Threat Matrix: May 2007

U.S. Seeks Closing of Visa Loophole for Britons
-Full Story-

Omar Khyam, the ringleader of the thwarted London bomb plot who was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday, showed the potential for disaffected young men to be lured as terrorists, a threat that British officials said they would have to contend with for a generation.

But the 25-year-old Mr. Khyam, a Briton of Pakistani descent, also personifies a larger and more immediate concern: as a British citizen, he could have entered the United States without a visa, like many of an estimated 800,000 other Britons of Pakistani origin.

American officials, citing the number of terror plots in Britain involving Britons with ties to Pakistan, expressed concern over the visa loophole. In recent months, the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, has opened talks with the government here on how to curb the access of British citizens of Pakistani origin to the United States.

	How the Plot Came Together
	Briefing on Release of 2006 Country Reports on Terrorism
	Iran to Tell Coalition Forces to Leave Iraq at Summit in Egypt

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NOTE: The following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016453.php

May 15, 2007

Dead Taliban Leader Was Training U.S. Citizens

American jihadis. Were they “radicalized” here? In which mosques, and by whom? Does anyone know? Does anyone care? “Dead Taliban Leader Was Training U.S. Recruits,” by Brian Ross and Christopher Isham for ABC News:

Thirty-six hours before he was killed by U.S. forces, Taliban Commander Mullah Dadullah said he was training American and British citizens to carry out suicide missions in their home countries, according to a videotape interview to be broadcast on ABC News’ “World News” Monday.
“We will be executing attacks in Britain and the U.S. to demonstrate our sincerity,” he told an Afghan interviewer, “to destroy their cities as they have destroyed our cities.”

A senior U.S. official told the Blotter on ABCNews.com that recent intelligence reports confirmed Dadullah’s claim that U.S. citizens were being trained in Taliban and al Qaeda camps.

“The number is small, not large, but even one is dangerous,” the official said.

In the interview, Dadullah said, “This is our religious and moral duty to train suicide bombers against the nuclear power of the infidels, and they will be used when they are needed, whether they are one, 10 or 20.”

Posted by Robert at May 15, 2007 10:12 AM

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http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016454.php
(AP)

May 15, 2007

“Suicide bomber kills 25, wounds 30 in Peshawar, had note taped to leg warning ‘spies for America’”

PESHAWAR, Pakistan

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=italy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=bus

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&tab=wn&q=Italy+%2B+bus&btnG=Search+News

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http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wb&q=Italy+%2B+jihad&scoring=d

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UPDATE:

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1834059/posts

Gunmen Hijack Bus in Northern Italy (Albainians)
breitbart.com ^ | May 15, 2007 | COLLEEN BARRY

Posted on 05/15/2007 1:29:26 PM PDT by Nachum

MILAN, Italy (AP) - Three armed men hijacked a regional bus Tuesday in northern Italy and set it on fire after freeing the passengers, officials said. An off- duty police officer was injured and two of the three hijackers were apprehended.
The bus was traveling south from Alessandria to Acqui Terme, cities southwest of Milan, when the men—armed with a pistol and knives—took it over and forced the driver to turn off the highway and onto a state road heading in the opposite direction, a carabinieri official in nearby Novara said.

An off-duty police officer who was on board tried to intervene and was stabbed, but was not in serious condition, the official said.

The hijackers allowed the passengers to get off when the bus reached Alessandria again, but then forced the driver to keep going before the bus came to a stop near Trecate, on the outskirts of Novara farther to the north, Sky TG24 reported.

There was an exchange of fire and the gunmen set the bus on fire before fleeing, officials said. Two of the gunmen, both Albanian, were apprehended and authorities were seeking the third, the Novara carabinieri official said.

Another carabinieri official, who declined to give his name, said one of the gunman who was apprehended was being treated for an unspecified injury.

Fire crews and investigators picked through the burned-out skeleton of the bus as it continued to smolder. Sky TG24 said the men had doused the vehicle with gasoline they had brought with them before torching it.

