Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.
From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.
One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.
MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.
Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.
Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.
Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.
He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml
Should Environmental Studies Include Potential Terror Attacks?
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200612/NAT20061218a.html
Should Environmental Studies Include Potential Terror Attacks?
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
December 18, 2006
(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants the Supreme Court to
decide whether federal law requires federal agencies to consider
possible terrorist attacks when they do environmental impact studies.
At issue is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which
Congress passed in 1969 to make sure federal agencies consider how their
decisions might affect the environment.
The National Chamber Litigation Center, the public policy law firm of
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, insists that Congress never intended the
law to include terror assessments.
But in June, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that a
California nuclear facility must consider the environmental consequences of
a potential terrorist attack in preparing an environmental review
(required under the National Environmental Policy Act)
"The Ninth Circuit has overstepped its bounds," said Robin Conrad, NCLC
senior vice president. "Requiring federal agencies to address terrorist
threats as part of their environmental review process would add
unreasonable costs and delays to projects vital to the economy and national
security."
The NCLC has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether NEPA
compels federal agencies to consider the potential environmental impact of
terrorist attacks.
Case history
In 2002, Pacific Gas and Electric Company filed an application with a
federal agency -- the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- to build and
operate a spent-fuel storage installation at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant
in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
The NRC granted the license. But a local anti-nuke group called San Luis Obispo Mother for Peace challenged the decision, arguing that the
Environmental Impact Statement should include the possibility of a
terrorist attack on the nuclear facility.
The NRC said the possibility of a terrorist attack on a nuclear
facility was so "remote and speculative" that the potential consequences of
such an attack didn't need to be considered in the environmental review.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals noted that the federal law in
question - NEPA - was intended to reduce or eliminate environmental damage.
The court disagreed with the NRC, saying, "The possibility of terrorist
attack is not so 'remote and highly speculative' as to be beyond NEPA's
requirements."
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace declared the court ruling a "total
victory" that "sends the NRC back to the drawing board to complete the
Environmental Impact Statement."
But the National Chamber Litigation Center said if the Ninth Circuit's
decision is allowed to stand, it would invite "a slew of unwarranted
and politically motivated lawsuits."
The NCLC said the Supreme Court should review the Ninth Circuit's
ruling "to restore the ability of federal agencies to act without undue
delay or expense on all types of projects subject to NEPA review."
If the Supreme Court lets the decision stand, NCLC said, it would
"undermine the important role NEPA plays in ensuring safety and protection
of the environment."
Critics have long argued that NEPA has been used to block and delay
grazing, timbering, oil and gas activity, water projects, and private
property development.
Versions of Lebanese Prime Minister's Meeting With Russian President Putin
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD140006
Two Versions on One Meeting: Lebanese Government and
Pro-Hizbullah/Syrian
Papers Reflect on Lebanese Prime Minister Al-Siniora's Meeting With
Russian
President Putin
Special Dispatch-Lebanon/Syria
December 19, 2006
No. 1400
On December 15, 2006, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Al-Siniora met with
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. In its reporting on the
meeting, the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal, which is affiliated with the
March 14 Forces and the Lebanese government, claimed that the meeting
was
favorable to the Lebanese government position, and that Putin was
determined to make all efforts to defend an independent, sovereign, and
free Lebanon – because Moscow wants points of entry to the Middle East
not
only through the Syrian gate. Al-Mustaqbal further said that Putin
would
ask Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, who is slated to visit Russia
tomorrow, to offer productive help to stabilize Lebanon, and to agree
to
the international tribunal on the assassination of former Lebanese
prime
minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.
In its December 18, 2006 editorial, Al-Mustaqbal wrote that the honor
accorded to PM Al-Siniora during his visit, and the timing of the visit
itself, were a message to Damascus and Tehran. It added that Moscow
realizes that Al-Assad is trying to escape the international court by
escalating the situation in Lebanon, and that Iran is helping him to do
so.
The paper also said that the Kremlin was determined to support the
creation
of an international court and to defend Lebanon's sovereignty, freedom
and
independence.
A totally contradictory report on the meeting appeared today in the
pro-Hizbullah/Syrian Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. According to this
report,
President Putin advised PM Al-Siniora not to provoke the Lebanese
opposition by approving the creation of an international court in its
present version and authorities. The paper said that Putin had made it
clear to Al-Siniora that the adoption of a resolution for the creation
of
an international court by the U.N. Security Council under Chapter 7 of
the
U.N. Charter would be an "alarm bell [heralding] civil war in Lebanon."
Moreover, according to Al-Akhbar, President Putin advised PM Al-Siniora
that the assassination of former PM Al-Hariri "is not the first
political
assassination in the world."
The following are excerpts from the Al-Akhbar editorial.
Lebanese Opposition in Letter to Putin Prior to Meeting: Al-Siniora is
Not
PM of Lebanon
"While Prime Minister Fuad Al-Siniora was traveling to Moscow last
Friday
night, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Russian Embassy in Beirut was
receiving
a delegation of the [Lebanese] opposition, which presented him with a
memorandum on behalf of [various] national parties, forces, and
political
figures. [The memorandum], addressed to Russian President Vladimir
Putin
and to the Russian government, emphasized that Al-Siniora 'is currently
not
the Prime Minister of Lebanon, but rather the head of a government
which
has lost its credibility and constitutional legitimacy, and which
represents only the point of view of the March 14 Forces.' The
memorandum
[further] asked Putin and his government to treat Al-Siniora's
government
accordingly.
"When [Siniora] arrived in the Russian capital, the [people] in charge
of
protocol in the Lebanese delegation contacted the protocol
department... in
the Kremlin, in order to find out the exact time of the meeting between
Putin and Siniora. They were told that they would be contacted before
noon
on the next day, namely Saturday. At 9:00 in the morning on Saturday,
Al-Siniora's people called the Kremlin again to ask about the time of
the
meeting with Putin, and were told that it would be at 16:00 in the
afternoon...
"[In the hours before the meeting Al-Siniora arranged meetings with the
patriarch of Moscow and Russia, Alexei II, and with the head of the
Council
of Muftis – first of all in order to pass the time until his meeting at
the
Kremlin, and secondly in order to inform these two religious
personalities
of his requests of Putin, on the assumption that they have some
influence
on Russian policy.]"
President Putin in the Meeting: "The International Court Might
Constitute a
Precedent That Will Be Repeated in Other Regions Such as Chechnya"
"In the Kremlin, Putin began [the meeting] by bringing up the
memorandum of
the [Lebanese] opposition. Siniora, in response, asked him to persuade
Syria to stop its 'interference' in Lebanon, and to support the
establishment of an international tribunal for the assassination of
[former
Lebanese] prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, as approved by his
[Al-Siniora's]
government.
