World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.

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.aawsat.com/english/print.asp?artid=id7840

Iranian Opposition Group Says 132,000 Iranian Agents Working in Iraq

Tuesday 30 January 2007
By Ma'ad Fayad

London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Spokesperson for Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in Britain, Dawlat Nawruzi, disclosed that many high-ranking Iraqi Government officials and Iraqi politicians are working for Iran. She said they are among a "list of 132,000 agents who work for Iran inside Iraq." She added, "The MKO has obtained precise information about the names of the agents, their titles and financial allowances they receive from the Iranian Government."

Nawruzi told Asharq al-Awsat that "For the past four years, the organization has been continuously publishing its information about thousands of Iranian agents in Iraq, and the operations that these agents have been carrying out.

However, nobody paid attention to this information, and we were not given the opportunity to disclose the details."

Nawruzi added, "We have published this information in Europe and in the United states. We have said that some Iraqi officials have received millions of dollars from Iran to carry out operations against the Iraqi people. They are responsible for the death squads, acts of abduction, torture and murder.

There are groups of people who wear Iraqi police uniforms and carry out these operations. Now, the Iraqis and the whole world know that this information was true."

She added, "We are a political organization that is fighting to achieve the rights and freedom of the Iranian people. We have lost hundreds of victims in our struggle against the Iranian regime. We have a network of significant contacts inside Iran and they have provided us with important and top secret information about a network of agents who are working for Iran. They include Iraqis and Iranians, and are scattered all over Iraq."

Concerning the status of the MKO in Iraq, Nawruzi said, "There are 4,000 MKO members including men, women and children who live in Ashraf camp near Diyala, east of Iraq. They are not engaged in any political activities. We respect the Iraqi Government's decision that considers the MKO members political refugees inside Iraq. Therefore, their activities are civil and educational only." She mentioned that, "Inside Ashraf camp, there are many schools, a university, and a hospital that has offered its services to local Iraqi residents for more than twenty years. However, the hospital and the camp itself lack medicine and other services such as electricity, water, food, and fuel. The Iraqi Government has cut off all kinds of assistance from the camp, thus the MKO members were forced to depend on themselves. They economize in order to provide some services and to purchase medicine and fuel on the black market."

Nawruzi said, "There isn't any agreement with the US Administration to use the organization against the Iranian regime. The organization is only engaged in media and social activities for the good of the Iranian people." She added, "Ashraf camp is protected by the multi-national forces in Iraq. Since 2003, there have not been any weapons in the camp. The camp residents are allowed to move inside Iraq, but they do not venture out because of the security situation. There were some Iraqi workers doing some jobs inside the camp. However, Iran blew up the bus that was carrying them to the camp, and since then no Iraqi has entered the camp for fear of explosions."

Iran: A Crisis of Modesty
Monday 29 January 2007

The current Iranian leadership suffers from a chronic ailment—the belief that Iran is a superpower, and that successful military exercises means that Iran is capable of winning a real war against opponents with more capabilities, efficiency and technological advancement!
The problem with the current Iranian leadership is that it neither wants to learn from history nor heed to the significance of geography.
An example of this can be taken out of the pages of Iran's history books when the late Shah of Iran thought that his awkward policy towards the Gulf States, particularly his insistence that Bahrain was part of Iran, thus allocating unoccupied seats representing Bahrain in the Iranian parliament, and threatening of the smaller Gulf States could improve his position. This resulted in the Shah loosing the support of his neighbors after loosing that of his people, and the rest of the story is known to all.
Another example is when the Islamic Revolution took place in Iran. Instead of attempting to solve the unemployment and poverty problems of its people, the new revolutionaries decided instead to "export the revolution", and in the process ended up stirring negative sentiments amongst its neighbors.
After all, a revolution is not a commodity to import but rather the creation of a new regime that sets an example to others. What the revolutionaries did in Tehran was a disaster rather than an example.
This resulted in individuals like Saddam Hussein taking it upon himself to be the defender against the so-called "Persian Magi "; the results of which were tragic for all.
Now the Iranian administration is repeating itself, but in amore provocative manner. For Iran is actively involved in Lebanon, a fact that they do not deny. They are the real motivators of war and chaos through the "clean money" (Iran's funding of Hezbollah) that they appropriated from their poor.
They are also involved in both Iraqi and Palestinian affairs. They are involved in acts of violence in Yemen and are nauseatingly active in Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and other nations while at home their unemployment and poverty problems worsen and their oil revenues are channeled into the development of nuclear weapons technology and the building of its military arsenal.
The Iranian people do not deserve this juvenile policy and the region does not deserve these frivolous policies. The gulf peoples on both the Iranian and Arabian sides need peace, stability and the exchange of commodities rather than the exchange of missiles, prisoners and injured people, which they've done for many years.
Iran needs a stop at reason and logic. The clamor of hollow words will not solve Iran's problems, and the illusions of the possible success of these policies have to come to an end for the sake of the interest of the region and the interest of the Iranian people who have paid dearly for these adventures and wars for so many years.
Some modesty is required as well as the realization of Iran's real capabilities. "God favors those who know their self worth"; this is what we need to keep in mind always!

