In Theater	Total	Future
1	United Kingdom	~8500	3,500	~12,000	~10,500 (?)
2	South Korea	~3,300		~3,300
3	Italy	3,000 (includes 55 Italian Red Cross personel)	30	3030	~2,700 [Sept. 2005]
4	Poland	1,500		1,500	0 [by end of 2005?]
5	Ukraine	~950		~950	0 [By mid-Oct. 2005]
6	Georgia	~850 (Some in support of UNAMI)		850 (Some in support of UNAMI)
7	Romania	~730 (+ ~120-130 in support of UNAMI)		~863 (Includes UNAMI contingent)
8	Japan	~600	~200	~800
9	Australia	~570 (+ ~100 assigned to embassy protection)	~800 (includes ~100 for embassy)	~1370 (includes naval component)
10	Denmark	540		540
11	Bulgaria	~400-450		~400-450
12	El Salvador	380		380
13	Azerbaijan	151		151
14	Latvia	136		136
15	Mongolia	~130		~130
16	Lithuania	~120		~120
17	Albania	120		120
18	Slovakia	~100		~100
19	Czech Republic	~90		~90
20	Armenia	~45		~45
21	Bosnia & Herzegovina	36		36
22	Macedonia	35		35
23	Estonia	~34-35		34-35
24	Kazakhstan	27		27
25	Norway	~10		~10	0
26	Netherlands	4

Source

[Straight Vermonter]

Ping

[Khurkris]

Thank You SV, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to You & Yours.

[American in Singapore]

Thanks a lot, Straight Vermonter. What a tremendous post!

It would take the MSM about a year to report that amount of good news (if then).

[Samwise]

Bookmark and a Bumpity Bump!

[Coop]

Great work, Boss!

The U.S. military's recent offensive in western Iraq has had a devastating impact on the al-Qaida-backed insurgency, with coalition forces killing over 700 terrorists and capturing 1,500 in the last two months alone.

These numbers are absolutely stunning. The media, if it were rooting for America or at the very least objective, should be screaming these numbers via headline and teasers every day. But instead they've chosen sides with terror.

[Ben Hecks]

Thanks for a very informative summary - the photos, maps and graphics are terrific! Merry Christmas and thanks for all your efforts.

[Coop]

Who are these people? They're a group of leftists that have decided our wounded soldiers and their family members at Walter Reed need to be exposed to their anti-American, anti-military views every Friday.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1527868/posts

A few days ago four of America's finest were slaughtered, along with Iraqi children and others in a hospital, for committing the "war crime" of handing out toys and candy.

As I stood there last night with an America flag and a "God bless our troops" sign, counterprotesting the above filth and showing support for our military, one especially angry "peace lover" threw some insults about me and the flag. When I mentioned that I had served for that flag, he said nothing. When I asked if he had served for that flag, his reply was,

"No, I'm not a MURDERER!

Quite a peace vigil, huh? We're not just fighting this war overseas, unfortunately.

[Coop]

Good news ping.

[Mo1]

Not time tell him ... Peace, Love, Go hug a terrorists

[CHICAGOFARMER]

TOO MANY PRISONERS

[Coop]

My response is not suitable for sharing on a public forum. :-)

[Coop]

TOO MANY PRISONERS

I'm sure that's your own special way of saying "Job well done, U.S. military!"

[3D-JOY]

I started reading and was glad to see the good news...then I was astounded!

It just got better and better...I will enjoy reading it word-for-word again!

Thank you for such an "upper"!

[StarCMC]

Thank you for being there and exposing the trash.

[StarCMC]

Unless I am misunderstanding you, you win the

award of the day.

[Valin]

Terrorism Headlines of the Week

Domestic

Student From Virginia Is Convicted of Plotting With Al Qaeda to Assassinate Bush

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 - An Arab-American student from Virginia was convicted Tuesday of plotting with operatives of Al Qaeda to assassinate President Bush and hijack airplanes.
The Justice Department has seen the trial as an important test of its ability to use foreign intelligence sources for a criminal case in an American court.