"The Russian president advised him to settle the Syrian Lebanese crisis
in
a bilateral fashion, without relying on outside [forces], because that
is
in Lebanon's interest, and emphasized his willingness to play an active
role in this regard. The Russian president also advised his Lebanese
guest
not to provoke the opposition by approving the [international]
tribunal,
explaining that as Russia sees it, this tribunal is not intended to
discover the murderers of prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri but is
[merely] an
American instrument for exerting pressure on Syria and its allies.
[Putin
also explained] that Russia's call to modify the tribunal's charter is
not
meant to hinder the approval of the tribunal, but rather to facilitate
it –
because if [the charter] remains in its present format, [the tribunal]
will
not achieve the desired result. [Instead,] it will take a direction
that is
undesirable to Russia, and might constitute a precedent that will be
repeated in other regions, such
as Chechnya."
The Meeting Did Not Live Up to Al-Siniora's Expectations
"According to a knowledgeable source, the visit 'did not meet
Al-Siniora's
expectations,' and he consequently decided to return [to Lebanon]
early,
without stopping in Paris on the way...
"In light of this [unsatisfactory visit], the Lebanese majority decided
to
'hold out' until after the holidays – until the new strategy of the
American administration takes shape, based on the recommendations of
the
Baker-Hamilton Commission...– or until the publication of the results
of
the municipal elections and the election for the Assembly of Experts in
Iran – [results that will] determine [Iran's] political direction in
the
upcoming stage..."
Accepting the International Tribunal Under Chapter 7 is an "Alarm
Signal
Heralding a Civil War in Lebanon"
"[The Russians] expected that Al-Siniora's visit, and a subsequent
visit by
President Assad, would lead to a Russian-sponsored agreement on a
tribunal
with the minimal [scope of authority] that would render it acceptable
to
the Lebanese institutions. However... the excessive emphasis [placed
by]
America and France on the tribunal led the Russians to tell Al-Siniora
that
Al-Hariri's assassination is not the first political assassination to
occur
in the world, and that [the resolution of] the conflict in the world in
general, and in the region in particular, does not depend on
discovering
the alleged truth about this assassination. There are other elements in
the
region [that affect] the conflict – some that were there to begin with
and
others that are emerging as it unfolds. Therefore, Moscow informed
Al-Siniora that it could not base its own position on the assumption
that
the [entire] conflict hinges on this crime. Instead, it is necessary to
consider [all the] Arab, regiona
l, and international interests.
"After [hearing] this Russian position, and after his talks in the
Kremlin,
Al-Siniora had no problem saying that Moscow 'wants justice to be done
in
Lebanon, and supports the position of the [Lebanese] majority in this
matter.'"
In another report on the same day, Al-Akhbar brought the following
quote,
attributed to "knowledgeable sources:" "The Russian leadership alerted
Al-Siniora to the fact that accepting the international tribunal under
Chapter 7 is not guaranteed to produce [the desired] results, and is
virtually an early alarm signal [heralding] a civil war in Lebanon."
Spies wanted: SIS reveals its recruiting tactics
http://www.stuff.co.nz/3904001a11.html
Spies wanted: SIS reveals its recruiting tactics
Tuesday, 19 December 2006
A rare insight into the recruiting of intelligence officers has been
revealed in speeches made at the Security Intelligence Service's (SIS)
50th anniversary last month.
Representatives of six foreign intelligence agencies attended the
reception at Government House in Wellington on November 28.
The director-general of Britain's Security Service (MI5), Dame Eliza
Manningham-Buller was there, as well as John Scarlett from the British
Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).
Also attending were Paul O'Sullivan, director-general of the Australian
Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), David Irvine from the
Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), Jim Judd from the Canadian
Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and General Michael Hayden from the
United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Details of the anniversary were posted on the SIS website today, with
speeches by its director Warren Tucker and Mr O'Sullivan.
Mr Tucker said that with just over 170 staff the SIS was larger now
than at any time in its history.
"We are about to graduate the latest group of intelligence officers who
have successfully completed their introductory training," he said.
"We are in the process of firming up the next intake of intelligence
officer recruits, and I am optimistic that we will be able to continue
recruitment next year to address our most critical needs for staff."
Mr Tucker said the service had once recruited by "shoulder-tapping",
mainly from the police, the military and other parts of government.
"The thinking of the 1950s did not support recruitment through
advertising – and I quote: `Advertising would attract the wrong type of
person'," he said.
"How things have changed. Today's service officers are fully
representative of New Zealand's modern society, and cover the full spectrum of
diversity in terms of age, ethnic origin, general background and gender
mix at all levels of the organisation."
Mr O'Sullivan said ASIO had grown to just over 1220 staff and was
planned to increase to about 1860 by 2010-11.
"Recruitment of appropriately skilled intelligence staff and others in
a range of enabling functions, will increase our capability to meet our
current and expected challenges," he said.
"In a tight employment market, getting the right staff at the right
time in the right place is a challenge in itself."
Mr Tucker and Mr O'Sullivan both spoke about the danger of
international terrorism and the importance of co-operation between intelligence
services.
Their speeches were the only ones posted on the website, although it
said Ms Manningham-Buller covered the issues she discussed in a speech
she made in London on November 9.
In that speech she spoke about the way her officers had foiled numerous
terrorist plots, and the one it failed to stop when bombs exploded in
the London underground in July 2005.
Speaking about the danger of "home-grown" terrorists, she said opinion
polls since than showed that more than 100,000 British citizens
considered those attacks won.
Two plead guilty in plot to smuggle secrets to China
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/state/16255014.htm?source=rss&channel=montereyherald_state
Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006
Trade spying convictions called crucial
Two plead guilty in plot to smuggle secrets to China
By JORDAN ROBERTSON
Associated Press
SAN JOSE - Two engineers were moments away from boarding a flight to
China when they were singled out for what appeared to be a routine
customs inspection. They didn't know FBI agents were waiting nearby, ready to
examine their luggage.
The contents, investigators said, were startling: thousands of pages of
trade secrets stolen from four Silicon Valley companies, including
microchip blueprints and other closely guarded documents, many marked
''Proprietary'' or ''Confidential'' or both. The men were arrested and their
homes raided.
Documents seized there allegedly revealed a plot to smuggle trade
secrets to China to start a microprocessor company backed by Chinese
government entities.