http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=7827

Hezbollah leader hits out at Bush
The leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has accused the US of ordering Israel to start last year's conflict with the militant group.

Addressing a huge crowd in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Sheikh Nasrallah also accused the US and Israel of trying to foment civil wars in the region.

It comes amid moves by Hezbollah to oust Lebanon's pro-Western government.

Seven people died last week in street clashes between Hezbollah's supporters and their political opponents.

Sheikh Nasrallah's remarks came a day after US President George W Bush implicitly accused Hezbollah of stirring up violence in Lebanon, saying "those responsible for creating chaos must be held to account".

George Bush wants to punish you because you resisted, he wants to punish you because you won
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah leader
Addressing tens of thousands of supporters who had gathered to mark the end of the Shia mourning period of Ashura, Sheikh Nasrallah said it was the US which was to blame.

"The one who fomented chaos in Lebanon, who destroyed Lebanon, who killed women and children, old and young in Lebanon, is George Bush and [Secretary of State] Condoleezza Rice, who ordered the Zionists to launch the war on Lebanon," he said.

'Punish Bush'

Hezbollah and Israel fought a fierce 34-day conflict in July and August, after Hezbollah killed and captured several Israeli soldiers.

"The one who must be punished, who must be tried, is the one who ordered the launching of war on Lebanon," Sheikh Nasrallah told the crowd.

"George Bush wants to punish you because you resisted, he wants to punish you because you won."

He also accused Mr Bush and Israel of "trying to defeat resistance movements in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq by starting civil wars".

"Lebanon will not be defeated. We will not allow it to be invaded... we have proved that we are capable of defeating [invaders]," he said.

About 1,000 Lebanese were killed in last summer's conflict, mostly civilians in Israel's vast bombardment of the county and land invasion in the south. Lebanon's infrastructure also suffered extensive damage.

The Israeli army lost 116 soldiers. Forty-three Israeli civilians were also killed by more than 4,000 Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6314147.stm

Published: 2007/01/30 17:11:58 GMT

© BBC MMVII

BBC NEWS
Islamists battle Algeria's army
Fifteen people have been killed in a clash between Islamist militants and Algerian security forces in the eastern region of Batna, local media report.

The militants carried out a rocket attack on an army post, killing five soldiers, while 10 Islamists reportedly died in an army counter-attack.

A BBC correspondent in Algeria says this is the most serious Islamist attack for several months.

They are thought to belong to a group now renamed "al-Qaeda in the Maghreb".

Earlier this week, the Salafist Group of Preaching and Combat (GSPC) announced that it had changed its name.

This latest clash comes amid repeated calls by the army to the general population to help them in their fight against armed militants.

Contrast

The army has put up posters across north-central Algeria, urging people to give them any information they had about "terrorists".

It is the first time since the start of the violence linked to radical Islamists in 1992 that the army has used this method of gathering information on the militants.

The BBC's Mohammed Arezki Himeur in Algiers says the extensive use of posters by the army contrasts with the government's insistence that armed Islamist groups have been defeated with no chance of resurgence.

Last August, Algeria offered Islamic militants a six-month amnesty on condition of surrender, but fewer than 300 came forward.

Militants were promised immunity from prosecution provided they were not involved in serious crimes such as massacres, rapes and bombings.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6313343.stm

Published: 2007/01/30 13:25:19 GMT

© BBC MMVII

BBC NEWS
Yemeni Jews flee Islamist threat
By Ginny Hill
BBC News, Sanaa

Forty-five Jewish people in Yemen have taken refuge in a hotel in northern Yemen after receiving death threats from Muslim extremists.