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Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1833864/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=france

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1833911/posts

France threatened by terrorists - Islamists angry of Sarkozy’s election
My blog ^ | 05 15 2007 | drzz

Posted on 05/15/2007 8:44:46 AM PDT by drzz

The Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades, responsible of the Madid and London bombings, threatens France after Sarkozy’s eléctions.

“Now you have chosen Sarkozy the Crusader, the zionist drinker of the blood of mulism women and children (...) you are warned that a jihadist campaign will occur in Sarkozy’s capital [Paris] in the following days”.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20070515.WWW000000545_un_groupe_terroriste_menace_la_france_apres_lelection_de_sarkozy.html

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016455.php

May 15, 2007

Al-Qaeda group threatens attacks in France
For having the effrontery to elect the “crusader and Zionist” Sarkozy instead of the dhimmi Royal. From AFP, with thanks to James:

DUBAI, May 15, 2007 (AFP) - An Al-Qaeda front group in Europe threatened on Tuesday to launch bloody attacks in France in response to the election of “crusader and Zionist” Nicolas Sarkozy as president.
“As you have chosen the crusader and Zionist Sarkozy as a leader ... we in the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades warn you that the coming days will see a bloody jihadist campaign ... in the capital of Sarkozy,” the group’s “Europe division” said in an Internet statement addressed to the French people.

The campaign will be “against all those who allow themselves to follow the policy” of the US administration, said the statement whose authenticity could not verified.

Posted by Robert at May 15, 2007 04:34 PM

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp404.htm

May 10, 2007
HP-404

Testimony of Chip Poncy
Director, Office of Strategic Policy,
for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee

Washington, D.C.

###

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp397.htm

May 10, 2007
hp-397

Remarks of Deputy Secretary Robert M. Kimmitt on the Role of Finance in Combating National Security Threats to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Soref Symposium

gimf1.wordpress.com/
gimf.wordpress.com/

http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?tab=vb&num=10&so=1&hl=en&q=Al-Zawraa%20%2B%20TV

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6644103.stm

Last Updated: Thursday, 10 May 2007, 21:51 GMT 22:51 UK

“Iraq ‘jihad TV’ mocks coalition”
By Alistair Coleman
BBC Monitoring

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “An Iraqi satellite TV channel has started to air Hidden Camera Jihad, a video compilation of attacks on US-led coalition forces in Iraq that has appeared on internet message boards since late 2006.

Al-Zawraa TV, which is known for airing videos of attacks by insurgent groups on US forces, recently started airing the programme as part of the channel’s staple output of insurgent clips, patriotic songs urging jihad, or holy war, against “occupier forces”, and documentary films often of a pro-Sunni, anti-Shia and anti-US slant.

The programme, purportedly produced by the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), is a pastiche of the style of hidden camera TV shows popular in the US, editing together insurgent-shot clips of attacks on coalition troops complete with a laughter track, sound effects and mocking English-language captions.

Hidden Camera Jihad first appeared on internet message boards in September 2006 and joins other GIMF video productions that praise Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda and other militant groups.

Although much of the insurgent attack footage is shot on hand-held video, most clips appear with logos and on-screen graphics, often in both Arabic and English.”

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46024

Coalition Forces Detain 11 in Iraq, Discover Weapons Cache

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces nabbed 11 suspected terrorists and seized a cache containing weapons and explosives in Iraq today.

Troops operating in Mosul this morning raided a building and detained an alleged Ansar al-Sunna terrorist group leader. The detainee provided weapons, documents and finances to support the group’s criminal activities, military officials said.

In another raid aimed at dismantling the Ansar al-Sunna network in Fallujah today, coalition forces detained six suspected terrorists who allegedly operate in eastern Anbar province.

Northwest of Taji today, coalition forces detained three suspected terrorists with alleged ties to al Qaeda in Iraq senior leadership.