Fei Ye, 40, a U.S. citizen from China, and Ming Zhong, 39, a permanent
U.S. resident from China, pleaded guilty this week to the rare charge
of economic espionage to benefit a foreign nation. Legal experts said
Friday that the convictions -- the first of their kind -- were crucial
victories for federal prosecutors.
''It's a home run for the government, and a much-needed one,'' said
James Pooley, an intellectual-property litigator and adjunct law professor
at the University of California-Berkeley. ''It demonstrates not only
that we do have a real problem out there, but we have the tools to combat
it, and the government can make it happen. Industry cannot stop this
kind of conduct on its own.''
The settlement leaves unanswered one of the key underlying questions of
the case: Did the Chinese government or any of its officials know the
trade secrets were stolen?
No foreign official was charged in the case, and the law does not
require that the government prove complicity by foreign concerns to secure a
conviction.
Legal experts said if the government had evidence of foreign
involvement, but not enough to charge a foreign official, some of that might have
come out at trial. There's still a chance such evidence might come out
in sentencing arguments.
Prosecutors declined to discuss whether any foreign officials were
suspected in the Ye and Zhong case.
U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said investigations of international economic
espionage cases are often hampered by the difficulty in tracking down
suspects and evidence in other countries.
''We know this is going on,'' he said. ''We know our technology is
sought all over the world, there are a lot of individuals who want to get
it, and there's a lot of money being thrown at them to get it.''
Prosecutors have been criticized for not bringing more cases under the
Economic Espionage Act of 1996 that allege the intent to benefit a
foreign government.
The law was originally written to combat the threat of trade secrets by
foreign agents, with the FBI identifying at least 23 countries
suspected of aggressively seeking to steal intellectual property from U.S.
businesses. It was later expanded to include the lesser crime of domestic
intellectual property theft. But virtually all the indictments handed up
have not involved foreign nations or entities.
Some industry experts said the impact of the case against Ye and Zhong,
who remain free on bail, won't be known until they are sentenced April
23. They each face up to 30 years in prison.
''That will be the real measure of whether this is the beginning of
sentencing with teeth in it,'' said Steven Fink, president of a Los
Angeles-based crisis management firm specializing in economic espionage
matters.
The same day that Ye and Zhong entered their guilty pleas in San Jose
federal court, Ryan's office announced the third-ever indictment for
economic espionage to benefit a foreign government.
Xiaodong Sheldon Meng, 42, a Chinese national with Canadian
citizenship, was indicted on 36 felony counts, including violations of military
technology export laws.
Meng is accused of stealing code for software made by his former
employer, Quantum3D Inc., that's used to train military fighter pilots, and
trying to sell it to the Thai and Malaysian air forces and a company
with ties to China's military.
The alleged plot was disrupted when a contractor spotted an altered
version of the program running on a Chinese company's computer system and
told Quantum3D, according to an affidavit. Meng was arrested in Florida
in 2004 on a charge of transportation of stolen property after he
returned to the U.S. for an industry conference.
The only other case alleging economic espionage to benefit a foreign
government fizzled when a judge in Japan refused to extradite a
defendant, Takashi Okamoto, who was accused of stealing DNA used for Alzheimer's
disease research and providing it to a Japanese government-funded
corporation.
His alleged conspirator pleaded guilty to a much lesser charge of
making false statements to investigator.
Ross Nadel, the former federal prosecutor who handled the Ye and Zhong
investigation until last year and is now in private practice, said many
economic espionage cases are prosecuted as theft of trade secrets or
other crimes because even if foreign involvement is suspected, there
often isn't enough evidence to prove it.
''It's a significant challenge to prove that element of that offense --
significant but not impossible,'' he said.
Seif Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi, son of Libyan leader, Interview on Al-Jazeera
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD140206
Seif Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi, Son of Libyan Leader Colonel Mu'ammar
Al-Qadhafi: I Demanded Reforms, Not Revolution; My Mission Is to Get
All the People to Talk the Same Way as Me; Violations of Human Rights
- Not Ordered by Colonel Al-Qadhafi
MEMRI Special Dispatch-Libya
December 20, 2006
No. 1402
The following are excerpts from an interview with Seif Al-Islam
Al-Qadhafi, son of Libyan leader Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi, which aired on
Al-Jazeera TV on December 10, 2006.
TO VIEW THIS CLIP:
http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1339
Interviewer: "You criticized the Libyan regime. Were you referring to
your father, Colonel Al-Qadhafi, or were you talking about the regime
in general?"
Seif Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi: "I made it clear, in my August 20 speech,
that Libya has a whole host of complicated problems and obstacles,
which stand in the way of change and progress. The time has come to
rectify this. From time to time, we, as a society, must stop and
reexamine our past considerations, in order to move forward. We always
support renewal and development. This is only natural, because we are
a revolutionary regime. Revolutionary is the opposite of reactionism
and of conservatism. We are not a conservative or a reactionary
regime. We are a revolutionary regime, which means we always move
forward."
Interviewer: "But your speech took a harsh tone against the regime
headed by your father."
Seif Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi: "That's what is so exceptional about Libya.
Criticism is expressed by the leader and by the Libyans, and this
demonstrates our democratic atmosphere, our transparency, and the
sincerity of our approach. What we have is a Libyan example which is
unique in the region. It would be difficult to find in the region this
kind of criticism, which is expressed publicly on live TV. The leader
has spoken several times about these problems, demanding a solution.
On the contrary, the leader was even more extreme than me he talked
about a new revolution in Libya. I demanded reforms, not a new
revolution, but the leader was even more extreme, demanding a
revolution. All Libyans realize that the time has come for
self-inspection, for reforms, and for reexamining many of the policies
implemented in Libya."
[...]
"The leader wanted to convey the message that change is underway in
Libya. No more revolutionary courts, appeals courts, people's courts,
and so on. No more oppression and kidnappings, no more... All past
violations are gone, never to return. Now there is the rule of law,
human rights are respected, we are striving to realize democracy in
Libya, and so on."
[...]
Interviewer: "But why isn't this very harsh criticism against the
Libyan regime heard from any of the common people? Why is only Seif
Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi allowed to say such things?"
Seif Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi: "True, many Libyans are afraid to speak up,
and this is why you always need a spearhead, someone who will break
through the barrier of fear and ice. This is my mission. My mission is
to get all the people to talk the same way as me."
[...]