The group fled their village 10 days ago when they were confronted by masked radical Islamist gunmen.

The minority community has followed a traditional way of life in the village of Salem for centuries.

But, earlier this month, the Salem Jews received a letter accusing them of spreading vice and corruption.

The message was clear - the Jews must leave the country or lose their lives.

Decade-long insurgency

Dawoud Yousef Mousa and his neighbours fled to Saada City, the provincial capital.

Since then, the group has been living in the Paris Tower hotel at the expense of a local tribal sheikh, despite the authorities' promise to guarantee their safe return home.

Saada's governor claimed the threats against the Jews came from Zaydi Shia rebels, who have fought a decade-long insurgency in northern Yemen.

The extremists are said to belong to a banned organisation known as the Youthful Believers, who want to replace Yemen's democratic government with an Islamic theocracy.

Most of Yemen's 60,000 Jewish people were evacuated to Israel during Operation Magic Carpet following anti-Jewish riots in 1948.

Now, Yemen's tiny Jewish minority numbers just several hundred people.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6307745.stm

Published: 2007/01/28 15:07:06 GMT

© BBC MMVII

http://www.google.com/search?q=+Zaydi+Shia+rebels&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Youthful+Believers&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

BBC NEWS
Bizarre tale of Shia messianic cult plot
By Roger Hardy
BBC Arabic Affairs analyst

More details have emerged about the shadowy cult whose followers fought Iraqi and US forces in a day-long battle in southern Iraq on Sunday.

Iraqi officials say 263 members of the group - which calls itself the Soldiers of Heaven - were killed in fierce fighting near the Shia holy city of Najaf.

A well-armed group, a charismatic leader and an audacious plot to attack a holy city and kill its religious leaders.

If a novelist had invented the story of the Soldiers of Heaven, it might have been dismissed as a dark fantasy.

But an account of the bizarre drama in southern Iraq, albeit with puzzles and inconsistencies, has now emerged from Iraqi officials and eyewitness accounts.

Messianic belief

A young Shia leader, Dia Abdul-Zahra, had gathered hundreds of his followers, including women and children, in an encampment a few miles north of Najaf.

They were well armed and had come to believe that Abdul-Zahra - also known as Ahmed Hassan al-Yamani and Samer Abu Kamar - was the Mahdi.

According to Shia belief, the Mahdi is a Muslim messiah who disappeared hundreds of years ago and whose return will usher in an era of peace and justice before the end of time.

Abdul-Zahra and his followers regarded the religious leadership in Najaf as illegitimate.

Iraqi officials say their extraordinary plan was to enter the city in the garb of pilgrims, declare that the Mahdi had returned, and assassinate Ayatollah Sistani and other senior clerics.

All this was to happen on Ashura, the holiest day in the Shia calendar.

Instead, the Iraqi authorities seem to have had a tip-off. According to their account, they attacked the encampment and foiled the plot.

Some 263 of the Soldiers of Heaven were killed. Officials insist these included the group's leader, and news agency pictures show a dead man closely resembling him.

Among those captured were Sunnis as well as Shia and foreign fighters as well as Iraqis.

Unholy alliance

Iraqi officials have claimed the group had links with the militant jihadists of al-Qaeda.

Given that Sunni jihadists are fiercely anti-Shia, this seems unlikely.

They also say the group was working with former Baathists.

It seems the former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein did try to use a Mahdist faction as a weapon against the traditional religious leadership in Najaf, whom he saw as a threat.

Whether those links survived the fall of Saddam is not clear.

Shia divisions

Iraq's Shia-led government may have an interest in promoting the idea of such an unholy alliance.

It may want to deflect attention from the embarrassing fact that the majority Shia community is riven with factions and divisions.

The authorities may also have exaggerated their own military success.

The signs are that they underestimated the strength of the Soldiers of Heaven and had to call for urgent American air support.

History of the Mahdi

There are both Sunni and Shia versions of the Mahdi tradition.

Throughout Islamic history, Muslim leaders have risen up in rebellion claiming to be the Mahdi or to be acting in his name.

Britain's General Gordon was killed in Sudan in 1885 during a Mahdist insurrection.

