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

http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=6092719

2/15/07
Two Pipe Bombs, One Huge Threat -- Beware of 'The Bishop'
When a mail clerk at American Century Investments, a Kansas City investment company, opened up a package sent to the company in late January, it read: "BANG YOU'RE DEAD."

Sources tell ABC News that the package contained a pipe bomb filled with explosives, along with a wiring-and-triggering mechanism to detonate the device.

The package had been sent by someone who called himself "The Bishop," and investigators are taking the threat very seriously.

"This case is our top priority. We are very serious about solving this case. We put all of our top people on this investigation," said Paul J. Trimbur, who heads the Liaison Group for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The only thing the bomber left undone in the Kansas City device was connecting the trigger wires that would make the package explode upon opening, ABC News has learned.

The Bishop wrote in a letter that accompanied the device that it did not explode because he chose not make it operational. If his demands are not met, the next device, the bomber warned, will kill.

Fred Burton of Stratfor Security is deeply concerned that the bomber has become agitated and is serious about hurting someone.

The Bishop has been sending threatening letters to businesses in the Midwest since May 2005.

'We're Using Our Full Forensic Lab'

At a laboratory near Washington, D.C., postal service forensic examiners are in a race against time to stop a potential deadly bombing campaign.

They are examining not only the Kansas City pipe bomb, but another that was mailed to Chicago.

"We're using our full forensic lab out here. We're doing the handwriting analysis, the fingerprint analysis. ... We do the tracing to test what kind of explosive was used," Trimbur said.

The Bishop is demanding that certain financial firms take action to force a number of stocks to a price of $6.66 per share, an apparent satanic reference.

Apparently angry at being ignored, the Bishop has sent letters that have become increasingly aggressive in tone.

In 2005, the Bishop wrote: "It is so easy to kill somebody, it is almost scary. Just think, it could be as simple as mailing a package just like The Unibomber use [sic] to."

The Bishop has also written about kidnapping someone or going on a shooting spree like John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo did in the 2002 Washington Beltway sniper shootings.

In June 2006, the Bishop angrily wrote, "TIMES UP. I have acquired targets" and warned that he would be sending "packages."

Tonight, several dozen postal inspectors and agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are desperately searching for leads.

Italian Judge Indicts 26 Americans, Five Italians in Kidnapping Case
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-02-16-voa28.cfm
Italian Judge Indicts 26 Americans, Five Italians in Kidnapping Case
By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
16 February 2007

Castelfranco report - Download 384k audio clip
Listen to Castelfranco report audio clip

An Italian judge Friday indicted 26 Americans and five Italians for their role in the abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect from Milan in 2003. The decision means that Italy will be the site of the first criminal trial on the CIA's controversial program of "extraordinary renditions." Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

The trial is scheduled to open June 8. A total of 26 Americans, all but one, believed to be CIA agents, and five Italian secret service officials will have to answer to charges of kidnapping Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from the streets of Milan in February 2003.

Italian prosecutors charge that the CIA carried out the illegal operation with the knowledge and assistance of the Italian secret services. They say the alleged kidnapping operation was a breach of Italian sovereignty that compromised Italy's own anti-terrorism efforts.

Nicolo Pollari (file photo)
Nicolo Pollari (file photo)

Among those indicted is a former head of the Italian secret services, Nicolo Pollari, as well as the former CIA station chief in Milan, Robert Seldon Lady, and the former CIA station chief in Rome, Jeff Castelli.

While the Italians should be appearing in court, the Americans are most likely going to be tried in absentia. Prosecutors have been pushing for the Italian government to send an extradition request to the United States, but so far this has not happened.

But before the trial opens, Italy's Constitutional Court could suspend proceedings. It has been asked by the government to rule on whether prosecutors overstepped their powers by ordering wiretaps of Italian agents' phone calls.

Prosecutor Armando Spataro said the investigations did not violate state secrets. He added that it could not be claimed that illegal wiretaps were carried out, because the law does not ban these in a police investigation.

Four years ago, the Egyptian imam was on his way from home to the mosque in Milan, when he was pushed into a van, driven to the U.S. airbase of Aviano in northern Italy from where he was flown first to Germany and then to Egypt. In Cairo, he says, he was questioned and tortured with electric shocks and other forms of abuse.

Nasr was released this week from prison in Cairo after four years. His lawyer said an Egyptian court found there was no reason for his detention to continue. He is now at his family home in Alexandria, but he has said he wants to return to Italy, where years ago he was granted political asylum and a permit to stay.

He has also said he wants to sue former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as well as U.S. intelligence agencies for millions of dollars worth of damages.

It is unclear whether Egyptian authorities will allow Nasr to leave the country. His wife has expressed fear that he will only be re-arrested as soon as he arrives in Italy, where was under investigation for terrorism-related activities at the time of his abduction. Milan prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest more than two years after he disappeared, while he was in custody in Egypt.

http://vivirlatino.com/2007/02/15/venezuela-al-qaeda-threats-illogical.php

Venezuela: Al Qaeda threats "illogical"

19:07 H | Topics: Politics - Venezuela

saut-jihad.jpgThe Venezuelan government is scratching its head as to why Al Qaeda -- which has threatened to attack U.S.-destined oil supplies in that country -- would want to harm a nation that is itself anti-imperialist and fighting against the U.S.

Rear admiral Luis Cabrera, one of the members of President Hugo Chávez' Joint Chiefs of Staff, Thursday asked for verification of the "illogical" threat Al Qaeda allegedly launched against Venezuela, as this country is fighting US imperialism too, but using other methods.

"We should confirm the authenticity of these reports. It seems illogical that Al-Qaeda, which is against the US imperialism, is going after a State that is precisely fighting this hegemony, this imperialism, yet using other methods," Cabrera told official TV channel VTV.