“The information we gain from these successful operations leads us one step closer to dismantling terrorist networks in Iraq and helping the Iraqi people,” said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman.

Paratroopers near Musayyib this morning detained a militia member with alleged connections to recent attacks against Iraqi security and coalition forces.

Acting on information volunteered by local residents, paratroopers from Company D, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, raided a house in eastern Musayyib and captured a suspected leader of the group responsible for planting explosively formed projectiles in the area.

At the house, troops found one AK47 assault rifle, a Russian 9 mm pistol, a 9 mm submachine gun, three ammunition bandoliers, a Russian hand grenade, two stun grenades, and six ammunition magazines. Forces also discovered improvised explosive devices, a roll of copper wire used to make explosively formed projectiles and the suspect’s militia identification card.

The weapons and ammunition that troops confiscated will be destroyed. The detainee is being held for further questioning.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46027

Suspected Militant Captured in Afghanistan; Weapons Caches Seized

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 – Afghan and coalition forces detained a suspected militant and discovered two weapons caches during operations in Afghanistan today.

At a compound in the Mandozai district of Khowst province, combined forces captured one militant with alleged ties to the extremist Siraj Haqqani’s suicide-bombing network, military officials said.

After detaining the suspect, combined forces found two AK47 assault rifles, a shotgun, 500 ammunition rounds and various other weapons. Troops also seized equipment used to manufacture improvised explosive devices and suicide bombs.

Coalition forces removed the cache and destroyed it nearby. No shots were fired, and no one was injured in the operation.

In other news, coalition forces received rifle fire from a group of insurgents this morning near Jusalay village, about a mile northeast of Sangin District Center, in Helmand province. Troops maneuvered toward the enemy position and pursued the insurgents as they attempted to flee. Coalition forces searched a compound during the pursuit and discovered a cache containing weapons and ammunition.

There were no reports of Afghan civilian or coalition force injuries during the firefight.

“Together with the support of all Afghans, the enemies of peace and stability will be defeated in Sangin District,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. “We will work together to rid the area of insurgent fighters and prevent their return.”

(Compiled from Combined Joint Task Force 82 news releases.)

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46028

Evidence Links ‘High-Value’ Detainee to Al Qaeda

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 – A detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who previously lived in the United States, denied he had any involvement with an al Qaeda group or had planned to reenter the country to commit a terrorist act.

Majid Khan, a native of Pakistan whose family lives in Baltimore, Md., insisted during his Feb. 8 combatant status review tribunal hearing that he is not an enemy combatant. Pentagon officials today released a transcript of the hearing held at the Guantanamo facility.

The tribunal was an administrative hearing to determine only if Khan meets the criteria to be designated an enemy combatant.

Facts presented during the hearing linked Khan to al Qaeda and noted that he planned to use falsified travel documents to return to the United States.

Evidence presented during the tribunal revealed that in early 2003, Khan tapped Uzair Paracha, a U.S. permanent resident alien he met in Pakistan, to impersonate him in the United States. Khan wanted to make it appear that he had never left the United States and planned to use Paracha to obtain immigration documents that would enable him to reenter illegally. Paracha recently was found guilty of material support to terrorism and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Other evidence linked Khan to Lyman Faris, also imprisoned for providing material support and resources to al Qaeda, as well as conspiracy for providing al Qaeda information about possible U.S. targets. Faris was convicted in May 2003 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The evidence also revealed Khan was involved in transporting people across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and had expressed a desire to assassinate Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff by detonating a suicide vest.

Presented with evidence that a previously convicted terrorist had a debit card and five other identification cards in Khan’s name, Khan said he had no intention of using them himself.
Rather, he said, these documents were to be used by “desperate” people in Pakistan to travel to the United States so they could apply for asylum or refugee status.

Khan submitted a “statement of torture” at the tribunal, claiming he was mentally tortured during his detainment. Among his complaints were that he and other detainees were given low-quality soap and other toiletries, noisy fans and deflated balls for recreation that hardly bounced.