"As for human rights violations, the Al-Qadhafi Foundation issued a
call through the Human Rights Association which became known as the
'Al-Qadhafi Call.' We have received all the complaints regarding human
rights violations in Libya. Soon, we will complete this dossier, and I
can guarantee you that I will personally speak about this. You can
expect a surprise, because I intend to speak candidly about the past
violations, about the executions, the kidnappings, the tortures... All
these violations are documented on TV, beginning with the problems of
the 1970s and ending with the [assassination of Libyan journalist]
Dheif Al-Ghazzal."
Interviewer: "All this took place during the rule of the leader
Al-Qadhafi."
Seif Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi: "Of course. This did happen. Yes. The leader
said that many people took advantage of Libya's battles with the West,
with its neighbors, and on the domestic front. Some people settled
scores with others, using the revolution and the defense of the regime
as pretexts, claiming that 'no voice should be louder than the sound
of battle' and other similar slogans. There were many violations, but,
take it from me, the leader was not responsible for them. You will see
this with your own eyes, like all Libyans. Crimes were committed, and
the Libyans know this. You will watch someone say, 'It is me who
committed the crime.' 'Did Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi tell you to do it?'
'No.' 'Who did?' 'So-and-so told me to do it,' or he will say, 'I did
it myself.' They will stand trial and be punished. Everything will be
documented, and there will be public trials. All the files will be
opened, with full transparency, with names, and then you will see
whether these crimes wer
e committed on the order of Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi, or on other people's
orders."
Interviewer: "More than once, when discussing reforms in the Middle East, you talked about 'shock treatment.' What form will this
treatment take in Libya? You said you discussed this kind of 'shock
treatment' with Colonel Al-Qadhafi."
Seif Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi: "In the past, the leader believed in 'shock
treatment,' but now, in light of his wisdom, experience, and age, he
tells you that change and reform must be gradual. This way, if a
problem occurs at any stage, you can control it. On the other hand,
'shock treatment' is like falling from a high place you will have a
hard time controlling any problem that may occur. It would be wise for
these reforms to be carried out gradually not slowly, but not very
fast, and in the form of 'shock treatment.' My school believes in
'shock treatment,' but ultimately, we all believe that there must be
reform and a leap forward."
Taliban recruiters get plenty of help
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/16256752.htm?source=rss&channel=thestate_news
Posted on Sun, Dec. 17, 2006\
Taliban recruiters get plenty of help
Government corruption and incompetence, lack of security plan into
insurgents’ hands
By KATHY GANNON
The Associated Press
QALAT, Afghanistan — Before the Taliban were driven from power,
Mullah Ehsanullah was a Taliban intelligence official, enforcing Islamic
orthodoxy in eastern Afghanistan.
Five years later, he is again busy in the Taliban ranks, shepherding
recruits through the guerrilla training camps hidden in the rugged
mountains.
The old Taliban militia is making a comeback.
But also, Ehsanullah says, a new generation is learning the value of
suicide bombings and remotely detonated explosives that are so
devastatingly effective.
These recruits have contributed to the average of 600 attacks launched
each month this year against government officials, U.S. and NATO
soldiers, the Afghan National Army and police.
The Taliban is capitalizing on the anger and frustration of Afghan
civilians against their Western-backed government, seen as deeply corrupt
and slow to bring improvements or even basic security to the more remote
regions of the country, Ehsanullah and other militiamen are saying.
“The people in the beginning were saying that, ‘OK, the war is
finished. We want stability. It is time for peace. It is over,’”
Ehsanullah said.
But now, the surge of support for the new government after the
Taliban’s 2001 defeat has all but evaporated.
Government help hasn’t reached many Afghans, and there are few jobs.
Much of the country has returned to the same 1990s anarchy and
lawlessness that gave rise to the Taliban’s iron-fisted rule.
From Zabul province in southeast Afghanistan, 2,000 young men went to
Kabul to sign up for the new national army or police forces after the
Taliban fell. All returned, police officials say, frustrated by poor
salaries or perceived ethnic bias in the new government. All but four
joined the Taliban, they said.
Meanwhile, Taliban fighters defend villagers against criminal gangs
that often are linked to the government, Ehsanullah said. Also boosting
Taliban ranks are Western airstrikes that often kill civilians along with
combatants.
“If this is all they are going to do for us is kill us, they should
get out,” Ghulab Shah, a middle-aged man from Ashogho in southern
Kandahar, shouted after nine of his neighbors were killed as they slept
when a NATO bomb blasted their home.
Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid shares the frustration. “How are we
supposed to bring security to the country with this kind of thing
happening?” he asked.
Noor Mohammed Paktin, Zabul’s police chief, said he has tried to weed
out corruption, but he complained that his officers earn only $60 a
month and haven’t received even that in the past three months. He said
his letters to the Ministry of the Interior asking what happened to the
money have gone unanswered.
Corruption is so widespread, Paktin said, that in some villages people
have quit dealing with officialdom and turned to Taliban councils to
resolve disputes.
On top of bribery and extortion among security forces, some top
government officials tolerate Afghanistan’s thriving drug trade, the police
chief said. “I am trying my best to control drug traffickers. But
inside the government, I am getting trouble. The drug mafia has its links
inside the government.”
Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai said corruption’s part in
fueling the insurgency has been overstated.
Karzai instead blames the Taliban’s recruiting successes on
neighboring Pakistan’s failure to control its tribal areas and Afghanistan’s
endemic poverty, so difficult to overcome.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/
December 19, 2006 01:29 PM Link TrackBack (0) Print
Are U.S. Taxpayers Paying for a Network Infiltrated by Hezbollah?
By Andrew Cochran
I received a translation of an Arabic-language article published in the "Moharrer Al Arabi" newspaper on December 15 about the infiltration by Hezbollah of the “al-Hurra” TV station and its sister “Radio Sawa” station in Beirut. These stations are funded by American taxpayers to provide objective news and analysis to the Lebanese people, but if this story is correct, the Administration and the new Congress will have to take corrective action. At a minimum, there should be an investigation of the charges in the article. Here is the translated text of the article as sent to me by a reliable source (with errors uncorrected):
"Syrian intelligence plants female staff, daughters of security officials
'Hezbollah' penetrates the American 'ALHURRA TV' and 'Radio SAWA' and
The Congress ousts the Lebanese director and engenders comprehensive changes
It might be the worst climax of President Bush republican administration is the success of this administration in tolerating Hezbollah to penetrate through its Media and security gaps.
Confirmed information from Washington, Beirut, Dubai and Damascus assured that the party succeeded to infiltrate the two main American means of information, perhaps the only Arabic-speaking, that addresses the Arabic public opinion in order to strengthen its confrontation against al-Qaeda, terrorism and Iran plan to hold grip control on Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine by means of its cat’s-paw and organizations, particularly Hezbollah.