Earlier this week, on the website Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad, image above), Al Qaeda members called for attacks to all of the U.S. oil suppliers in an attempt to cut off the influx into the U.S. all together. The supplying countries specifically mentioned were Mexico, Canada and Venezuela.

Cabrera said that Al Qaeda and Venezuela both see the U.S. as imperialist, but have different ways of dealing with that:

Cabrera stressed that the means to fight the United States "are different" because Venezuela fight "with the Constitution, with legality, moral and the truth, rather than terrorist attacks."

He also said that there is reason to believe the September 11, 2001 attacks were "self attacks" masterminded by the U.S. government, and that the threats on Venezuela might be part of a similar strategy:

"This could be part of a plan," he said, adding that "it is important for Venezuelan security agencies to take all necessary measures of security and defense to avoid any attack."

Via / ElUniversal.com

Image via SiteInstitute.org

Financial Times

Fears for Chechnya as ex-rebel takes helm
By Neil Buckley in Moscow

Published: February 17 2007 02:00 | Last updated: February 17 2007
02:00

Chechnya found itself under a new leader yesterday - but analysts
warned the appointment of 30-year-old Ramzan Kadyrov as acting
president could unbalance the fragile stability only recently ac-
hieved in the war-shattered Russian republic.

The elevation of Mr Kadyrov, a former rebel who now professes fealty
to Moscow but commands a Kalashnikov-toting private militia, had been
expected ever since he turned 30 - minimum age for a Russian regional
leader - last October.

Russian President Vladimir Putin finally announced the appointment
late on Thursday, amid a government reshuffle that saw the previous
Chechen president, Alu Alkhanov, shifted to a Moscow ministerial
role. Though Mr Kadyrov was named only acting Chechen president, few
doubt he will be confirmed in the job - by decree of Mr Putin, since
elections of regional heads were abolished in 2004.

His appointment is de-signed to signal a new start for Chechnya after
the Kremlin announced the end of the anti-terrorism campaign in the
republic following two separatist wars in the past decade. The death
last summer of Shamil Basayev, mastermind of the Beslan siege, dealt
a severe blow to the rebel movement.

Mr Kadyrov's elevation also cements the "Chechenisation" of power -
in effect, contracting out the running of the republic to a local
elite loyal to Moscow.

The process began in 2003, once brutal repression by Russian forces
had broken the Chechen resistance. A new republican constitution was
adopted by referendum, followed by the election of Akhmad Kadyrov,
Ramzan's father, as president.

The popular elder Kadyrov was a prominent member of rebel forces
during the first Chechen independence war in the 1990s, but later
fell out with his rebel allies, and joined the Russian camp.

His assassination by a rebel bomb on May 9 2004, threatened to end
Chechenisation. Instead, Moscow shifted the burden on to Mr Kadyrov's
son - though it found an interim leader, in Mr Alkhanov, until Ramzan
reached 30.

In the meantime, elections to a Chechen parliament delivered a
healthy majority for the pro-Putin United Russia party.

Senior Moscow politicians welcomed his appointment yesterday. But
human rights groups say Mr Kadyrov has consolidated his position
through fear, and accuse his militia of kidnapping, torture and
murders - which Mr Kadyrov denies.

Anna Politkovskaya, the crusading journalist assassinated last
October, was investigating Mr Kadyrov's forces when she died, promp-
ting speculation he might have been connected to her murder. Mr
Kadyrov denied responsibility, declaring: "I don't kill women."

Sergei Markedonov, a Chechnya specialist at Moscow's Institute of
Political and Military Analysis, said Mr Putin was gambling that Mr
Kadyrov could impose his will across Chechnya, but the departure of
Mr Alkhanov removed an im-portant counterweight.

"There are now no checks and balances on his power. It's dangerous,"
said Mr Markedonov. "But Mr Putin wants to go down as the person who
ended the war in Chechnya."

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/

[would you want to bet this is connected to the Death of Anna and Litvinenko in London???
granny]

Muslims and socialists
With friends like these

Feb 8th 2007
From The Economist print edition
An odd marriage of Muslims and secular socialists, united against
America, is challenged by pundits of right and left

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8675234

AS GEORGE BUSH prepares to send more troops to Iraq, his critics all
over the Western world are bringing more protesters onto the
streets—and
the range of people who are angry enough to fill the icy air with
chants
of rage seems broader, and in some ways stranger, than ever.

On February 24th, for example, gallery-goers and pigeon-feeders should
probably avoid London's Trafalgar Square, on which tens or possibly
hundreds of thousands of people will converge from all over Britain,
and
farther afield, to demand the withdrawal of Western troops from
Iraq—and
while they are at it, oppose the renewal of Britain's nuclear arsenal.
Tourists who do venture near the square will notice the odd sociology
of
the anti-war movement: the unkempt beards and unisex denims of old-time
street fighters rubbing shoulders with the well-trimmed Islamic beards
and headscarved ladies.

This leftist-Muslim partnership exists not just on the streets, but in
the protest movement's heart. Britain's Stop the War coalition, which
has organised more than 15 nationwide protests and hundreds of smaller
events, was largely forged by two small, intensely committed bodies—the
far-left Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the Muslim Association of
Britain, which is close to the international Muslim Brotherhood. These
tiny groups have co-ordinated street protests by up to 1m people.

With its combination of an American-aligned foreign policy and a large,
angry Muslim population, Britain is an unusual case among Western
countries. But in many other places, too, Muslim grievance has been
yoked to a broader anti-capitalist or anti-globalist movement whose
leitmotif is loathing of the Bush administration and all its works.

An Italian Marxist involved in the “Social Forum” movement, which
organises large, disparate gatherings of groups opposed to the existing
world order, puts it this way. Almost everybody in the movement shares
the belief that “capitalism and militarism” (both epitomised by
America)
are the main challenges to human welfare. If political Islam can blunt
American triumphalism, then so much the better—even from the viewpoint
of those who would never dream of donning a headscarf or upsetting a
sexual minority.