The student, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was convicted on numerous charges of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. The federal jury, in Alexandria, Va., rejected Mr. Abu Ali's account that after he was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2003, his captors beat and tortured him into confessing.
Mr. Abu Ali, 24, an American citizen who was born to a Jordanian father and grew up in Northern Virginia, faces the possibility of life in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of Federal District Court on Feb. 17.
(snip)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/23/national/nationalspecial3/23convict.html
Source: The New York Times


Jury convicts Pakistani defendant who said his confession was coerced

NEW YORK (AP) - A Pakistani man who claimed he was pressured into a false confession was convicted Wednesday of trying to help an al-Qaida operative slip past U.S. immigration officials.
A federal jury deliberated for about five hours before finding Uzair Paracha, 25, guilty of providing material support to terrorists and of other related charges. He faces up to 75 years in prison.

The government accused Paracha of trying to help Majid Khan, an alleged al-Qaida member, sneak into the country using fake travel documents.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl Metzner told the jury Paracha wanted to help Khan and "did so knowing that a terrorist was coming here for one purpose: to kill Americans."

Paracha testified he was pressured into confessing and only told investigators "what I thought they wanted to hear." His defence lawyer, Edward Wilford, said the FBI denied his client food and sleep during hours of questioning - "the ideal conditions to create a false confession."
Khan, the man Paracha is accused of trying to help, is presumed to be in jail overseas.

Source: The Associated Press


Terror Suspect Indicted After 3 Years in Jail

WASHINGTON — Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen whose three-year detention in a Navy brig without criminal charges has been a defining legal battle in the Bush administration's war on terrorism, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
In an 11-count indictment, Padilla and four codefendants were accused of operating a terrorist cell in Canada and the United States in the eight years leading up to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The indictment, handed up last week and unsealed Tuesday, charges the five men with providing and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder individuals overseas. It contends that they sent money and recruits overseas with an intention to "murder, kidnap and maim."

Padilla, 35, was born in Brooklyn and raised in Chicago, where he was arrested a number of times in gang-related crimes. As an adult, he moved to Florida, married and converted to Islam. In May 2002, as he was returning from Pakistan, the FBI arrested him at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport; a month later, President Bush designated him an "enemy combatant" and ordered him held in military custody.
(snip)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-padilla23nov23,1,3777254.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true
Source: Los Angeles Times


Al-Arian Jury Still Undecided

TAMPA - -- A second week of jury deliberations in the terror-support trial of Sami Al-Arian and three other men ended Wednesday with no verdict.
Jurors will resume their work Monday. They have spent six days weighing the 51-count indictment that charges Al-Arian, Ghassan Ballut, Hatim Fariz and Sameeh Hamoudeh with conspiracies to commit racketeering and to commit murder abroad.

Source: Tampa Bay Tribune

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International

Mosul Raid Missed Zarqawi, U.S. Says

BABYLON, Iraq, Nov. 21 -- A massive raid on a house in northern Iraq where insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi was said to be hiding failed to capture or kill him, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Monday.
"I do not believe that we got him. But his days are numbered," he told reporters. "We're closer to that goal, but unfortunately we didn't get him in Mosul."
Khalilzad did not say why he believed U.S.-led forces were closer to catching Zarqawi, whose group, al Qaeda in Iraq, is behind many of the suicide attacks on civilians and others in Iraq.
(snip)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/21/AR2005112100325.html
Source: Washington Post

Algerian convicted of terror offences in Belfast

An Algerian suspected of being linked to al-Qaeda was today found guilty of terrorist charges at Belfast Crown Court, police said tonight.
Although tried and convicted as Abbas Boutrab, 27, he has so many aliases that police admit they have no idea who is really is.

Boutrab was found guilty of possessing articles for purposes connected with terrorism. They included 25 computer disks of detailed instruction on how to make a bomb and how to get on board a plane to blow up the aircraft.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland sent the instructions to the FBI in America, who followed them and produced a bomb which, when detonated, blew apart a row of airline seats and tore through the aircraft skin beside them.
Boutrab had downloaded the information from the internet on a computer in Belfast Central Library, the trial heard.