In Saudi Arabia in 1979, Sunni militants took over the Great Mosque in Mecca, claiming the Mahdi had returned.

But Shia attachment to the Mahdi tradition is particularly potent.

One of the most powerful Iraqi militias (which has no known link to the Soldiers of Heaven) is the Mahdi Army of the radical cleric Moqtada Sadr.

For many Shia, the idea of a Muslim saviour who will end suffering and oppression has a special appeal.

At moments of crisis and chaos, they are more susceptible to the idea that the end of time is at hand.

Iraq is experiencing just such a crisis.

And in current circumstances southern Iraq - the Shia heartland and traditionally the poorest and most neglected part of the country - seems fertile soil for zealotry.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6313433.stm

Published: 2007/01/30 13:22:46 GMT

© BBC MMVII

BBC NEWS
Terror police 'found 9/11 speech'
A speech by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was found at a London flat used by the alleged 21 July plotters to make rucksack bombs, a court has heard.

The November 2004 speech addressed the American people on the "causes" of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Police also told Woolwich Crown Court dozens of bottles of hydrogen peroxide were found at the tower block flat in New Southgate, north London.

Yassin Omar, who lived at the flat, and five others deny conspiracy to murder.

All six men - Hussein Osman, Ramzi Mohammed, Adel Yahya, Muktar Ibrahim, Manfo Asiedu and Mr Omar - also deny a charge of conspiracy to cause explosions.

THE ACCUSED
Muktar Ibrahim, 29, from Stoke Newington, north London
Ramzi Mohammed, 25, from North Kensington, west London
Yassin Omar, 26, from New Southgate, north London
Hussein Osman, 28, of no fixed address
Manfo Asiedu, 33, of no fixed address
Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London

Mr Omar's fingerprints, and those of several of the other defendants, were found on the boxes and bottles of peroxide recovered from the flat, exhibits officer Detective Constable Malcolm Wilson said.

A printed transcript of the Bin Laden speech - which had been sent to Arab TV station al-Jazeera - was found in a cupboard, the jury was told.

Officers were also said to have removed a flyer for a demonstration held soon after 9/11 to show "solidarity for Muslims in Palestine and respect for the martyrs".

A video of BBC coverage of the 7 July 2005 London bombings and newspaper cuttings related to the 21 July events were also said to have been recovered.

Fliers

Police raided the flat four days after the men allegedly tried to carry out a series of suicide bombings on London's transport network.

They also recovered a rucksack and a brown, long sleeve v-neck T-shirt with a hole in the lower back.

Detective Constable Wilson, from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command, told the court the property was searched for 10 days.

The jury was shown photographs of the flat, including one of "apparent corrosion" on the control panel of the cooker in the kitchen.

Another showed the residue of a yellow-coloured substance on the shelf of a furniture unit.

The court heard among the other items found in the flat were a flier criticising Pakistan for "declaring war on Islam by siding with America's war on terror" and a video tape on religion that "discussed the hatred of Shia Muslims, Hindus, Russians and Jews".

Nigel Sweeney QC, for the prosecution, reading police notes, said a document was found in the bathroom called Algeria - Travesty Of Truth, and a VHS cassette in the living room entitled Caravan Of Martyrs.

Other videos in the room included one called Islam - The Only Solution To World Peace.

An untitled tape, described as a "homemade cassette including speeches made by Osama bin Laden and images of a suicide bomber attacking the US barracks in Saudi Arabia", was also there, Mr Sweeney said.

CD-roms found allegedly included a course on jihad "including the virtues of injury for the sake of Allah" and another of The 19 Martyrs which was "the last will/message of those who attacked America on 9/11" the QC added.

The trial was adjourned until Thursday.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6313799.stm

Published: 2007/01/30 21:11:20 GMT

© BBC MMVII

[Note the end of article, "No, Mama, I did not do it, He did".]

BBC NEWS
Russians deny poison spy 'lies'
The two Russian businessmen questioned by British police over the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko have denied being suspects in the case.

Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun told a Russian TV station that UK press reports describing them as suspects were "a lie".

Mr Litvinenko died on 23 November in London after being exposed to the radioactive isotope polonium-210.

The former Russian spy had met the men hours before falling ill.

Detectives from Scotland Yard travelled to Moscow to interview the two men. In their first joint TV interview they told Russia Today they were witnesses, not suspects.