At the micro-political level, co-operation between angry Muslims and
secular socialists is not always smooth. In Britain, one of the
offspring of the anti-war alliance has been the Respect Party, which
combines a socialist platform with anti-Americanism and resistance to
“Islamophobia”. But if Respect has remained small, that is partly
because its core constituents are viewed warily, even within the
Islamic-leftist fraternity. Many Muslim activists dislike the
“control-freak” tactics they associate with the Brotherhood and its
offshoots—and on the political left, the Respect Party has been
eschewed
by Greens and other radicals because of grandstanding by its SWP core.

And inevitably the partnership between secularists and Muslims faces
hard moments. In Britain and the Netherlands, young Muslim activists
(perhaps influenced by lefty comrades) have questioned their elders'
harsh views on homosexuality—but they do not always win the argument.
In
the Netherlands, a Turkish-born Islamist, Haci Karacaer, tried to build
bridges with the leftists (and gay-rights advocates) of the Dutch
Labour
party, only to be ostracised by fellow Muslims.

Just as Britain is the heartland of the leftist-Muslim partnership, it
is also the main locus of a sharp and trenchant critique of political
Islam. At its toughest, the argument of a new school of anti-Islamist
leftists—mainly rehearsed on the internet—is that parts of the
international left are now making as colossal a mistake as they did
over
Soviet or Chinese communism. They have let hatred of America and
capitalism blind them to darker forces.

Two sorts of people have stressed this point: European ex-Marxists,
embarrassed by their errors over Stalin, and dissident ex-Muslims from
the Islamic world who have fled to the West and fear their hosts will
“go soft” on their persecutors.

Last year's row over the publication in Denmark of cartoons satirising
the Prophet Muhammad prompted a manifesto against the “new
totalitarianism” of Islamism whose 12 signatories were in one or other
of those categories. The five French-based signers included
Bernard-Henri Lévy, a smooth Parisian pundit, and Philippe Val, an
editor who faces a lawsuit from Muslims over the drawings.

The foundational texts of Britain's “anti-Islamofascist” movement
include the Euston manifesto, so called because of the drafting
sessions
in a bar near a London station. This spoke of a threat from Islamism to
causes that leftists hold dear, such as equality between sexes and
sexual orientations. It denounces “disgraceful” alliances with
“illiberal theocrats”.

Many European leftists see things quite differently, viewing Islamism
as
a potential ally against the American demon, and this has real
consequences. In Italy, for example, the coalition headed by Romano
Prodi, the centre-leftist prime minister, is under strain because its
most left-wing parties are reluctant to vote more money for the
American-led fight against Afghanistan's Taliban. One party, Communist
Refoundation, dreams of an Afghan peace conference with the Taliban
taking part.

The pundits who discuss these matters in cyberspace roll their eyes at
such “appeasement”. Take the chief drafter of the Euston text, Norman
Geras, a Manchester-based political scientist who grew up in
white-ruled
Rhodesia and still calls himself, with qualifications, a Marxist.

By studying the rise of Nazi Germany, Mr Geras says, he realised both
the power and the limits of Marxist ideas: they help explain the
economic forces that brought Hitler to power, but cannot explain
certain
“egregious forms of evil”—such as the regime of Saddam Hussein, whose
downfall was an absolute imperative.

Nick Cohen, a peppery writer for Britain's centre-left media, has put
flesh on the Euston manifesto's bones by listing the sins of the
Islamic-leftist compact. Political Islam, he says, is not just a
disaster for many causes (like feminism and gay rights) that the left
cherishes; it also overturns the Enlightenment idea that diversity of
opinion is desirable.

Paul Berman, a professor at New York University, is one of several
Americans of liberal background who have joined the British
denunciation
of Islamofascism. He says the left's refusal to take sides in the
internal battles of Muslim countries (between dissidents and
oppressors)
reflects an “angelic blindness” which mistakes violent reactionaries
for
charming exotica.

Such words will be shrugged off by those who see America as the main
global foe. But there is a new voice in America's internal debate which
might, in an odd way, embolden those who want social liberals and
centre-leftists to lead the charge against Islamist authoritarianism.

Dinesh d'Souza, an Indian-born writer and hero of America's political
right, uses a new book—with the provocative subtitle “The Cultural Left
and its Responsibility for 9/11”—to argue that America's “progressives”
are not just soft on political Islam, they have positively encouraged
it.

By being decadent in its behaviour and thinking, America's liberal
elite
has given ground to self-appointed foes of decadence, such as the
political Islamists, Mr d'Souza says; and he sees an antidote in
American-style religious conservatism.

Here's a prediction. Most people on the Western liberal left will shrug
off the call by Messrs Geras, Cohen, Berman and Lévy to “wake up” to
the
threat of Islamism. But Mr d'Souza will appal them so much that some
may
make a sudden dash for the barricades and join the fight against all
theocracy, including the American sort.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6370503.stm

Clashes reported in Iranian city
Clashes between armed militants and police have erupted in the
south-eastern Iranian city of Zahedan, state media have reported.

Police sealed off the area and exchanged fire with the attackers after
a
bomb went off, Irna news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying.

It comes two days after a car bomb in Zahedan killed 11 Revolutionary
Guards.

A hardline Sunni group, Jundallah, said it carried out Wednesday's
attack.

Iranian officials have accused Britain and the United States of
supporting ethnic minority rebels operating in the Islamic republic's
sensitive border areas.

'Percussion bomb'

The explosion and clashes took place just hours after the funerals for
the 11 Revolutionary Guards.