Reliable sources revealed that “al-Hurra” TV station and its sister “Radio Sawa”, oriented towards Arab world and middle-east, have been politically, informational and security transpierced so that Hezbollah party could control wide area of its broad direction or in monitoring the events through.
According to available information, this infiltration was through the Arabic director of al-Hurra who was a member of Hezbollah in 1980s then left for study in the USA, and worked for a short period as side assistant in a television program then a correspondent for an Arabic newspaper published in Paris. After which a partner in a news agency of special task to blackmailing Saudi Arabia and when failed, quit and returned to Lebanon to restore his old connections, adding new relations with the Syrian security, specifically, the official in charge of Syrian regime’s relation with Hezbollah and Shiite’s political action’s activists.
Read More »
Suddenly, this former member of the party, without scrutiny in his political background, was appointed a director of al-Hurra satellite station and radio Sawa. However, extensive uproar surrounded his administration and deals which was said he conducted, and has becomes subject of wide formal investigation that did not take long to discover traces of connection between him and Hezbollah and the Syrian regime’s security services.
Lebanese quarters disclosed that the carried out investigations which included the appointment of female staff, that their fathers are working with Syrian security services, aimed to reinforce the control of monitoring network in within the TV Station and the Radio, and to insinuate through to the Arabic spectators and listeners.
One political observer in Beirut said: he would not know how it could pass the process of appointing this former member of Hezbollah through the congress in his position as a manager of al Hurra and Sawa, before resigning under the pressure of financial investigation and turn to be an advisor of the institution.
Available information added that “al Hurra” former director and present advisor, also succeeded to employ his wife in the institution, who is a former broadcaster of one Lebanese institution. In addition to her work with detainee major general Jamil al Sayyed, man of Lebanese Intelligence and former director of National Security who managed to consolidate his institution ties with the husband and his wife.
According to information from within the institution, the former director received from Hezbollah and Syrian Security Services two lists, one included a number of those who preferably be away from any media attendance because of their attitude towards the party and the Syrian regime, and the second consisted of a number of those who are supposed to be polished (ÊáãíÚåã ) as political analyzers (ßãÍááíä) politicians.
The former director of al Hurra perfectly executed the instructions. He set away those who should be secluded and shaded light upon those who must be shown, and he kept a continuous contact with those he must keep in Beirut and Damascus, providing consultations and receive advice accordingly.
Lebanese sources said, quoted by Lebanese-origin deputies in the new Democratic Congress, that they would reconsider a far-reaching investigation of all what happened inside al Hurra and Radio funded by the Congress, and reform its structure after secluding all those who are suspected to have relation with Hezbollah or Syrian security system, or Iran?"
« Close It
December 19, 2006 12:53 PM
http://www.strata-sphere.com/blog/
Am I Eating Polonium-210 Crow?
Posted by AJStrata on December 19th, 2006
According to an ex-KGB officer in London I might have to eat some Polonium crow on the smuggling angle of this story:
Gordievsky claimed he knew who the murderer was on the fourth day after it happened. He said that British experts also knew it, “but they have been doing everything step by step, as it is correctly and it is necessary in this case according to procedure”. “Some time next year will publish the results”, said Gordievsky.
Asked to name the murderer, the ex-spy said he could make a hint only. “It was the person, who joined Lugovoy and the company for ten minutes”. According to Gordievsky, they [Lugovoy and the company] introduced him to Litvinenko as Volodya and told that “he also works in such business that could provide [you] some work”. Gordievsky said the man went away for a while and brought a cup of tea, and “so the end of Sasha had come”. The ex-spy said the participants [of the murder] was a large group and they had rehearsed [their action] several times, in Moscow and then in London. However “they did not know what force this material possessed, even the main murderer did not know, only the bosses did know”. According to Gordievsky, the British experts had found out that the murderers once had even dropped the container when they rehearsed; this was registered by the British equipment that “simply appeared to be the best in the world”. Gordievsky added that the tablet of polonium that was made for the crime “does not cost $10 million, someone had exaggerated its price”.
The ex-spy marked that polonium-200 is available only in Russia and in the United States. Both Americans and Englishmen know, which power plant had produced that polonium, what had been the size and the weight, and how and in what container it was packed, they know everything, Gordievsky said.
Asked about the role of Lugovoy, Kovtun and Sokolenko in the Litvinenko affair, Gordievsky repeated that judging by initial calculations, they were not murderers, because they simply were the mates of the murderers. “The person, who came on the side, was the killer. And they were sitting, distracting [his] attention all the time”. Gordievsky pointed out that the main failure of the operation was the fact that nobody knew that polonium-200 was leaving traces. “They did not know that such equipment [to discover such traces] exists in the West, here again they have miscalculated”.
Now I have my doubts about the Alpha-emitter technology as one of our readers pointed out our water supply is regularly tested to very low levels of alpha emitters. Levels that would easily detect Polonium-210. But in addition, there is no way anyone would confuse Litvinenko’s radiation illness with anything but radiation poisoning. And Polonium-210 is just not that subtle. This could be another person trying for their 15 minutes of fame. But we shall see. I would be very happy to be proven wrong on this - because an assassination is the least troubling scenario.
http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003486.html
December 20, 2006
UK: Muslim Murderer Fled Country In Sister's Veil
Sharon.jpgOn November 18 last year, two policewomen responded to an armed raid at a Universal Express travel agent's office in Bradford, Yorkshire. Both women were shot by the gunmen, who were Somali. 38-year old Sharon Beshenivsky died as a result of her injuries. Her colleague Teresa Milburn was seriously injured, but survived. The death of WPC Beshenivsky happened on the same day that her youngest daughter Lydia was holding her fourth birthday. Her family knew when Sharon did not arrive for Lydia's party that something was wrong.
The prime suspect in the murder was 25-year old Mustaf Jama, who had 21 previous convictions. On May 4 it was revealed that Mustaf Jama had fled to his native Somalia. Jama had not been deported after serving a prison sentence, because the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, had ruled that Somalia was too dangerous. A few days later, Clarke was sacked, and was replaced by John Reid.
The 11-week long murder trial of five Somali men took place at Newcastle Crown Court. 25-year old Muzzaker Imtiaz Shah pleaded guilty to WPC Sharon Beshenivsky's murder in early October. The gang was said to have brought a machine gun, a knife and a pistol to the raid. The night before the fatal raid took place, the gang of seven drank champagne at an address in Harehills Lane, Leeds.