Mr Lugovoi denied press allegations that he is the prime suspect. "They are not simply unfounded, they are a lie. Pure and simple. I was, and still am, a witness in this case."

Never say never
Andrei Lugovoi

He insisted the British detectives never treated him as a suspect. "They stressed that I am a witness, and no announcement has been made about any change in my status ever since... all the rest is a lie."

Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun, both businessmen and former members of the Russian security services, were taken to hospital with suspected radiation poisoning in December.

In the interview they said their health is satisfactory, but declined to give details.

Dmitry Kovtun would not rule out travelling back to London to help with the investigation.

"We will think about this. I'm not ready to give any answer.

"It will depend on where the investigation gets, on what we will be accused of and whether we will be charged at all.

"We will consult our lawyers and we will take the decision," he said.

Andrei Lugovoi also refused to say whether he would return to the UK. "Like one of my friends says, never say never"

Any suspect is unlikely to be transferred to the UK, as it is against Russia's constitution to extradite its own citizens.

Meanwhile, the Russian interior ministry has denied reports that its special forces used an image of Alexander Litvinenko for target practice.

It says the pictures, obtained by Polish TV, show a private security firm conducting a training session.

The images appear to show a picture of Mr Litvinenko being used as a target.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6312893.stm

Published: 2007/01/30 17:34:02 GMT

© BBC MMVII

BBC NEWS
Asylum seeker attacked young girl
An asylum seeker who was jailed for several sex attacks but was allowed to stay in Britain has been found guilty of further assaults on a young girl.

Sadiq Mohammed, 32, was found guilty of abducting and sexually assaulting a girl of seven in Bristol in May 2006.

Mohammed, of Barton Hill, was jailed for four years in 2000 for indecently assaulting a 55-year-old woman and trying to attack two others.

Mohammed, from Somalia, will be sentenced later at Bristol Crown Court.

'Public protection'

Four years after being released from jail, Mohammed took the seven-year-old girl from outside a corner shop and sexually assaulted her in his flat.

He denied one charge of child abduction and assault, but the jury at Bristol Crown Court took just under one hour on Tuesday to find him guilty on both counts.

Speaking after the hearing the victim's father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was relieved.

He said: "Justice has been served today. We are very glad about the verdict."

Commenting on why Mohammed had not been deported, a Home Office spokesman said: "The government has made clear that public protection is the overarching priority of the Home Office.

"As part of this we have made clear that we will seek to deport foreign national prisoners who have committed a serious crime as early as possible in their sentence."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/6313513.stm

Published: 2007/01/30 13:08:45 GMT

© BBC MMVII

BBC NEWS
Pub robbers threaten with spray
Armed robbers sprayed an unknown substance at four people and threatened staff in a pub in Salford.

Four masked men entered the Mark Addy pub on Stanley Street, Islington, carrying a knife and batons on Sunday, Greater Manchester Police said.

They caused damage inside the pub and sprayed a can of red liquid into the faces of two staff and two customers, said detectives.

The men forced the staff to hand over a quantity of cash before running off.

The people who had been sprayed, with what police believe to be paint, did not require hospital treatment.

The robbers were all wearing dark clothing and had their faces concealed. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Crimestoppers.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/6315581.stm

Published: 2007/01/30 22:02:35 GMT

© BBC MMVII

[History 2006, February]

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/010392.php

February 26, 2006
Al-Qaeda claims to have infiltrated UAE government

Well, sure, ok, Al-Qaeda has infiltrated their government, but not to worry: Americans will still be in charge of port security. And I expect they'll be quite busy once our friends and allies from Dubai take over port operations. "Qaeda Claim: We 'Infiltrated' UAE Gov't," from the New York Post, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

February 25, 2006 -- WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda warned the government of the United Arab Emirates more than three years ago that it "infiltrated" key government agencies, according to a disturbing document released by the U.S. military.

The warning was contained in a June 2002 message to UAE rulers, in which the terror network demanded the release of an unknown number of "mujahedeen detainees," who it said had been arrested during a government crackdown in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks....

Little is known about the origins or authorship of the message.

"You are well aware that we have infiltrated your security, censorship and monetary agencies, along with other agencies that should not be mentioned," the message said.