The governor of Zahedan, Hassan ali Nouri, told Fars news agency that
the explosion was caused by a percussion bomb - a device which produces
a large bang but causes little damage.

Provincial police commander Gen Mohammad Ghaffari told Fars that 68
people had been arrested over Wednesday's bombing, including three who
are suspected of having carried out the attack.

"The gang has been ordered by some foreign states to plant bombs in
specific places and escape the country simultaneously," Gen Ghaffari
said.

He added that police had found a number of weapons and explosives in a
house "where members of the terrorist group Jundallah were getting
prepared for another operation".

Zahedan is the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders
both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

It has a substantial Sunni Islam Baluch community.

The city has been the focus of low-level unrest, with several security
force members being killed in the last two months.

Police have sometimes clashed with gangs transporting opium from
Afghanistan.

http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/article.cfm?section=FrontPage&articleID=908&month=02&day=08&year=2007

Muslim students upset over drawing nudes

Claire Neary

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Famous nude art

Joyce Wang

IT'S NOT THE VIVID GIRLS, BUT IT'LL DO. The visual arts department
features classes which can't be passed unless students complete nude
drawings. The decision has chagrined some Muslin students.

A recent decision by Westernâ€™s visual arts department has left some
Muslim students torn between their love for drawing and painting and
their devotion to Islam.

After making accommodations for students for several years, the visual
arts department added a note to the bottom of nine course descriptions
effective Sept. 1, 2005, indicating â€œsome sessions may involve
drawing
from the nude (female or male) as a required component of the
course.â€

Though the note was added a year and a half ago, some students are just
starting to feel its effects and voice their concerns.

Two students, who asked to remain nameless, expressed their concerns to
The Gazette.

One fourth-year Muslim student said until last year, she and some other
students were allowed to negotiate alternatives with their professors,
including drawing action figures and break-dancers.

Not wanting to cause a fuss, she drew a female nude model in her
first-year introductory course, but felt uncomfortable and regretted
doing it afterwards.

She spoke to Westernâ€™s Muslim chaplain, Munir El-Kassem, who advised
she
should not draw nudes as it isnâ€™t permitted by Islam.

â€œWhen it comes to Islam, modesty and a display of modesty is
something
which is part and parcel with the faith,â€ El-Kassem said.

â€œYou see this in the way Muslims dress,â€ he said. â€œWe believe the
body
is to be covered in a certain way, according to certain principles and,
by extension, to draw a model who has shed all the clothes is
completely
against what the faith would permit. Itâ€™s very simple.â€

Due to the increasing frequency of student concerns and the facultyâ€™s
general discomfort with compromising the curriculum, the visual arts
department added the note to the descriptions of several courses which
may or may not include life drawing, depending on individual
professorsâ€™
choices each year.

â€œBy indicating to students that drawing from the nude is a required
part
of course work, the visual arts department is respectfully attempting
to
assist students in making choices for their education,â€ said Patrick
Mahon, chair of the visual arts department, who is on sabbatical this
year.

â€œThe department offers a wide range of studio courses and if students
do
not choose to take drawing and painting â€” for whatever reason â€”
they are
not required to do so.â€

The note only affects upper-year courses, and individual arrangements
can still be made in 020 and 100-level courses because they are
considered introductory.

Michael Milde, associate dean of Arts and Humanities, said the note was
discussed formally and informally at various levels, and all department
chairs in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities approved it.

In addition, the note received approval from the DAP virtual committee,
which is comprised of deans of academic programs. Since no one
objected,
the note was added by the Arts and Humanities Educational Policy
Committee in the summer of 2005.

El-Kassem said he was unaware of the policy change and would be
prepared
to formally challenge it.

Hassan Ahmad, president of the Muslim Studentsâ€™ Association, said he
and
the MSA would like to follow up the matter so Muslim students wonâ€™t
have
to deal with it in the future.

â€œThe university shouldnâ€™t make this black and white,â€ Ahmad said.
â€œThey
should accept that they have a variety of people from a variety of
different backgrounds. Itâ€™s not fair to just say, â€˜this is how The
West
does things.â€™ You have to be tolerant of othersâ€™ traditions,
because we
have important traditions too.â€

Milde and Mahon said the note wasnâ€™t meant to attack anyoneâ€™s
religious
or personal freedom.

Milde said some professors felt the curriculum was being
â€œdetoured.â€

Professor David Merritt, who teaches several art studio courses
including drawing and painting, said he and the faculty â€œdidnâ€™t
feel
they could fairly substitute their projects for alternatives at [the
upper-year] level.â€ He added â€œThere was concern about having to
manage
two syllabi at the same time and about fragmentation of the course.â€

Merritt said heâ€™s allowed alternatives for students in the past but
wasnâ€™t happy about them, adding he likes using nude models because
you
can teach empathy by putting yourself in the place of what youâ€™re
drawing.

â€œI know for religious reasons people have concerns, but Iâ€™d rather
not
approach the human body from that perspective,â€ he said. â€œIâ€™d
rather
approach it as something we all have in common.â€

The students who talked to The Gazette said theyâ€™d be happy if they
could at least regain the old policy, adding theyâ€™d be willing to
take
zeros on life drawing assignments or draw clothed models in different
positions and situations.

â€œJust give us a choice. Thatâ€™s all we ask,â€ one student said.
â€œThe old
policy was fine...even if they want us to provide more
letters...thatâ€™s
fine.â€

Ultimately, itâ€™s up to the Visual Arts Department to create its own
curriculum, Milde said.

â€œAs much as we would like to be sensitive to everybodyâ€™s concerns,
academic freedom says you have to describe the curriculum as you find
it, and if some of that isnâ€™t compatible with certain peopleâ€™s
beliefs,
then it does create an unfortunate tension.â€

http://chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/2007/02/china-concerned-contemporary-version_16.html

Friday, February 16, 2007

China Concerned Contemporary Version of Ancient Communication System Could Pose Security Threat
Fujitsu's China problem, about which we recently reported, may be getting worse. The giant Japanese company is promoting a controversial covert communication technology that can encode data into a picture that is invisible to the human eye but can be decoded by a mobile phone with a camera.