On Monday December 18, Yusuf Abdillh Jama, the younger brother of Mustaf Jamma, was convicted of murder.
25-year old Raza Ul-Haq Aslam was cleared of manslaughter and murder. Brothers 25-year old Faisal Razzaq and 26-year old Hassan Razzaq of orest Gate, London, were convicted of manslaughter.
Piran Ditta Khan is another member of the gang, who like Mustafa Jama has eluded detection. It is now revealed by various news sources, including the Times, BBC that Mustaf Jamma is thought to have fled the country while wearing a Muslim woman's face-veil, and carrying his sister's passport.
The shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, has said that Jamma's escape through passport control wearing a veil was "barely credible", Davis said: "Doing so when an All Persons Bulletin for murder has been issued demonstrates that our borders are not just porous but non-existent."
MustafJama (pictured left) is said to have fled Britain between Christmas Day and New Year's Day a year ago. His face had been widely publicized. Jamma's father was formerly a Somali MP who was a cousin of the ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. The Times states that "British immigration officers rarely carry out a visual check to match a passport photograph with a departing female passenger's veiled face."
Mustaf Jama and his brother Yusuf were asylum seekers. Yesterday, Sharon Beshenivsky's father said: "It is absolutely disgusting that this man - a criminal who acts like an animal - is shown human rights. What about my kids, my wife, my family?"
The Telegraph reports that Mustaf Jama had entered Britain using a forged passport, and thus should never have been granted asylum. A leader states that Jama's "escape was made possible by our misguided acceptance of a form of dress that so effectively conceals an individual's identity as to make even his gender unrecognisable."
During their trial, the members of the Somali gang made much of their Islamic faith, even leading the case to be briefly suspended to allow the men to have a day off for Eid al-Fitr (the holiday after Ramadan ends). In the raid, Muzzaker Shah warned the staff at Universal Express: "Don't make me shoot you on a Friday (holy day for Muslims)." Despite their "piety", some of the gang attended a brothel on the night preceding the raid.
In October, the Times revealed that at least one UK terrorist has evaded detection while wearing Muslim woman disguise, with a niqab or face-veil to hide his features. In Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorists have disguised themselves in burkas, and the Sunni murderer Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was said to frequently disguise himself as a veiled woman.
This case of Mustaf Jama is bound to fuel the controversy over the veil, which was initiated in Britain after comments made by former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on October 5. The full face veil is not an Islamic obligation, and is really a political gesture, representing Islamism's contempt for Western values. For more information see the article by Adrian Morgan on Family Security Matters and a Danish article by Chahdorrt Djavann, translated on Gates of Vienna.
In Canada last month, a burka-wearing Muslim "woman" with her male partner conducted a robbery at a Toronto jewelry store. "She" was a man, who drew a gun on the store owner, Abdul Rasheed Khalid. Surely it is time to discuss the banning of all face coverings, in the name of public security?
Keyword: Jamma, Jama, burka, burqa, niqab, nikab, hijab
http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003485.html
December 19, 2006
Spain: Arrested Islamists "Members Of Salafia Jihadia"
On December 12, 11 Islamists were arrested in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on the North African Coast ("Spanish Morocco"). Two of these were brothers of the "Spanish Taliban", Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed, who had spent time in Guantanamo.
News from: Reuters AlertNet, EITB24, Associated Press, Canoe News, Zee News and Eapatica.
The National Court judge who had ordered the arrests of the 10 Spaniards and one Moroccan, Baltasar Garzon, ordered on Sunday evening that four of the men should be released. These four should keep the authorities informed of their whereabouts at all times.
The surveillance of the eleven individuals had taken place for more than a year. The seven who were jailed include the two brothers of the "Spanish Taliban". According to Judge Garzon, the men are members of the group Salafia Jihadia, which he described as part of Al Qaeda's North African network.
Garzon made a statement: "The focus of this group is the Darkawia mosque. In this the leaders of the group... carried out proselytising and recruiting work to create a Yihad (Jihad) with international connections in Morocco, using common crime as a means of finance."
"Police action prevented the group from forming itself further, which would have greatly raised the threat against lives and physical targets."
The suspects had been arrested because they were believed to be close to mounting attacks. In the raids, which took place before dawn in locations around Ceuta, a farewell note had been written by one of the men, to his mother.
According to Garzon, this letter read: "Allah sent me to fight and to be sacrificed for his cause. We beg Allah to accept our effort and to give us shelter in the sublimity of his paradise. Do not suffer or cry for me. I will always be in your hearts."
Other items which had been seized in the raid included false identity papers, a bullet-proof vest, an "incriminating video", audio material and cash. Garzon suggested the men planned to attack an arms depot and a supermarket.
Salafia Jihadia
The group Salafia Jihadia or Salafia Yihadia, which is also known as At-Takfir wal-Hijrah, was formed in the 1990s and is based in Morocco. One of its leaders, Ilamado Yusef Fikri, was sentenced to death on July 12, 2003. 21 members of the group were sentenced to terms ranging from 12 months to life imprisonment. Eight people got life sentences, seven received 20 year terms, five had 10 year jail terms, and one individual was sentenced to a year's jail.
These individuals had not been accused of the bombings at Casablanca, which had taken place on May 16, 2003. Ilamado Yusef Fikri had written letters to the local newspapers, claiming to have killed people for being "enemies of Allah". One of those whom Fikri had killed was his own uncle, whom he suspected of being a homosexual.
Though the associates of Fikri were not themselves charged with the Casablancca bombings, the attacks of May 16 2003 killed 45 people, and led to a crackdown on other members of Salafia Jihadia.
As Fikri's cell was charged, ten members of Salafia Jihadia (including Fikri himself, Mohamed Damir, Saleh Zarli, Abderrazak Faouzi, Kamal Hanuichi, Bouchaib Guermach, Lakbir Kutubi, Buchaib Mghader, Omar Maaruf and Laarbi Daqiq) were sentenced to death for involvement in the plot to carry out the Casablanca bombings.
According to MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base, the goals of Salafia Jihadia are to overthrow "impious" Arab governments and to use violence to force the West to cease supporting such regimes. Salafia Jihadia is linked to GICM (Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain) which aims to establish an Islamist state in Morocco. GICM had its assets frozen by the US Treasury on November 22, 2002.
It has been argued that Salafia Jihadia, rather than being a coherent entity is in fact a grouping of smaller autonomous cells. In late 2004, the Moroccan Justice Ministry stated that Salafia Jihadia had 699 activists. Some of those who took part in the Casablanca suicide bombings, such as Abdelaziz Beyaich, are known to have been Salafia Jihadia activists. The 14 attackers had come from a bidonville of Casablanca, called Sidi Moumen. In the wake of the Casablanca, many youths from the run-down suburbs of Moroccan cities joined up to Salafia Jihadia.