"Therefore, we warn of the continuation of practicing . . . policies which do not serve your interest and will only cost you many problems that will place you in an embarrassing state before your citizens.

"Your homeland is exposed to us. There are many vital interests that will hurt you if we decided to harm them."

Posted at February 26, 2006 06:43 AM

http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/01/now-boys-lets-not-overreact.html

Saturday, January 27, 2007
"Now boys, let's not overreact"

Was an Iranian Military Unit Responsible for Killing 5 Americans in Karbala?, Bill Roggio asks at The Fourth Rail. Rusty Shackleford at the Jawa Reports quotes an AP report claiming that the Kerbalah raid on US troops was led by a team led by a blonde, and presumably English-speaking person.

Four American soldiers were abducted during a sophisticated sneak attack last week in the Shiite holy city of Karbala and their bodies were found up to 25 miles away, according to new information obtained by The Associated Press.

The brazen assault, 50 miles south of Baghdad on Jan. 20, was conducted by nine to 12 militants posing as an American security team. They traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles _ the type used by U.S. government convoys _ had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues, and spoke English.

In a written statement, the U.S. command reported at the time that five soldiers were killed while "repelling the attack." Now, two senior U.S. military officials as well as Iraqi officials say four of the five were captured and taken from the governor's compound alive. Three of them were found dead and one mortally wounded later that evening in locations as far as 25 miles east of the governor's office....

Iraqi officials said the approaching convoy of black GMC Suburbans was waved through an Iraqi checkpoint at the edge of Karbala. The Iraqi soldiers believed it to be American because of the type of vehicles, the distinctive camouflage American uniforms and the fact that they spoke English. One Iraqi official said the leader of the assault team was blond, but no other official confirmed that.

Bill Roggio says that all the evidence available to him so far suggests the Iranian Qods special forces unit were responsible for the attack.

The American Forces Information Service provides the details of the attack in Karbala. Based on the sophisticated nature of the raid, as well as the response, or cryptic non-responses, from multiple military and intelligence sources, this raid appears to have been directed and executed by the Qods Force branch of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps. My sources agreed this is far to sophisticated an operation for the Mahdi Army or Badr Corps, while al-Qaeda in Iraq would have a difficult time mounting such an operation in the Shia south.

Recently the Washington Post ran a story saying that finally the Troops Are Authorized to Kill Iranian Operatives in Iraq, after a year of "catch and release". Kinda sad ain't it?

posted by wretchard at 1/27/2007 01:52:00 PM
47 Comments:

Revealed: plan to tackle nuclear terrorists

http://www.sundayherald.com/print55684

Sunday Herald - 14 May 2006

Revealed: plan to tackle nuclear terrorists
By Rob Edwards Environment Editor

_____

Secret plans to combat the threat of terrorists exploding a nuclear
bomb
have been in place for 30 years - despite official assurances that it
could
never happen.

While insisting that nuclear terrorism was "unthinkable", successive
governments have run a series of high-level emergency exercises. But
until
now the programme has remained secret.

Nuclear experts regard the revelation as "genuinely frightening" as it
suggests nuclear security had not been as tight as was thought at the
time,
and the threat of a terrorist attack is even greater today.

The confidential programme was known as the Criminal Improvised Nuclear
Device Emergency Response (Cinder).

It involved the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the police and scientists
from
the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire.

"Cinder was established in the late 1970s to provide the UK
government's
response to the possible threat of nuclear terrorism," disclosed Nigel
Maggs
from the MoD's Nuclear Weapons Integrated Project Team.

"Cinder became defunct in the 1990s when the UK capability in this area
gradually transformed into one more appropriate to the chemical,
biological,
radiobiological and nuclear threat we now face."

However, the MoD refused to reveal operational details of Cinder.
"Knowledge
of counter improvised nuclear device contingency planning must be kept
on a
need-to-know basis if hoaxes are to be avoided," said one official.

Frank Barnaby, a nuclear weapons expert who used to work at
Aldermaston,
said governments had always insisted terrorists didn't pose a nuclear
threat. "The fact that they thought it could happen is genuinely
frightening," he said. "It must mean that the nuclear arsenals were
less
well-guarded than we were led to believe."