Fujitsu says the technology has widespread implications for the publishing industry.

But sources say Chinese officials see the technology as a potential security threat.

They have a point.

The Fujitsu technology is based on a practice called steganography, which dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. Military commanders sent warnings of attacks on wooden tablets and then covered them in wax; they also tattooed messages on soldiers' shaved heads that were then covered by the regrowth of hair.

Security experts and intelligence analysts suspect that Al Qaeda terrorists tied to the 9/11 attacks might have used steganography. The connection has not been proven; but the suspicion highlights the effectiveness of steganography as a means of hiding data--in plain sight.

Or plain text. Similar to cryptography, steganography is the art of writing in cipher, or in characters which are not intelligible except to persons who have the decoding key. It is a fundamental way of keeping data confidential--and communicating it covertly.

In contrast with cryptography, which scrambles messages, steganography camouflages a message to make it seem invisible.

Some modern-day examples: (1) during the Second World War, tiny dots of invisible ink were added directly above the letters of seemingly innocuous text; (2) prisoners of war are known to have used the dots in letters in such as i and j and the dash-like images in t and f to convey Morse code messages.

In terms of popular culture, in the best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code (China banned the movie), the interpretation of hidden messages inside Leonardo's famous works, including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, figures prominently in the solution to the mystery.

In contemporary computer terms, steganography has evolved into a digital strategy of hiding a message within a larger one in such a way that others can't discern the presence or contents of the hidden message. The file is typically concealed in some form of multimedia, such as an image, or an audio or video file.

Proponents of steganography point out that it can be used for a variety of legitimate purposes, such as watermarking images for copyright protection.

But Communist Party-ruled China (which happens to be the global leader in intellectual property piracy) is said to be focused on the technology's illegitimate purposes--i.e. covert communication of secret or sensitive information.

Fujitsu's stego-based system reportedly exploits the sensitivities of the human eye, which has trouble seeing the color yellow. Any camera, however, even the kind found in a mobile phone, is sensitive to and thus perfectly capable of decoding the yellow hue.

# posted by Confidential Reporter @ 2:51 AM

Neo-Nazis Seek Iranian Backing for Bizarre Mission
A band of neo-Nazis with ties to Iran's clerical fascist mullahocracy is believed to be seeking its support for a truly bizarre scheme--an archeological expedition in search of ancient lost cities in a remote region of Brazil. The neo-Nazis are said to claim that the area, in the state of Matto Grasso, was once home to an advanced "Aryan" race.

Their venture illuminates Nazism's occult roots--and neo-Nazi links to a present-day regime that many rightwing radicals increasingly regard as a center and symbol of anti-Western struggle.

The proposed expedition also serves as a disturbing reminder of the violent legacy and dangerous appeal of a tangled collection of quasi-spiritual and pseudo-academic theories and beliefs.

As if to further highlight historical parallels, the expedition reportedly plans to follow in the footsteps of Nazi archaeologists and SS officers who explored parts of Matto Grosso during the Second World War. That expedition is thought to have been inspired by earlier German expeditions, including one in the 1920s and one in the early 1900s that was organized and paid for by the Krupp armaments company.

The deranged German fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, is known to have been obsessed with occult theories concerning the purported existence of a vast, underground tunnel network reaching from the region and other Brazilian and South American areas to a mythical utopia thought to lie beneath the Himalayan mountains of Tibet.

Belief in the subterranean city-state, known as Agarta or Shambhala, is based on Tibetan Buddhist traditions that also inspired the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" by British author James Hilton. The book and subsequent film adaptations described a hidden earthly paradise called Shangri-La.

Crazy as it seems, Hitler's Nazis supposedly sought to make contact with Agarta by finding an entrance to the tunnel system leading to it. In addition to the Brazilian expedition, they sent seven expeditions to Tibet, the most famous of which is now best known through the feature film Seven Years in Tibet that was particularly popular among followers of "New Age" philosophy.

Though it might not be hooked on lost tunnels or subterranean cities, the new Nazi expedition is apparently based on another lunatic fringe notion with disturbing New Age appeal--that a "master race" of Atlanteans once dominated the world and left evidence of their civilization in Tibet, Egypt, and South America. Hence, the neo-Nazi interest in lost cities.

The Atlantis theory comes from Ariosophy, a so-called Aryan centered philosophy that influenced Nazism. The founder of Ariosophy, Adolf Josef Lanz, who called himself Lanz von Liebenfels, was a professional Austrian anti-Semite and former monk who advocated forced sterilization of "inferior races." His doctrine, also known as Theozoology, or Ario-Christianity, was an offshoot of a kind of New Age religion of its day, called Theosophy.

A cult-like, 19th century mystical movement, Theosophy was founded by a notorious Russian-born adventuress, author, and phony medium, Helena Blavatsky, and her spiritualist lover, an American lawyer named Henry Olcott. A racist and an anti-Semite who incorporated the swastika in her movement's seal, Blavatsky argued that humanity had descended from a series of seven "Root Races," identifyng the fifth and supposedly superior one the Aryan race, which, she claimed, came from Atlantis. Some modern humans, such as indigenous Africans and Australians, she argued, were actually semi- or sub-human.