On the second anniversary of 9/11, a leading Jewish Moroccan, Albert Ribido, was killed by Salafia Jihadia. The Casablanca bombings had attacked three Jewish targets, including a Jewish cemetery and a Jewish-owned restaurant.
The "spiritual leader" of Salafia Jihadia, Mohamed Fizazi is currently serving a 30-year jail term, imposed on him in August 2003. Originally from Tangier, but moved to Sidi Moumen, Casablanca. He claimed Osama bin Laden to be a "companion of the prophet", and said that "Christians and Jews should have their throats slit."
He preached at the Al-Qods mosque in Hamburg, Germany, where his audience included members of the "Hamburg Cell" which spawned the 9/11 attacks. Mohammed Atta attended this mosque. Fizazi left Germany before the attacks on the United States.
Fizazi is said to have had communications with Jamal Zougam, Mohamed Chaoui, and Abelaziz Benyaich from northern Morocco, three of the individuals who are charged with involvement in the Madrid train bombings of March 11, 2004.
For more information on terrorism and extremism in Morocco, see articles by the Jamestown Foundation, from May 2005 and October 2005.
Morenews.jpg
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 19, 2006 7:07 PM
http://www.westernresistance.com/
Iran: Merry Christmas, Islamic Style
More Islamic "Tolerance", from the Shi'a Theocracy, with thansk to Giussani: Police arrest 15 members of Christian sect in lead-up to Christmas
Teheran (AsiaNews) - Iran' secret police have conducted raids against some Christian communities in the lead-up to Christmas. On Sunday, 10 December officials arrested 15 Christians in different areas of the country: Karaj, Teheran, Rasht and Bandar-Anzali. Only two have been released, according to the Compass Direct agency that broke the news on 14 December. Compass initially reported 10 arrests but yesterday more details became available.[...]
Risk to British lives ended Saudi jet probe
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1974098,00.html
Risk to British lives ended Saudi jet probe
Government told sharing of intelligence on al-Qaeda would be ended
Gaby Hinsliff and Antony Barnett
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
Saudi Arabia threatened to stop sharing vital intelligence -
particularly intercepted communications between al-Qaeda members active there -
unless Britain suspended its investigation into a controversial arms
deal, The Observer can reveal.
Senior Whitehall sources said the Saudis warned they would also kick
out British military and intelligence personnel based in the country.
'They were threatening everything: intelligence, everything. The US and
the UK have got their bases in Saudi, that is their "in" to the Middle East,' said one source. 'Essentially, the line was that British lives
could be lost if this relationship broke down. It would have been them
freezing everybody out and speaking to nobody about anything.'
The investigation into allegations that BAE Systems paid bribes to
senior Saudis was dropped last Thursday following a detailed report from
the security services. Saudi sources insisted yesterday the real reason
was that the firm - which had said it risked losing a ?6bn deal for the
Saudis to buy 72 Typhoon jets - could have gone bust if it lost
contracts.
However the intelligence threats appear to have been made after months
of commercial ones failed to get the desired result. One senior
intelligence expert said the Saudis' contribution to the battle against
al-Qaeda could not be underestimated: 'The Saudis are very, very important.
Mucking up that relationship is something you do not do.'
The fight against terrorism itself could have been at risk. The Serious
Fraud Office's director, Robert Wardle, confirmed yesterday in an
interview with the Financial Times that he was convinced to drop the case by
national security considerations. However, Whitehall sources said the
Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, had gone further by concluding there
was little chance of bringing charges.
Goldsmith believed the main evidence gathered so far dated back to
before the introduction of Britain's current anti-corruption laws, which
meant it might not be prosecutable. Goldsmith also thought the SFO would
be obstructed by the constitutional position of the Saudi royal family
in their country's government: they are only held liable under law when
acting in a government capacity, rather than as royals.
MPs, however, are reluctant to let the issue drop. Members of the
powerful Commons public accounts select committee are now pushing to be
allowed to see the findings of the National Audit Office report -
suppressed by the then Conservative government - into the original Al-Yamamah
deal.
That was a ?1.02bn contract signed in 1988, agreeing that BAE would
supply the Saudis with fighters, jet trainers, air bases and personnel.
The present Typhoon contract forms part of its third and most recent
phase.
John Pugh, a Liberal Democrat member of the committee, has argued that
the MPs could examine the audit office findings in confidence, allowing
at least some parliamentary oversight.
12/14/06 - Cuba-L Analysis - Cuban Appomattox
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=226078
Military intelligence confirms attempts to take control of it
Prague- The military intelligence service (VZ) today confirmed the
information of Nova TV that a group around Zdenek Dolezel, former head of
the PM's office, attempted to take control of it, when VZ spokesman
Ladislav Sticha said that the information is quite correct.
Nova commercial TV reported on Wednesday that Dolezel's gang gathered
compromising data on some politicians and secret service officers.
Nova gained the information from hidden-camera shots of members of
Dolezel's group who are suspected of alleged abuse of subsidies from EU
funds.
The group had allegedly the "Project Z," an analysis of the way to take
control of the military intelligence service, which was worked out last
year.
"The intelligence service was really to be taken over and its current
leadership was to be removed," Jan Vidim (Civic Democrats, ODS), head of
the lower house defence committee, told Nova.
Vidim said that the intelligence service chiefs had repeatedly informed
deputies about these plans, including concrete names, but he did not
release them.
The danger was real and the intelligence service took it seriously,
Vidim added and Sticha confirmed it, but he did not elaborate.
Nova reported that Dolezel allegedly collaborated with a former
intelligence officer who worked both in the civilian counter-intelligence and
in the military intelligence service.
At the beginning of 2006, Dolezel wrote to then PM Jiri Paroubek
(Social Democrats, CSSD), saying he knows how to take control of the military
intelligence unofficially.
Asked by Nova, Paroubek denied having received such a letter.
Dolezel is the main protagonist in a scandal around the privatisation
of the Czech petrochemical holding Unipetrol which was allegedly
accompanied by corruption.
Dolezel is charged with fraud. If found guilty, he faces up to 12 years
in prison.
Dolezel, former head of then CSSD PMs Stanislav Gross and Paroubek's
office, was in October accused of corruption in the case of alleged
fraudulent drawing of EU finances for the reconstruction of chateaus in
Budisov and Trebic, both south Moravia.