Barnaby, now a nuclear consultant to the Oxford Research Group, argued
that
the risk of a terrorist nuclear bomb was greater today. Large amounts
of
plutonium have been created by nuclear reactors and separated at
Sellafield
in Cumbria. A new nuclear power programme would see more plutonium
being
made and moved around. "It is almost inevitable that a terrorist will
get
hold of some and make a bomb," he claimed.

In response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act, the MoD
has
released 20 pages of memos about Cinder, dated from 1989 to 1992, to
the
Sunday Herald. They reveal two problems encountered during the
programme.
The first was an article in the Mail on Sunday on January 8, 1989,
which
gave details of an exercise on a farm near Aldermaston.

This led to fury at the MoD over "unauthorised disclosure of sensitive
official information" and demands for a Home Office inquiry. And a 1989
memo
reveals that civilians in Cinder were permitted to obtain life cover
"without financial limit".

http://www.google.com/search?q=plan+to+tackle+nuclear+terrorists&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=unauthorised+disclosure+of+sensitive+official+information&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=plutonium+being+made+and+moved+around.+%22It+is+almost+inevitable+that+a+terrorist+will&hl=en&rls=com.netscape:en-US&filter=0

http://www.google.com/search?q=plutonium+have+been+created+by+nuclear+reactors+and+separated+at+Sellafield&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=terrorist+nuclear+bomb&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

Green birds we have seen, but look at this link, Blackbird Leye is next to Oxford, there is a small map at top of this page.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Oxford+Research+Group&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Frank+Barnaby%2C+a+nuclear+weapons+expert&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Atomic+Weapons+Establishment+at+Aldermaston&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Criminal+Improvised+Nuclear+Device+Emergency+Response+%28Cinder%29&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

Iran calls for closer Saudi judiciary ties

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=49340&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

Iran calls for closer Saudi judiciary ties

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - Â©2005 IranMania.com

LONDON, January 31 (IranMania) - Iran called for expansion of judiciary
cooperation between Tehran and Riyadh, said the Iranian ambassador in
Riyadh, Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini.

In a meeting with Saudi Justice Minister Sheikh Abdallah bin Muhammad
bin Ebrahim Al-Saud, Hosseini elaborated on religious, cultural and
judicial commonalities between Iran and Saudi Arabia, IRNA reported.

He added that Iran and Saudi Arabia exchanged views to eliminate these
ambiguities.

The Saudi minister, for his part, expressed satisfaction over good
bilateral relations and underscored the necessity of promoting judicial
and legal cooperation.

â€œWe should provide an appropriate ground for our intellectuals to
exchange views in a friendly and sincere atmosphere,â€œ he said.

On Sunday, Hosseini submitted his credentials to Saudi King Abdullah
bin
Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and conveyed the greetings of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials to the Saudi king.

King Abdullah also extended his greetings to Iranian officials and
called for expansion of relations between the two major Muslim
countries
in all fields. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and a number of
the
countryâ€™s high-ranking officials also attended the meeting.

A graduate from a French university in political sciences, Hosseini was
assigned as Iranâ€™s ambassador to Saudi Arabia in the last month of
autumn 2006.

Before taking up his new diplomatic posting, Hosseini, who replaced the
former ambassador Hossein Sadeqi, served as Iranâ€™s envoy in Senegal.

Saudi businessman killed, relative of bin Laden

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L31701246&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-4

Saudi businessman killed, relative of bin Laden
Wed 31 Jan 2007 7:05:46 GMT

DUBAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a
brother-in-law of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid on his home
in Madagascar, his brother said on Wednesday.

Malek Khalifa told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television that the aim of
the
killers appeared to have been to rob his brother, Jamal Khalifa, who
mined and traded precious stones in Madagascar.

Malek said a gang of 20 to 30 gunmen broke into his brother's bedroom
on
Tuesday, shot him dead "in cold blood" and stole his belongings.
Arabiya
said the businessman was staying at a precious stones mine he owns in
Madagascar when he was killed.

"We still don't have a complete picture of the incident," Khalifa told
Arabiya by telephone from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Jeddah. "I
don't think it was politically motivated," he added in response to a
question.

Jamal was alleged to have helped finance the Islamist militant Abu
Sayyaf group in the Philippines.

But Malek Khalifa denied his brother was involved in political
activity,
and said that apart from family ties, Jamal had no links to bin Laden,
who has been stripped of his Saudi citizenship.

Khalifa said the Saudi authorities had been informed of the killing.

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