Her ideas influenced, among others, Savitri Devi (born Maximiani Portas), a French woman who emigrated to India during he 1930s, where she blended a philosophy of white supremacy and Hinduism and became a fanatic Hitler admirer, living out the war years in anticipation of a Nazi victory. In the 1960s, she emerged as a cult figure for neo-Nazis--"Hitler's guru," in the words of the German-Canadian Holocaust-denying publisher Ernest Zundel. Zundel, who republished and distributed Devi's out-of-print, 1958 book, "The Lightning and the Sun," is involved in the neo-Nazi-Iranian axis, which is itself the brainchild of an aging Nazi convert to Islam, the mysterious Swiss banker and ex-journalist, Ahmed Huber.

A quest for Shambhala (Agarta) led Blavatsky to South America. She claimed to have partially explored the secret, subterranean tunnels connecting the continent with Asia by entering the passages in Peru and Brazil. The story has become a staple of neo-Nazi Internet sites and books about so-called ancient mysteries, including works produced and published by Zundel and allegedly financed by Huber, whose home boasts portraits of Hitler and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.

Back to Iran. The Islamist regime of Iran's Hitler-admiring President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as previously reported, has supported, encouraged and provided safe haven for numerous neo-Nazi groups, while sponsoring international events aimed at denying and ridiculing the Holocaust, and threatening to destroy Israel and drive the United States from the Middle East.

The Iranian-neo-Nazi axis recalls the wartime penetration of Iran by Gestapo and German military intelligence officers and the pro-Nazi leanings of Iran's monarch at the time, Reza Pahlavi. (In contrast with Reza Shah, his son, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown by Khomeini, was a US ally and friend of Israel and Iran's Jewish community.)

Persians have long used the term Aryan to describe the Indo-European origins of their language. Starting in the early 19th century, German romanticists popularized the notion of an "Aryan" Indo-Nordic race. They promoted study of Sanskrit, a classical language of India, and liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism, in opposition to Hebrew and other Semitic languages, and a theory of Asia, not the Middle East, as the cradle of civilization.

The idea for Persia's 1935 name change to Iran--"Land of the Aryans"--was supposedly suggested by Tehran's ambassador to Germany, who came under the influence of Hitler's trusted banker, Dr. Hjalmar Schacht.

# posted by Confidential Reporter @ 2:45 AM

http://chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_chinaconfidential_archive.html

[End of article]

China's Possible Biological Weapons-Related Exports

There have been concerns over possible Chinese biological weapons-related transfers to countries such as Iran. The first such statement was made by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in her 8 January 1997 written answers to questions by Senator Robert E. Bennett (R-Utah). According to the Washington Times, Albright's response stated:

"We have received reporting regarding transfers of dual-use items from Chinese entities to Iranian government entities which raise concern," and that the United States has "encouraged China to adopt comprehensive and rigorous export controls" to prevent assistance to Iran's biological weapons program. According to a U.S. intelligence official, China sold Iran dual-use equipment and vaccines with both civilian medical applications and biological weapons applications.

On 16 January 2002, the United States imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies under the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000. According to U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, restrictions were placed on Liyang Chemical Equipment company, the China Machinery and Electric Equipment Import and Export Company, and an individual broker and agent named as Q.C. Chen "for the transfer to Iran of equipment and technology that's used for the manufacture of chemical and biological weapons; equipment that's controlled under what's called the Australia Group."

In response to the sanctions, China reiterated its opposition to biochemical weapon development and stated that "the US decision to impose sanctions on Chinese companies using so-called domestic laws and country-specific policy is unreasonable and should be cancelled."

Key Sources:
[1] Bill Gertz, "Albright concedes 'concern' over China-Iran transfers," Washington Times, 24 January 1997, p. 6.
[2] William J. Broad and Judith Miller, "Soviet Defector Says China Had Accident at a Germ Plant," New York Times, 5 April 1999, p. A3.
[3] "US Slaps Sanctions On Chinese Companies For Restricted Export," Agence France Presse, 24 January, 2002.
[4] "China Demands Removal of US Sanctions Over Weapons Trade with Iran," Agence France Presse, 26 January 2002.
[5] Bill Gertz, "U.S. Penalized 8 Chinese Firms," Washington Times, 19 July 2002, Pg.1.
[6] Joe McDonald, "Chinese Companies deny U.S. weapons-proliferation accusations," Associated Press, 25 July 2002 in Lexis-Nexis, http://www.lexis-nexis.com.
[7] Paula A. DeSutter, "China's Record of Proliferation Activities," Testimony before the US-China Commission, 24 July 2003, http://www.uscc.gov.

Updated February 2006

China Profiles Database: Nuclear Nonproliferation
China Profiles Database: Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation
China Profiles Database: Missile Nonproliferation
Treaties and Organizations
China's Nuclear Missile Submarine Base
FAS: Ministry of Information Industry
Chinese nuclear forces, 2006
Australia-China Nuclear Material Transfer Agreement and Nuclear Cooperation Agreement
GlobalSecurity: China
China and Nuclear Transparency
CIA World Fact Book

From:

http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/China/Biological/index.html

[This is an excellent blog, with several articles that are worth taking the time to read...granny]

http://www.babalublog.com/

Breaking News - Updated
Local Spanish radio station Clasica 92.3 is reporting that the Comandos F-4 group have - if I heard correctly - stolen a bunch of weapons, including AK47s and other small arms, from a weapons cache in Cuba.

Obviously, not able to confirm as yet. Will keep you posted if this turns out to be factual.