The military intelligence and counter-intelligence services operate
under the Defence Ministry.
Author: ÈTK.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.370386993&par=0
MIDDLE EAST: AL-QAEDA NO.2 IN VIDEO MESSAGE ON PALESTINIAN ELECTION
Doha, 20 Dec. (AKI) - Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri ahs appeared in a video recording in which he slammed Palestinian President Mahomoud Abbas' plan to hold early elections in the Palestinian territories. Al-Zawahiri in the message, an excerpt of which was broadcast by the Doha-based Al-Jazeera satellite television channel said Palestinian elections were tantamount to a"surrender to the Jews" and exhorted the Palestinians to instead focus on an armed struggle. ""Every way which is not Jihad (Holy war) will only result in defeat. He who tries to liberate the lands of Islam through elections is relying on secular principles and must realise that he is surrendering to the Jews.
"The decision to surrender to the Jews will not free the Palestinian territories. To retreat before the West will not achieve anything. The Koran in fact tells us not to choose the Christians and Jews as allies so as not to follow their religion," Al-Zawahiri.
Al-Qaeda led by fugitive Saudi Arabian-born Osama bin Laden, has repeatedly tried to associate its extremist brand of Islam with the Palestinian struggle, an offer of solidarity repeatedly rejected by the major Palestinian factions such as Fatah and Hamas that have distanced themselves from the terror network responsible for numerous terrorist attacks including the11 September 2001 hijackings in the United States.
(Ham/Aki)
20-Dec-06 10:08
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.370488845&par=0
Kosovo
KOSOVO: POLICE 'SMASH HUMAN TRAFFICKING RING'
Pristina, 20 Dec. (AKI) - Kosovo police say they have broken up a human trafficking ring, arresting twenty people in the province which has been under United Nations control since 1999, local media reported on Wednesday. The arrests of three Kosovo ethnic Albanians and seven Muslims from Serbia were made in the central Kosovo town of Istok. The ring had been smuggling people from Albania to Serbia via Kosovo, with the aim of transporting them to west European countries, police said.
Police said they also detained ten Albanian human trafficking victims and placed them in a special detention centre. Crime, including drug and human trafficking, has been flourishing in the province. Kosovo's overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian majority has been demanding independence ever since it was put under United Nations control in 1999 after NATO airstrikes drove Serb forces from the province amid an 'ethnic cleansing' campaign and gross human rights abuses.
The international community, which maintains a strong civilian and military presence in the province, is determined to decide on Kosovo's final status early next year. Eight rounds of talks held this year between Kosovo ethnic Albanians and Belgrade - which opposes independence, favouring a form of broad local autonomy for the province - failed to produce a breakthrough.
(Vpr/Aki)
Dec-20-06 12:12
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.370256364&par=0
IRAQ: GUNMEN SNATCH AT LEAST $875,000 IN BAGHDAD
Baghdad, 19 Nov. (AKI) - Gunmen, some wearing police uniforms, on Tuesday made off with at least 1.25 billion Iraqi dinars ($875,000) in cash, the second major cash heist in 10 ten days, an Iraqi police source said, quoted by the Iraqi news agency NINA. The armed thieves stole the money from interior ministry officials who were collecting it for salaries to be paid to their employees, said the police source.
No injuries were reported in the robbery and the thieves managed to get away. Last week, gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms ambushed a security vehicle that was transporting money to the Central Bank and got away with a million dollars.
(Ham/Aki)
Dec-19-06 18:00
I found this to be very interesting.
[UPDATE 2] Afghanistan has arrested a Pakistani intelligence officer “who acted as a key link with al-Qaeda leaders” and served as a 'Bin Laden escort.' An intelligence source informs us Sayed Akbar works for the ISI's black ops Special Services Group and is a colonel. General Khair Mohammed, the Afghan general that was arrested yesterday, was one of Akbar's contact in Afghanistan, and helped him run suicide bombers into Kabul.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1756003/posts
Good for them.
Thanks.
December 20, 2006 Anti-Terrorism News
Al Qaeda Deputy Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri Condemns Palestinian
Elections, Urges 'Holy War' Against Israel
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,237678,00.html
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/12/al_qaeda_deputy_alzawahiri_con_1.php
Hamas to al-Qaeda: We haven't quit resistance
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3342463,00.html
(Iraq) U.S. military: Senior al-Qaeda leader was captured in Mosul
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-12-20-mosul-capture_x.htm
Bush plans to increase size of military - so it can fight a long-term
war against terrorism
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061219/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_interview_4
Bush to Hold Press Conference on Expanding Size of Military Forces - 10
AM ET
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,237739,00.html
Surprise Iraq visit by new US defense chief Gates
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20959757-1702,00.html
US Convict in terror case back in federal court - James Ujaama, a
Muslim convert from Seattle, arrested in Belize violating probation
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4414141.html
U.S. official says no terror "scores" for travelers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061220/us_nm/security_usa_screening_dc_1
(US) Data mining fails in terrorist fight
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2006/12/20/220712/data-mining-fails-in-terrorist-fight.htm
(NYC) Freedom Tower takes root with steel beams and iron will
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/19/freedom.tower.ap/index.html
(Australia) Terror Plot: 13 suspects plead not guilty
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Rest_of_World/Oz_terror_plot_13_suspects_plead_not_guilty/articleshow/855607.cms
Australia retrial in al-Qaeda case - Joseph Thomas conviction thrown
out on accepting funds from Al-Qaeda
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=343163&sid=WOR
Somali Islamists clash with government troops in southern region
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061220/ts_afp/somaliaunrest_061220102451
(Sudan) U.N. evacuates 71 workers from Darfur
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/ap_on_re_af/darfur_aid_2
Israeli Forces Eliminate Two Islamic Jihad Terrorists
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=117806
Dutch national (Wesam al Delaema) faces U.S. terror trial
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Netherlands_US_Terror_Suspect.html
(UK) Tube 'wide open' to terror attack
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6292259,00.html
(UK) Police killer escapes in veil - Mustaf Jama hid beneath veil at
Heathrow airport to escape to Somalia
http://www.express.co.uk/news_detail.html?sku=916
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2512361,00.html
(UK) A veil cannot disguise a serious security lapse
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,542-2512019,00.html
Blair calls for alliance against extremism
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/ap_on_re_eu/mideast_blair_1
Related News:
(UK) Stewardess banned from carrying Bible - UK airline BMI refuses to
allow employee to carry a Bible on flights to Saudi Arabia
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/20/nbible20.xml
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