He was the first al-Qaeda suspect to be tried in Northern Ireland under the non-jury Diplock court system, which had only previously been used for the trial of Loyalist and Republican terrorists.
Mr Justice Weatherup delivered three guilty verdicts after considering evidence during the six-week trial. He said he would pass sentence on December 19.


Source: The Times



Spanish Police Arrest 10 in Anti-Terror Swoop

Ten people suspected of setting up a support network for an Algerian Islamic extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda were arrested Wednesday in southern Spain, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.
The arrests followed a police investigation into "connections" between the cell and Algerians living in "several European countries" such as Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Belgium and Denmark, the minister told reporters.
Police arrested seven suspects in the province of Alicante, two in Grenada and one in Murcia province and seized computers, drugs and documents.

The Civil Guard believed the group was involved in activities such as drug trafficking and credit card fraud "to set up a cell for the financing and logistical support of the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, linked to Al-Qaeda," Alonso said.

Source: Agence France Presse

Senior West Bank leader of Islamic Jihad arrested in Jenin PVF

A top militant from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad gave himself up to Israeli troops in the northern West Bank following a 15-hour siege around the building in which he was holed up, sources on both sides said.
Troops moved into the northern city of Jenin early Wednesday and surrounded a five-storey building inside which were a number of wanted Islamic Jihad activists, including Iyad Abu Ghob, one of the most senior leaders of the Al Quds Brigades in the West Bank.

Throughout the day, troops fired shots and stun grenades intermittently at the building and two bulldozers began demolishing part of the structure in a bid to force the militants out, Palestinian sources said.

Source: Agence France Presse



Swedish man appeals to ECJ over freezing assets

STOCKHOLM, Nov 22 (AFP) A Swedish man of Somali origin has filed an appeal at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to contest the freezing of his assets as part of a United Nations anti-terrorism operation, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Ahmed Ali Yusuf, 31, is on a list created by the UN Security Council in 2001 that asked countries to freeze assets controlled by Afghanistan's former Taliban regime, by Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda network and by people and organizations suspected of associating with them.
Several people including Yusuf and the Stockholm subsidiary of Al Barakaat International had previously sought without success to have the ECJ annul the regulations.


Source: Agence France Presse


Morocco's rising Islamist challenge

RABAT, MOROCCO – Like the US after 9/11, Morocco has waged a war on terror ever since bombers struck the city of Casablanca in May 2003.
On Sunday, the country appeared to have won a minor battle: Its official press agency reported that Moroccan police arrested 17 men on Nov. 11 who may belong to Al Qaeda, including two who were previously imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay.


The arrests coincided with reports published in the newspaper Al Ahdath Almaghribia that Morocco's intelligence services were concerned about a serious threat of new attacks.
But in its struggle against Islamic extremism, Morocco faces challenges unknown in the US.
To combat terrorism, the country not only risks endangering the fragile civil rights its government has begun to encourage, but it must contend with the uncertain effects of emerging moderate Islamist movements. Indeed, the rise of Islamism in politics and Moroccan society will be a difficult test of the nation's proclaimed dedication to democratic reform.

For decades, Morocco has taken pride in its relatively liberal brand of Islam. Rather than an imam, King Mohammed VI is the chief spiritual leader here, and state law is influenced but not rooted in sharia, the Islamic code.

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Egypt says top suspect in Sinai bombings killed

CAIRO - Egyptian forces shot dead on Monday a Bedouin leader in the Sinai peninsula who was wanted over his suspected involvement in a string of deadly bombings in the area, the interior ministry said.
Egyptian forces had been hunting Salem Khadr Al Shnub for months over his alleged role in the deadly bombings against the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el Sheikh, Taba and a foreign military base in the Sinai.

Source: Agence France Presse


Al Qaeda bio-attack is ‘clear and present danger’: Interpol

CAPE TOWN - A biological terror attack by Al Qaeda poses a “clear and present danger”, Interpol warned Monday at the opening of a three-day meeting to prevent bio-terrorism.
“Al Qaeda’s global network...its deadly history, its desire to do the unthinkable and the evidence collected about its bio-terrorist ambitions ominously portend a clear and present danger of the highest order that Al Qaeda will perpetrate a biological terror attack,” said Interpol secretary general Ron Noble.