Update: From reader Lori:

I was writing because I heard something on the radio this morning that made me a little wider eyed. An organization called "Commando F4" sent one of its members to the radio this morning to announce that said organization had penetrated Cuba last night or the night before managed to steal from a Cuban military unit, a number of RPGs, AK47s, Missles, amunitions and I don't know what else, it was enough to arm a complete company without shortage. This person went on to announce that they have members that are American born of Cuban parents, and that they have members all over South America. One of the American born members came on the radio as well, and asked people in English to donate money to this cause or maybe even join. He couldn't reveal a lot but he did say that within the Cuban military they've established contacts and that there are many soldiers who have pledged support to Comando F4. He went on to say that the only reason were successful was because they had inside help. He stated that the current Cuban military is full of young men who are just sick and tired of the Cuban Gov.'s bullshit and will support any change. Don't know if this helps or even if you want to post something about this. I heard it on 95.7 this morning and was quite surprised, apparently nobody since the days of " El Escambray" has been able to penetrate a Cuban camp and steal from it. I just thought you might enjoy news like that. I'm sure they'll replay that tape throughout this morning's show. and surely at 5:00pm when they do an hour long rebroadcast of the morning show, they'll play it again.
Again, it's impossible to verify the validity of the Comando F4 statements at this time. They may very well be factual, as is my hope, but they may also be about raising funds for the organization. I will post more info as it comes in.

Update 1:40 pm: Ya No Mas informs me that the Comandos F4 will have a representative on Radio Mambi tonight between 6 an 8 pm.

Posted by Val Prieto at 08:55 AM | Habla (30) | Leenkaso (0)

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-2-16/51826.html

Plea for Others Not to Spy for the CCP
By James Burke
Epoch Times Australia Staff Feb 16, 2007

Dr Wang Lian (James Burke/The Epoch Times)
Related Articles
- Macau Professor: How the Chinese Regime Forced Me to Spy—Part 2 Thursday, February 15, 2007
- 'Chinese Agents Forced Me to Spy' Thursday, February 15, 2007
- Chinese Lecturer-Turned-Spy Flees to Australia Seeking Asylum Wednesday, February 14, 2007
- Macau Professor: How the Chinese Regime Forced Me to Spy Wednesday, February 14, 2007
A Chinese academic who was spying on The Epoch Times office in Hong Kong has made a plea to anyone spying for the Chinese security bureau to cease doing so.

Under the threat of death and threats against his family, Dr. Wang Lian, an assistant professor at the Macau University of Science and Technology, spied for the Chinese Security Bureau on The Epoch Times from September to December last year.

"I know how painful it is," Dr. Wang said about his experiences in being forced to give information on the newspaper where he has worked since 2002 as a senior technical consultant.

Now safe in Australia after fleeing Hong Kong, Dr. Wang hoped that anyone who has been forced to spy for the Chinese communist regime "can get out."

"The longer they are involved, the harder [it is] to get back to a normal life," he said. "And I believe there is a line, and if you cross the line—then you'll never have the chance to get back. The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] or an agent may think you are useless. They remove you or even leave you untouched [but] I think [in the end] your conscience will kill you."

Prior to Dr. Wang's admission to spying, two other spies had been exposed within The Epoch Times in Hong Kong.

Dr. Wang's entrapment began with a visit to mainland China on behalf of his university last September. At Gongbei [Guangdong Province] he was detained at customs and then taken by security agents to what is thought to be a detention centre.

In a small interrogation room, national security agents pressured and threatened Dr. Wang for his involvement with The Epoch Times and especially the newspaper's special report— Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. The 32-year-old was also targeted for his beliefs in the spiritual practise of Falun Gong which has been banned and persecuted in China since 1999.

"They said I should stay there under their supervision, and how long depends on my cooperation—maybe they can release me in one day or six months—or another six months or more," he recalled.

According to Dr. Wang, he was told they had been monitoring, researching and watching him for years. A two inch thick file of information on him was produced during the interrogation process, during which he was also threatened with execution.

"[They told me] they would give me a bullet—and my parents would have to pay for the bullet—35 renminbi—roughly six Australian dollars."

After three and a half days of intimidation, threats, blackmail and being deprived of sleep Dr. Wang relented and agreed to spy on The Epoch Times Hong Kong office. Dr Wang was also forced to sign a repentance form saying he would not practise Falun Gong anymore. He was also made to add a clause that said he would "go whenever I am called and do whatever I am asked to do."

"I worked for them for around four months," said Dr. Wang. "It was completely against my conscience and the way they asked me to go almost destroyed me."

"I felt really bad—because I am a Falun Gong practitioner," said Dr. Wang, "I hold the belief in truthfulness, benevolence, forbearance and I cannot sell out on others and I cannot betray my conscience. … I could not fall asleep for these several months, at night those types of things just jump out at me."

Once back in Hong Kong, Chinese agents would contact him via email to set up meetings.

"They would spend about 30 minutes to talk about everything else just to let me relax," said Dr. Wang, "then they would use also 30 minutes to defame Falun Gong and The Epoch Times. "

"They said 'for a person like you they said it is easy to go back to The Epoch Times' … so they continuously wanted to talk with me to know, to understand what I feel, in otherwise to understand my mind again and again."

Initially Dr. Wang would send on information of little value to the security agents but they demanded more; sensitive passwords, information that would enable the disruption of uploading of computer files and allow for easier "hacking" and also the personal details of certain Epoch Times staff members.

"They asked me to find out the computer usage especially the network usage, so who during what time periods will upload special files to what directories on the server and who will download some files from which directories," he said.

"Many of the staff work from home. They must upload and download something through the network and they can block it or make the network be reduced. So if you are supposed to upload a file in 20 minutes, but after they attack and in two hours you get a time out message, they have been successful in doing that."

The purpose of the Chinese agents, Dr. Wang says, is to "eliminate The Epoch Times, in Hong Kong," something he said that they found difficult to do openly because Hong Kong laws allow freedom of speech. Nevertheless The Epoch Times in Hong Kong has faced challenges with printing houses receiving pressure and when it established its own print shop it was broken into and valuable printing equipment was destroyed.

On Dec. 20, he met Chinese agents for what would be the last time. "They wanted me to give them information [on a colleague]—where he lives, how many phone numbers, friends, family—very close friends especially, because they want to push him with pressure [to be a spy] from family and friends, from this angle, and in my heart I refused to do so."