He said he protested by refusing to eat or drink, and complained that his captors responded by force-feeding intravenously. Khan said he also protested by chewing through one of his own arteries.

Khan was the 13th “high-value” detainee at Guantanamo Bay to receive a combatant status review tribunal hearing at the facility.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46030

“Proposed Cuts Endanger Army’s Future Combat System”

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

NEWS RELEASE SNIPPET: “WASHINGTON, May 15, 2007 – Proposed cuts to the Army’s Future Combat Systems endanger a program that would improve military capabilities today and in the future, said Army Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes, the service’s director of force development and deputy chief of staff.
News reports say Congress proposes $876 million worth of cuts for the Future Combat Systems in the fiscal 2008 budget request. The total Future Combat System request for fiscal 2008 is $3.7 billion.

“The cost in modernizing is first of all a cost in dollars, but failing to modernize is a cost that is sometimes registered in lives,” Speakes said today during a roundtable with Pentagon reporters.

“The program is on track,” he said. “We have met our performance standards and we are on the eve of some really great developments that are going to start hitting the Army literally overnight.””

http://www.nleomf.org/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070511-9.html

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 11, 2007

“Peace Officers’ Memorial Day and Police Week, 2007
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America”

PROCLAMATION SNIPPET: “In every American community, committed law enforcement officers watch over our neighborhoods and work to make our Nation a safer, more peaceful place. As we observe Peace Officers’ Memorial Day and Police Week, we honor the men and women who serve the cause of justice, and we pay tribute to those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

By taking an oath to serve and protect their fellow citizens, law enforcement officers answer a vital calling and accept a profound responsibility. These extraordinary Americans work to uphold our laws and serve on the front lines in the fight against crime and terrorism.

We owe a lasting debt to those who sacrificed their lives while serving and protecting our fellow citizens. These fallen officers live on in our national memory as Americans whose courage and commitment have shown the true meaning of heroism. We offer our respect and prayers to their loved ones.

On Peace Officers’ Memorial Day and during Police Week, we recognize and honor the service and sacrifice of the men and women whose devotion to duty brings honor to our system of justice and makes America a better place.”

Spanish police arrest man who tried to enter airliner cockpit during flight
May 15, 2007

MADRID, Spain: Spanish police arrested a man who tried to enter the cockpit of an airliner flying from the Canary Islands to Madrid on Tuesday with 140 passengers on board, officials said. The incident forced the pilot to turn the Spanair plane around and go back to the islands, although the plane eventually took off again for Madrid, said Jose Segura, the Spanish Interior Ministry's top representative in the archipelago off west Africa.

About 35 minutes after the initial takeoff from the island of Gran Canaria, the man got out of his seat and tried to get into the cockpit. "He said he wanted to say hello to the pilot," Segura said in a telephone interview. Segura said there was a brief "situation of tension" but the man eventually went back to his seat. Upon landing in Gran Canaria, police arrested him. Segura said he would not characterize the incident as an attempted hijacking. Segura said the man was in his early 40s, but he declined to give further details.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/15/europe/EU-GEN-Spain-Passenger-Arrested.php

Authorities Blow Up Suspicious Device In Downtown La Crosse (Wisconsin)
May 15, 2007

A suspicious device causes some tense moments, Tuesday, in downtown La Crosse. The La Crosse Police Department says the device was found at around 10:15 a.m., lying near a statue at the corner of Main and Second Streets, by city Park and Rec employees. Officers blocked off Second Street, between Pearl and State Streets, while they investigated the device.

The Fort McCoy Bomb Squad was called in to help in the investigation. With their help, the device was detonated at around 12:30pm. La Crosse Police say the device does not appear to be an explosive. The remaining pieces of the device are being sent to the State Crime Lab for further analysis.

http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=6518260

Pipe bomb threat closes intersection near Ventura (California)
May 15, 2007

Suspicious object in roadway not a bomb The Ventura County Sheriff's Department's Bomb Squad closed an intersection Monday night in the Ventura area after a report of a pipe bomb, Capt. Tom Convery said.