“Al Qaeda has openly claimed the right to kill four million people using biological and chemical weapons,” said Noble, adding that “no region in the world is safe from Al Qaeda.”
“Simply put, Al Qaeda is willing, able and patient enough to plan and prepare to execute terrorists acts that would have been considered unrealistic or fantasy prior to Al Qaeda’s having perpetrated them,” said Noble.

He said that a wide range of highly dangerous biological material including anthrax, botulism, and viral hemorrhagic fevers could be used in an attack to inflict damage.

Source: Agence France Presse

Terrorists raise fund by selling phone cards

JAKARTA, Nov. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Terrorists in Indonesia have raised fund through selling of mobile phone voucher after donation from Saudi Arabia was cut last year, Indonesian Police chief General Sutanto said.
The general said that the funding from a terrorist cell in Saudi Arabia was disrupted after security authorities arrested last year a man identified only by his initials, "AS", who had been receiving the funds from couriers.
"They (terrorists) now face difficulties in obtaining money to finance their operations with the arrest of this man. We've cut their access to money," Sutanto who was quoted by the Jakarta Postas saying Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua News Agency


Police found detailed train data in computer of Madrid bombing suspect: report

MADRID - Police found detailed data on Spanish trains, a map of the London Underground and information on Montreal’s rail system on the personal computer of a Moroccan who was questioned over the Madrid terror bombings and later released, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Abdelhak Chergui, a 32-year-old Moroccan who studies telecommunications in Spain, was arrested in May along with his brother Abdelkhalak and questioned by Judge Juan del Olmo, the magistrate leading the investigation of the March 11, 2004, bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500 people.

Source: The Associated Press


Two suspected Al-Qaeda bomb makers arrested in Turkey

ANKARA - A father and son have been arrested in Konya in central Turkey on suspicion of making bombs destined for attacks by Al-Qaeda, local officials told Anatolia news agency Saturday.
Police searched the home of the suspects, identified as Huseyin Suat O., 46, and his 20-year-old son Ibrahim O., and found electronic devices capable of sending signals that can detonate bombs from a distance, the agency reported.

The police also confiscated a parcel sent to Ibrahim O. from Istanbul, which contained an electronic circuit and a note reading: "You are a good electronician engineer. The organization now needs a good electronician. And that's you. The devices we make are either down at once or fail to work long enough."

Source: Agence France Presse

Westerners face "serious" security threat in Indonesia: US

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - The United States cautioned that Westerners faced a "serious" threat from militants in Indonesia and renewed a warning to Americans to defer non-essential travel to the Southeast Asian archipelago.
Updating a travel warning issued three weeks ago, the US State Department said militants might also change tactics from targeting specific businesses or buildings to attacking individual Westerners in Indonesia.

The department reminded Americans in a statement that in recent years militant attacks had occurred in Indonesia during the Christmas and New Year's holiday season and "the possibility of terrorist attacks appears even higher this year."
The warning, it said, was based on new information received following the killing in Indonesia this month of a top militant blamed for orchestrating the 2002 Bali bombings which left 202 people dead, as well as attacks last month that killed 20 on the Indonesian resort island.

Source: Agence France Presse

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[Coop]

Great additions, thanks!

[Delta 21]

World War III kickin ass & takin names BUMP!

[Valin]

Re Indonesia:
IMO (Freely given and worth almost that much) Indonesia & Pakistan are the two countries to keep an eye on. as if either one go over to the darkside it will be a major victory for radical Islam. Of the two Pakistan is more of a concern as it really doesn't have a strong cental government, poverty ridden, large numbers of Salafiist/Wahhabi Madrassa's, large parts of the country where govenment forces can't go without getting into firefights.

Remember in the last election Indonesian people handed the radical Islamists their head. This gives me cause for hope.
/little miss mary sunshine.