Dr. Wang applied for visas to Australia and Canada on Jan. 1, and 12 days later, he received an email from security agents demanding more information on The Epoch Times, which he ignored.

On Jan. 25, he obtained a visa for Australia, and a few weeks later he arrived in Melbourne, leaving behind his wife and child in Hong Kong.

"On the current situation, my wife, my child [in Hong Kong], my parents [in mainland China], and even myself are still in danger," said Dr. Wang at a press conference on Thursday, the same day he applied for asylum in Australia. One of the purposes of stepping out, he said, was that there are 60 branches of The Epoch Times around the world, so there have to be more spies working for the communist regime.

Copyright 2000 - 2007 Epoch Times International

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-2-16/51782.html

14-Year-Old Beijing Student Abducted in U.S.
By Ma Youzhi
The Epoch Times Staff Feb 16, 2007

Youran Zhao (Ma Youzhi/The Epoch Times)
Related Articles
- Kidnapped Girl Rescued From Chinese Agents Monday, February 12, 2007
- Girl Fleeing Persecution in China Kidnapped in New York Sunday, February 11, 2007
On the morning of February 11, 14-year-old Youran Zhao, a junior high school student from China, was abducted in Boston by a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) delegation visiting the United States.

But this abduction plan was immediately foiled by security at New York's Kennedy Airport and Zhao was reunited with relatives in the U.S.

Once Zhao was free, she recounted the experience that led up to her abduction.

Zhao arrived in Los Angeles on January 31 as part of a student delegation from Beijing. During her visit, Zhao met with an aunt that the CCP had forbidden her to see. Young Zhao told her aunt that she hoped to leave the delegation and stay permanently in the U.S.

Early in the morning on February 11, delegation members in a red van apprehended Zhou and took her in Boston. Later Boston police intercepted the van at Massachusetts Institute of Technology but found that neither Zhao nor her luggage were in it.

Upon receiving the news of her niece's capture, Zhao's aunt pleaded for help from every possible authority.

Police interrogation revealed that Zhao and her captors were on their way to New York's Kennedy Airport, planning to fly back to Beijing on Air China. Luckily, police were able to respond before Zhao left the U.S.

The following is based on an interview with Youran Zhao.

An Early Morning Kidnapping
Around midnight on Feb 11, delegation members had settled in their Boston hotel, but Zhao was isolated in room 403, accompanied by delegation leaders. Around 6 a.m. the next morning, Zhao woke up to find delegation members in her room taking several passports and putting them into a small bag. She could tell that they were planning something.

Around 7 a.m., Zhao got out of bed and noticed that the door to her room was half opened. She overheard delegation leaders discussing how they would deal with her. She also heard them mention an airport.

Zhao pushed open the door and walked past the delegation leaders, explaining that she needed to return clothes to her classmates. When she met her classmates in their hotel room, she revealed to them that there was a plan to take her back to China

Abducted from Boston to New York's Kennedy Airport
At 7:30 a.m., Zhao hadn't yet brushed her teeth or eaten breakfast but she was forced to leave immediately. She was told she would travel with the rest of the delegation, but was instead taken to a red van. Once on the mysterious van, Zhou encountered four people. Three were the leaders to the delegation, Zhang Xiaopeng, the teachers Peng Fenglin and Liu Yinghuan, and another was a man that Zhao had never met before. Zhao immediately asked where she was being taken, but the adults refused to answer.

After a four-hour drive, Zhou found herself at New York's Kennedy Airport.

Zhao hadn't been allowed to eat for six hours. As she waited at the gate entrance, she asked if she could contact her mother in China but her teacher, now captor, Peng Fenglin refused. Zhao was assured that everything would be alright once she returned to China and that she would even have the chance to go abroad again as an international student.

Hope Lost After Boarding the Plane
At 3 p.m., the two delegation leaders accompanied Zhao to the boarding entrance of flight CA982 of Air China. Her passport and boarding pass were always in the hands of these two delegation leaders who would escort Zhao back to China. As the seat belt buckled around her waist, Zhao completely lost hope of ever reuniting with her relatives and obtaining freedom.

Abduction Escape, Aunt to the Rescue
The flight was originally scheduled to depart at 3:30 p.m. but was delayed while Zhao and her captors sat onboard waiting for takeoff. A few minutes after boarding, two police officers boarded the cabin and approached Zhao and her escorts, informing them that one of their seats actually belonged to other passenger. Mysteriously one seat had been double booked. As the officers discovered that Zhao did not want to return to China and was being taken against her will, they escorted both her and her captors off the plane and Zhao was freed.

When Zhao was freed, she knew right away that it was her aunt who was responsible for her rescue. Five or six hours later she finally saw her aunt, who had traveled from Boston. Zhao left the airport with her aunt and was reunited with the rest of her family in the Unites States.

Concern That Family in China Could Face Persecution
Zhao and her family have been practicing Falun Gong since 1998. After Falun Gong was persecuted in 1999, the family was forbidden to practice outdoors.

Although she is now free, Zhao remains very worried for her family's security back in China, especially for her grandmother. Zhao is concerned that they might be arrested and brainwashed, like so many other Falun Gong practitioners in China, because of her U.S. visit.

Zhao was told that everything would be alright once she got back to China, and that she could even go abroad again as an international student, but Zhao's aunt believes that this is a deceptive statement. Even when her niece had approached classmates for help, no one would support her.

According to Zhao's aunt, there are virtually no human rights under CCP rule. In an unfamiliar environment, students naturally place faith in their teachers, looking toward them for guidance and instruction. Yet, instead of protecting young Zhao, this Chinese delegation kept her from eating for several hours and even kidnapped her to gain favor with the CCP.

Click here to read the original article in Chinese

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