At 8:01 p.m., sheriff's officials received a call from California Highway Patrol authorities after somebody reported that there was a pipe bomb on top of a gas main in the area of Santa Clara and Los Angeles avenues, Convery said.

Late Monday night, the intersection was closed in all directions, officials said. Convery said the squad could spend hours at the scene because of the possible danger and due to the seriousness of such threats.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/may/15/no-headline---nxxwcbomb15/

Police Seek Stolen Radioactive Gauge (PA)
Tuesday May 15, 2007

Guilford Township, Franklin County - State officials say a gauge containing radioactive material has been stolen from a locked vehicle in Franklin County. Officials say the Troxler moisture density gauge was in a yellow container and is safe as long as it remains in the container, but handling it outside its container for more than a few minutes could cause potentially dangerous radiation exposure.

The gauge belongs to Valley Quarries of Chambersburg, and the company is offering a $1,000 reward for its return. It was in a vehicle parked overnight in Guilford Township from late on May 6th through early the next morning. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or Pennsylvania State Police.

http://www2.abc27.com/news/stories/0507/423259.html

Published: 05.16.2007 30 lithium rods stolen from UA lab (AZ)
May 16, 2007

University of Arizona officials are releasing little information about lithium rods stolen from a laboratory. About 30 lithium rods that are the size of pencils were stolen from a laboratory at 4717 E. Fort Lowell Road, UA officials learned Monday. They don't know when the rods were taken.

Officials would not say what other items were stolen, whether there were security cameras in the building or how a person could gain access to the material.

Excerpted

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/51709.php

Terror suspect held over ricin plot can make asylum claim (U.K.)
14.05.07

A terror suspect accused of a plot to commit mass murder with the poison ricin was last night freed to claim asylum. A special immigration hearing ruled Moloud Sihali could not be kicked out on national security grounds. The Algerian could be granted asylum.

After losing yesterday's case the Home Office had to consider a claim for refugee status made by Sihali shortly after his 2003 arrest, said immigration sources. Sihali served a 15-month jail term for having false passports.

He is likely to receive free housing and benefits while the outcome of his asylum claim is decided - despite the fact that he sneaked into Britain illegally as long ago as 1997, using a false passport. The Special Immigration Appeal Commission heard evidence linking Sihali to international terror suspects, including Mohamed Meguerba.

He was first arrested in September 2002 and tried for allegedly being part of a terror cell which planned to use the poison ricin to murder dozens in London. Sihali and three fellow Algerians were cleared of the plot. Their co-defendant, Kamel Bourgass, also Algerian, was convicted of killing Detective Constable Stephen Oake in a raid connected to the plot, and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. He was jailed for life.

Following the July 7 attacks in 2005 the Home Office said they wanted Sihali out of the country to protect national security. Home Secretary John Reid said Sihali had provided "active, if undiscriminating, assistance to terrorists in the past" and there is a "real risk" he will do so again. But the SIAC panel, headed by Mr Justice Mitting, yesterday said there was an "absence of any evidence or intelligence that he has ever been a principled Islamic extremist". The 31-year-old sneaked into Britain in 1997 using a false Italian identification card, court papers revealed.

On arrival in London, he headed for the Finsbury Park Mosque, where he lived intermittently for two years. The mosque was run for six years by the hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza and it has links to a string of terrorists. In 1999 Sihali moved into a flat with David Khalef, who was also later cleared over the ricin plot. In 2002, a third terror suspect - known only as K -moved into the flat. K introduced Sihali to Mohamed Meguerba, an Algerian claimed by the security services to be a key conspirator in the ricin plot.

Excerpted

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23396276-details/Algerian+accused+of+ricin+poision+terror+plot+will+walk+free+after+being+judge+%27no+threat%27/article.do?ito=newsnow

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